Score: UC Irvine 7, UC Davis 2
Location: Irvine, Calif. (Anteater Ballpark)
Records: UC Davis 11-16 (5-9 Big West), UC Irvine 13-17 (5-6 Big West)
THE SHORT STORY: UC Irvine scored in five of the first six innings Friday night, handing UC Davis a 7-2 loss at Anteater Ballpark to take a 2-0 series lead. The Anteaters built a 4-0 advantage through three innings and never looked back.
LEADING OFF
- Zach Story paced the UC Davis offense, going 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.
- Braydon Wooldridge also collected two hits and scored the Aggies' final run in the ninth, finishing the night 2-for-4.
- Elijah McNeal was 1-for-4 on the day with an RBI single.
- Keenan Anzai also drove in a run with a single to left field in the ninth inning.
- Freshman Taylor Werth was a bright spot out of the bullpen, firing 2.0 scoreless innings with three strikeouts on just 29 pitches.
- Werth and Jack Meek combined for 2.2 innings of scoreless relief.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- UC Irvine got on the board in the first thanks to an Auggie Gutierrez lifted sacrifice fly to right field, making it 1-0.
- Zach Doyle singled home a run in the second to double the lead, and Noah Alvarez tripled home another in the third before scoring on a Crandall ground-rule double to push it to 4-0.
- The Aggies broke through in the fifth when Story ripped a ground-rule double down the third-base line, moved to third on an Anzai groundout, and scored on a McNeal RBI single through the left side to cut it to 4-1.
- UC Irvine answered with a run in the fifth, and two more in the sixth, to make it 7-1.
- UC Davis added a run in the ninth when Wooldridge came around to score on Anzai's RBI single to left, but the Aggies could not sustain the rally, and the score held at 7-2.
UP NEXT
UC Davis looks to stave off the sweep in the series finale tomorrow at Anteater Ballpark. First pitch is set for 1:00 PM.
