Score: CSUN 11, UC Davis 2
Location: Northridge, Calif. (Hiegert Field)
Records: UC Davis 17-19 (8-12 Big West), CSUN 21-16 (10-10 Big West)

THE SHORT STORY: UC Davis baseball dropped the middle game of its weekend series at CSUN on Saturday, falling 11-2 at Hiegert Field. The Aggies kept it close through six innings before the Matadors broke the game open with a six-run seventh. Elijah McNeal's fourth-inning solo home run accounted for half of the UC Davis offense, while Kai Mault added an RBI double in the eighth.

LEADING OFF

• McNeal put UC Davis on the board in the fourth with a solo home run to left
• Mault drove in the Aggies' second run with an RBI double down the line in the eighth
• Noel Valdez got the start and worked 4.0 innings, allowing three runs on nine hits with five strikeouts
• Mason Lerma logged 2.2 innings of relief, striking out one
• Tyler Howard went 1-for-4 with a double
• Braydon Wooldridge reached base three times on a hit and two walks
• UC Davis drew four walks as a team

HOW IT HAPPENED

• CSUN broke the scoreless tie in the third on an Andrew Becker RBI single to score Vaughn Coleman
• McNeal answered in the top of the fourth with a solo homer to left to tie the game at 1-1
• CSUN retook the lead in the bottom half on a Jehee Lee sacrifice fly and a Trent Abel RBI single, making it 3-1
• CSUN broke the game open with a six-run seventh, capped by Vaughn Coleman's grand slam to left field. Two UC Davis errors in the frame resulted in all six runs being unearned
• The Matadors tacked on two more in the eighth on a Will Linberg RBI double
• Mault doubled down the left field line in the top of the eighth for UC Davis' second run, scoring Williams

UP NEXT
UC Davis closes the series at CSUN on Sunday. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m. with Jack Pezzolo set to start on the mound for the Aggies.