Davis, Calif. - For the second time this season UC Davis staged a comeback in the seventh inning to tie a game but fell 8-14 at San Jose State on Tuesday.
The Aggies (0-13, 0-6) led early on a two-run home run by
Nick Leehey in the top of the fourth before the Spartans responded with six runs in the bottom half of the inning to go up 4-6.
Both teams went scoreless through the fifth and sixth innings until the Aggies struck for four runs in the seventh.
Jake Brandel led off with a single, James Williams followed with a base hit one out later and
Raul Sandoval scored Brandel on a single to start the rally.
J.D. Mico reached on a two-out throwing error to load the bases and
Jonah Henrickson delivered a single to left that scored two runs to make it 5-6 and Leehey tied the game on another single.
The Spartans went up 6-7 on a two-out single in the bottom half of the seventh but UC Davis took advantage of another Spartan error in the top of the eighth.
Luke Piazza led off and reached on an error,
Lateef Wakil pinch ran and advanced to second on a ground ball and moved to third on a single by
Kyler Arenado. Mico followed with a ball grounded deep enough to short to bring Wakil in and tie the game at seven.
Again, San Jose State responded in the bottom half of an inning. The Spartans put up seven runs in the bottom of the eighth to lead 7-14 going into the ninth.
UC Davis put runners at second and third on a walk by
Mark Wolbert and single by
Nick Iverson with Wolbert later scoring on a wild pitch but the Spartans retired two in a row to end the game.
Leehey's home run was the first of his career and the freshman has now hit safely in six of UC Davis' last seven games after going 2-5 Tuesday. Mico extended his hitting streak to six games with a 1-4 day and scored a season-high two runs. Henrickson snapped a 1-12 stretch by going 2-4.
Daniel Carrion was the Aggies' opener, turning in his second straight scoreless appearance going three innings and allowing just three hits and a walk while striking out four.
The Aggies' week continues this weekend with a three-game series at UC Riverside beginning with a 6 p.m. first pitch on Friday.
