Davis, Calif. - UC Davis led early and battled back late against Long Beach State but fell 5-4 in 11 innings on Thursday at Dobbins Stadium.
The Aggies erased an early 1-0 lead for the Dirtbags in the bottom of the first, opening the inning with three straight hits.
J.D. Mico led off with a single,
James Williams III doubled home Mico and
Mark Wolbert doubled in Williams III to give UC Davis a 2-1 lead after one inning.
UC Davis got a run back in the bottom half of the sixth after the Dirtbags 3-2 in the third. Williams III and
Nick Leehey both walked to put runners on first and second with two outs and
Raul Sandoval delivered a single up the middle on a two-strike pitch to knot it at three.
After Long Beach State got a run on a groundout in the seventh, the Aggies came back again in the bottom of the eighth. Mico led off the inning with a single and Williams III moved him to third with a base hit through the right side of the infield. Wolbert followed with a ball deep enough to second to score Mico and make it a 4-4 game.
It wasn't until the top of the 11th that the Dirtbags got the go-ahead run, going up 5-4 on a sacrifice fly after leading off the inning with a single, a walk, and a sacrifice bunt.
On a day when Aggie pitching was shorthanded,
Nate Freeman and
Daniel Carrion combined to give needed relief to the bullpen.
Freeman went seven innings and allowed four runs, three earned, on eight hits with two walks and four strikeouts. He worked out of a jam with runners on second and third in the sixth inning by getting two swinging strikeouts and got out of a bases loaded with one out spot in the seventh to allow just one run to score. It was his fourth time going seven innings this season and the second-fewest earned runs he's allowed in a seven inning appearance.
Carrion pitched a career-high four innings, allowing one earned run on two hits with three walks and three strikeouts. He got a swinging strikeout to end the ninth with runners on second and third.
Wolbert went 3-5 with two RBI, his first multi-hit game since May 15.
The Aggies' final series of the season continues on Friday at Dobbins Stadium with a 2:30 p.m. first pitch.
