Score: UC Davis 9, CSUN 13
Location: Northridge, Calif. (Matador Field)
Winning Pitcher: Thomas Bainton (1-1)
Save: Joshua Romero (4)
Losing Pitcher: Braydon Wooldridge (1-1)
Records: UC Davis 13-11 (3-4), CSUN 15-10 (5-2)
 
The short story: The Aggies combined for four home runs and at one point scored seven unanswered runs late, but their comeback efforts fell short as the Matadors secured the 13-9 win. Mark Wolbert, Ryan Lee and Alex Gouveia provided the power surge for UC Davis with Wolbert hitting a career-high two home runs, while Lee slammed a grand slam but the Matador offense led by Kevin Fitzer was too much for the Aggies during game one of the series.

LEADING OFF

• Wolbert had a big day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two home runs and four RBI
• Lee and Wolbert were the run production for the Aggies, each driving in four runs
• The trio of Gouveia, Lee and Wolbert all collected multi-hit games for the Aggies
• Lee's grand slam in the top of the eighth was a big spark for the Aggies in their effort to comeback
• CSUN was led offensively by junior Kevin Fitzer, who went 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and three RBI
• Bainton led the Matadors pitching staff, tossing 6.0 innings of one-run ball

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Trailing 2-0, the Aggies first put runs on the board in the third inning thanks to a home run from Gouveia
• In the middle innings, the CSUN offense exploded, as the Aggies deficit expanded to 10-1 before their offense got back on the scoreboard, cutting into that deficit in the seventh inning
• UC Davis scored three runs, all of them coming on a three-run homer off the bat of Wolbert, scoring freshman Jaxon Murphy and Lee, which brought the score to 10-4 in favor of the Matadors
• UC Davis held the Matadors off the board before narrowing the gap to 10-8 in the eighth with a big-time grand slam from Lee
• The Matadors expanded their lead to 13-8 before the UC Davis offense got back to work, digging into that lead in the ninth
• The Aggies recorded a run on Wolbert's leadoff homer, tightening the CSUN lead to 13-9
• Even with the late run from Wolbert, CSUN would hold on to take game one of the series

NOTABLE

• UC Davis scored every run today by way of the long ball
• Lee's four RBIs were a career-high
• Gouveia extended his on base streak to 13 games
• The last time an Aggie hit two home runs in the same game was last season on May 9^th, 2023 when Damian Stone launched two against Sacramento State

NEXT UP
The series against CSUN concludes tomorrow with a double-header starting at 11:00 a.m. (PT). Game two of the day will follow 40 minutes after. Only the first game of the double-header will be featured on ESPN+.
  Read Full Article