Score: UC Davis 4, Hawai'i 2
Location: Davis, Calif. (Dobbins Stadium)
Records: UC Davis 25-25 (13-16 Big West), Hawai'i 25-20
THE SHORT STORY: UC Davis evened its final Big West Conference weekend series with a 4-2 win over Hawai'i on Saturday night at Dobbins Stadium.
Jack Pezzolo opened with 5.1 scoreless innings of three-hit ball to earn his second win of the season, and
Braydon Wooldridge highlighted a three-run seventh with a two-run home run to right field that pushed the Aggie lead to 4-0.
Rowen Barnes recorded his 11th save of the season after closing out the ninth in order. Hekili Robello (8-4) took the loss for Hawai'i. The win keeps UC Davis mathematically alive for one of the five spots in the Big West Conference Championship heading into Sunday's regular-season finale, though the path forward requires both a Sunday victory and significant help from results elsewhere in the conference next week.
LEADING OFF
- Pezzolo (2-2) earned the win after 5.1 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and three walks with two strikeouts on 74 pitches
- Wooldridge finished 1-for-3 with a two-run home run to right field in the seventh inning, his third long ball of the season
- Barnes recorded his 11th save with 1.1 scoreless innings of one-hit ball and two strikeouts on 23 pitches
- Ethan Felix went 2-for-4 and came through with arguably was the most important hit of the game, a triple in the seventh that set up the Aggies' three-run rally
- Jaxon Murphy added a 1-for-3 night with the RBI single in the seventh that scored Felix from third
- Zach Story finished 1-for-3 with a double down the left field line in the third that helped set up the Aggies' first run
- Tyler Howard drove in Joey Wright on an RBI groundout in the third for the game's first run
- Peter Storjohann despite allowing two runs over 2.1 innings of relief, was critical for the Aggies, recording two strikeouts on 47 pitches andÂ
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Pezzolo and Robello traded zeros through the first two innings before UC Davis broke through in the bottom of the third.
- Joey Wright was hit by a pitch with one out, Story doubled down the left field line to move Wright to third, and Howard's RBI groundout to short scored Wright for a 1-0 Aggie lead.
- Pezzolo navigated five-plus scoreless innings before Storjohann relieved with one out and runners on first and second in the top of the sixth, working out of the inning with a strikeout looking and a flyout.
- UC Davis broke the game open in the bottom of the seventh: Felix tripled to right center to start the rally, Murphy followed with an RBI single to left field to plate Felix, and Wooldridge capped the inning with a two-run home run to right field that scored Murphy for a 4-0 lead.
- Hawai'i answered in the top of the eighth on consecutive singles by Draven Nushida and Gabe Wright, a Kamana Nahaku sacrifice bunt that moved the runners up, and a two-RBI double to right field by Ben Zeigler-Namoa that cut the deficit to 4-2.
- Barnes set Hawai'i down in order in the top of the ninth, recording one strikeout to lock up the win and his 11th save of the season.
UP NEXT
UC Davis closes the regular season and its tenure in the Big West Conference on Sunday in the series finale against Hawai'i, with first pitch set for 1 p.m. at Phil Swimley Field at Dobbins Stadium. A Sunday win, combined with results around the conference next week, would keep the Aggies in the chase for one of the five spots in the Big West Championship field.
