Bellevue, Wash. — The UC Davis Aggies took a 1-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back from there on the way to a 4-2 victory over the Seattle University Redhawks on Sunday.
Sophomore Rowen Barnes picked up his first Division 1 win and in the process improved the Aggies record to 5-4 on the year. The right-hander went 3.1 innings, giving up one run on two hits, allowing three walks and striking out five. Junior Kaden Riccomini also pitched well, going 1.2 shutout innings without allowing a hit, walking one and striking out one. Riccomini came up big time in the fourth inning to get UC Davis out of a threatening, bases-loaded jam, limiting the Redhawks to just one run.
Sophomore Nick Leehey used a pair of extra base hits to charge the way offensively for the Aggies, going 2-for-3 in the ballgame with a double, a home run, a walk and three RBI. Junior Alex Gouveia continues his hot-start to the year, finishing the day going 2-for-4 with a double over the center fielder's head and an RBI. Freshman Braydon Wooldridge who recorded his first career start and hit yesterday, also contributed today, going 2-for-4 for UC Davis.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Aggies got the scoring started early, putting one run on the board in the top of the first inning. Freshman Joey Wright was able to reach base to open the game after a throwing error from the third baseman. A Gouveia single would advance Wright to third base and the freshman would come across to score the lone run of the inning for UC Davis after a productive Nick Leehey groundout to second base.
The Aggies then held the Redhawks scoreless before expanding their lead in the third inning. UC Davis got run-scoring doubles from Gouveia and Leehey to pick up a couple of runs, which brought the score to 3-0, in favor of the Aggies.
Seattle U narrowed UC Davis' lead to 3-1 before the Aggies extended their lead to 4-1 in the eighth inning. The Aggies notched their fourth run on Leehey's one-out solo home run off sophomore Kian Hogan. Seattle U put one run on the scoreboard before the game was over, but UC Davis still held on for the 4-2 win, giving Kaden Hogan his second save of the season.
GAME NOTES
» Barnes struck out five Redhawks hitters.
» The Aggies power output was led by Leehey, who had two extra base hits in the ballgame.
» UC Davis' highest scoring inning was the third, when it pushed two runs across.
» UC Davis took a 1-0 lead in the top half of the first and didn't surrender that lead for the remainder of the game.
» UC Davis pitchers limited Seattle U to just 2-for-12 (.167) with runners in scoring position.
» UC Davis pitchers faced 40 Seattle U hitters in the game, allowing six ground balls and nine fly balls while striking out eight.
» Leehey led the Aggies at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a double, a home run and three RBI.
» Seattle U was led offensively by senior Grant Heiser, who went 1-for-2 with two RBI.
» Kian Hogan led the Redhawks pitching staff, throwing five innings of one-run ball, with that lone run being Leehey's home run.
UP NEXT
The Aggies will return to the diamond on Tuesday, March 7 for their first midweek game of the season, hosting Causeway rival, Sacramento State. After originally adding a Monday contest with the Hornets, the games have yet again been rescheduled. Also with the removal of the Monday game, the April 11 game against Sacramento State that had been changed to a home game for UC Davis, is now back to its originally scheduled programming, as the Hornets will in fact, host the April 11 contest at John Smith Field. As more and more schedule updates continue to happen in response to the early season weather issues, make sure you are staying up to date with UC Davis Baseball by using the schedule tab.
