Score: UC Davis 8, Fresno State 4
Location: Fresno, Calif. (Pete Beiden Field at Bob Bennett Stadium)
Records: UC Davis 18-20 (8-13 Big West), Fresno State 11-25-1 (1-10-1 Mountain West)
THE SHORT STORY: UC Davis baseball flipped a scoreless pitchers' duel on its head with a six-run sixth inning and never looked back, beating Fresno State 8-4 on Monday afternoon at Pete Beiden Field.
Jaxon Murphy's two-out grand slam highlighted the big frame,
Kai Mault added a solo homer in the seventh and
Taylor Werth earned his first win of the season in relief of starter
Braydon Wooldridge, who went 4.2 scoreless innings.
LEADING OFF
- Murphy finished 2-for-5 with a grand slam and four RBI, his second home run of the year
- Mault went 3-for-5 with a solo home run, his second of the season
- Wooldridge tossed 4.2 scoreless innings with four hits, two walks and no strikeouts on 64 pitches
- Werth (1-1) earned the win after getting the final out of the fifth, stranding three inherited runners
- Howard went 1-for-5 with a triple and scored in the ninth on an error giving UC Davis a much needed insurance run late
- Joey Wright also added a pair of hits, going 2-for-3 on the day
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Wooldridge and Fresno State's Tyler Patrick dueled through the first four innings with neither team cracking the scoreboard.
- The Bulldogs threatened in the fifth, loading the bases before Werth entered and struck out Brady Hewitt looking to end the threat.
- UC Davis broke the deadlock with a six-run sixth, starting with back-to-back singles from Mault and McNeal, a Story hit by pitch to load the bases, a Johnson RBI single, a Burnham sacrifice fly, a Wright hit by pitch and Murphy's two-out grand slam to deep right field.
- Fresno State answered with two unearned runs in the bottom half on a throwing error that allowed Sotomayor and Collins to score.
- Mault extended the lead to 7-2 in the seventh with a solo homer to left.
- The Bulldogs trimmed the margin to 7-4 in the bottom of the seventh on Griffen Sotomayor's two-run homer to right, his fifth of the season, scoring Hewitt.
- Howard added an insurance run in the ninth after tripling to left center and scoring on a throwing error.
- Mason Lerma closed out the ninth with two strikeouts and a flyout to secure the win.
UP NEXT
UC Davis returns home to host Sacramento State on Tuesday, April 21 for the Causeway rivalry matchup at Dobbins Stadium.
