DAVIS, Calif. — Big West action on the diamond continues for UC Davis baseball, as the Aggies will play host to Hawai'i for a three-game series starting Friday, April 5.
 
Free Glizzy Friday kickstarts an exciting weekend at Dobbins Stadium as the first 200 students in attendance to the series opener will receive a free hot dog.
 
The series against the Rainbow Warriors offers the Aggies a great opportunity to climb the Big West standings as well as the RPI rankings if UC Davis is able to secure another series at Dobbins Stadium.

GAME SCHEDULE (GAMES 27-29)
- Friday, April 5 | 2:30 p.m. PT | ESPN+ | Free Glizzy Friday
- Saturday, April 6 | 1:00 p.m. PT | ESPN+
- Sunday, April 7 | 1:00 p.m. PT | ESPN+

PROJECTED STARTERS
- Friday: LHP Bryan Green vs. RHP Alex Giroux
- Saturday: RHP Noel Valdez vs. LHP Randy Abshier
- Sunday: RHP Tyler Wood vs. TBD

ABOUT THE RAINBOW WARRIORS
Hawai'i is led by Rich Hill, one of the all-time winningest coaches in college baseball history, and the Rainbow Warriors enter the weekend with a 16-10 mark overall. Despite carrying a 2-4 record in Big West games, the Rainbow Warriors are fresh off winning their most recent mid-week game against Hawai'i Pacific. Hawai'i has picked up some big time wins this year, including a win over No. 13 ranked NC State, and a pair of wins against Ole Miss. This season, Hawai'i has only lost two series, falling to NC State, and most recently, losing to No. 20 ranked UC Irvine.
 
From a statistical perspective, Hawai'i is one of the most competitive teams within the conference when it comes to every at-bat. Two areas where Hawai'i stands out is their offense is ranked 13^th in the nation in on-base percentage, and their pitching staff ranks 17^th in strikeout-to-walk ratio.

LAST TIME OUT
UC Davis recently lost their latest series to CSUN, dropping two out of three to the Matadors in Northridge. In the series opener, the offenses between both programs went toe-to-toe with each team slamming four home runs, as Mark Wolbert became the first Aggie this season to blast a pair in the same game. Despite the offensive production, the Aggies were outslugged, dropping the opener 13-9. In the second game of the series, UC Davis used another characteristic come from behind win, executing with timely hitting to score two runs in the top of the ninth to secure the 5-4 win. In the finale, the Matadors jumped out to an early 2-0 lead which was quickly answered with two UC Davis runs to bring the score even to 2-2, but CSUN would eventually go on to score nine unanswered runs to steal the series with a 11-2 win.

FIGHTING AGGIES
UC Davis has made it a theme this season to rally from behind, finding ways to win in extra innings, and fighting till the last out. The most obvious example was UC Davis' come from behind win against UC Irvine in which the Aggies overturned a 9-1, ninth inning deficit. Their most recent effort was a two-run comeback during the top of the ninth against CSUN to take a 5-4 win during game two of the series against the Matadors. UC Davis also has an impressive 3-0 record in extra-inning games, and a 7-8 record in games when trailing after the fifth inning, showing their resilience to stage a comeback no matter the circumstances, even if they are trailing deep into ballgames.
 
On an individual front, Alex Gouveia and Riley Acosta have been among the hardest hitters in all of Division I baseball to strike out, with Gouveia ranking 13^th in the country while Acosta is 148^th. The pair both rank top-10 in the Big West in the category, with Gouveia being second in conference, while Acosta is the seventh hardest hitter to strikeout.

EXECUTION AT ITS FINEST
The Aggies have used a new offensive philosophy to supplement their run scoring. Ranking fifth in the country in sacrifice bunts, UC Davis has been using every available opportunity to put players in scoring position and put pressure on opposing defenses. With 28 sacrifice bunts this season, Joey Wright leads all Aggies and ranks 16^th in the country with six sacrifices while fellow Aggie teammates Nick Leehey and Riley Acosta rank top-10 in the conference in sacrifice bunts per game. These efforts are a clear byproduct of the Aggies willingness to sacrifice bunt to generate runs as a team.
 
DID YOU KNOW?
The Aggies are one of just nine teams in the nation to have recorded 25 or more sacrifice bunts this season, after recording just 15 combined during the entire 2023 season.
 
SEEING IT WELL
Ryan Lee has been seeing it well as of late, leading UC Davis in batting average, as well as slugging and on-base percentage. Sporting a team-high five game hitting streak entering the weekend, Lee has coupled consistent production with a knack for hitting with runners on base, where his batting average skyrockets to a .563, going 9-for-16 in at-bats this season when runners have occupied the bases.
 
IN THE RANKINGS
UC Davis made its first entry into D1Baseball's West Coast Rankings in the March 28 poll. UC Davis also is 89^th in the NCAA RPI, which ranks fourth among Big West teams, only trailing UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara and CSUN.

DEFENDING DOBBINS
The Aggies in their short number of games this season, have shown to rise to the occasion when it comes to defending Dobbins Stadium. In twelve games this season, the Aggies are 9-3 at home, highlighted by their series wins over BYU, Seattle U, and UC San Diego.

EXPERIENCED LINEUP
UC Davis returns a very experienced group of players, with 29 returners on the roster. On any given day, UC Davis more likely than not, features at least seven returners who have started games in past seasons with the exceptions being Jason Hanson, Ethan Felix, and Tyler Howard also registering starts on regular occasions.

DRAFT NOTES
D1Baseball listed both Mark Wolbert and Joey Wright as potential prospects for UC Davis in the next few years. A promising prospect who entered last season tabbed as the top MLB Draft prospect in the Big West, Wolbert this preseason was slotted as the 16th ranked prospect in the Big West by D1Baseball for the 2024 MLB Draft class. D1Baseball also listed Wright as the seventh ranked Big West prospect in the 2025 MLB Draft class.

AGGIE PRESEASON PREDICTION
UC Davis was picked to finish ninth in the Big West Preseason Team Poll and will look to improve on their 17-37 record from a season ago.

UP NEXT
The Aggies will stay at home after their series against Hawai'i, hosting San Francisco on Tuesday, April 9 at 2:30 p.m. (PT) for Faculty and Staff Appreciation Day.