Long Beach, Calif. — A quiet night offensively for the Aggies resulted in a 8-1 defeat in Thursday night's series opener at Blair Field against the Long Beach State Dirtbags.
With Mark Wolbert leading the way for UC Davis, the Petaluma product pushed across the lone Aggie run of the ballgame by slugging his fourth home run of the season in the top half of the eighth inning. With the entire Aggie offense being held in check by graduate transfer Nico Zeglin who threw seven shutout innings, Long Beach State was beating to a completely different drum as they launched five home runs to pace themselves to victory.
Bryan Green (5-4) made his usual appearance as the opening starter for UC Davis and took the loss. While usually slotted as the Friday starter, Green had to toe the rubber a day early with the series being moved up a day in order to accommodate the Memorial Day Weekend. Nonetheless, outside of a few bad pitches which resulted in three long-ball's for Long Beach State, Green again was for the most part, effective and able to give UC Davis a chance to hang around early. In mentioning of the Long Beach State offense entering the weekend, we knew it was going to be a tall task for the Aggies to hold down a lineup that features Buster Posey Semifinalist Connor Burns, and Jonathon Long. The two high-profile players delivered for Long Beach State tonight as each made their impact felt with home runs, with Long blasting two to move his season total to 15 on the year.
The loss moves UC Davis to 17-35 on the year, with two more games remaining left in 2023. Game two of the series will take place tomorrow at 6:00 P.M. PT, as the Aggies will rally behind former Dirtbag, Kaden Hogan to try and snap their nine-game losing streak, and split the series at one-win a piece.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Trailing 7-0 after Long Beach State scored every run by way of the long ball, the Aggies were able to put one of their own on the board in the eighth inning. Wolbert put the Aggies on the board with a leadoff home run off freshman Kellan Montgomery. This would be all the Aggies would muster, as Long Beach State added one last run to their tally on the way to an 8-1 final.
GAME NOTES
» UC Davis pitchers faced 35 Long Beach State hitters in the game, allowing eight ground balls and 11 fly balls while striking out three.
» Wolbert led the Aggies at the plate, going 1-for-4 with a home run and an RBI.
» Long Beach State was led offensively by junior Jonathon Long, who went 2-for-4 with two home runs and two RBI.
» Senior Nico Zeglin led the Beach pitching staff, throwing seven shutout innings.
