DAVIS, Calif. – The UC Davis softball team continued its winning ways, sweeping the final day of the Capital Classic on Sunday. The Aggies started off with a 5-0 shutout victory over Southern Utah and then capped off the day with a 7-4 win over Causeway rival Sacramento State. After the tournament, UCD improves to 10-5 on the season.
Junior Leah Polson paced the Aggies offensively over the five games this weekend, batting .467 on a team-high seven hits and four runs. Junior Bella Pahulu added a .455 average in four games played, while junior Sarah Starks batted .333 with a home run. Junior Anna Dethlefson chipped in a .313 average and was a perfect 5-for-5 in stolen bases.
The Aggies pitching staff was brilliant all weekend long, sporting an 0.80 ERA while holding the opposition to a .180 batting average. Junior Kenedi Brown was a perfect 2-0 with a flawless 0.00 ERA. Brown struck out 14 in 13 innings pitched and only surrendered five hits.
Game 1
Brown and junior Taylor Fitzgerald combined to toss a shutout on Sunday as the UC Davis Aggies blanked the Southern Utah Thunderbirds, 5-0, in the first game on the final day of the Capital Classic.
Brown (6-2) started and picked up the win for UC Davis (9-5), going six shutout innings while giving up three hits, walking one, and striking out eight. Fitzgerald closed the door in the seventh, pitching a perfect frame.
Anna Dethlefson batted 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI. Sophomore Sophia Eftekhari put together a 1-for-2 effort with a walk and two RBI. Junior Libbie McMahan also contributed for UC Davis, putting together one hit in three trips to the plate while adding a double and an RBI.
The Aggies took the lead for good in the fourth, scoring for the first time in the inning. Eftekhari drove in two runs for UC Davis with a single, that scored junior Sarah Starks and sophomore Bella Pahulu.
The Aggies then tacked on runs in the fifth and sixth innings, with their biggest output coming in the fifth when they scored two times. The key hit in the two-run frame was an RBI double from McMahan.
Game 2
The UC Davis Aggies took a 2-0 lead in the first inning and never trailed from there on the way to a 7-4 victory against Causeway rival Sacramento State on Sunday.
Freshman Caroline Grimes (1-0) picked up the victory out of the bullpen for UC Davis (10-5). The right-hander went five innings, giving up two runs, one earned, on six hits, allowing one walk and striking out three.
Junior Sarah Nakahara banged out three hits in the ballgame with a triple. Senior Sommer Kisling provided a 2-for-4 effort with three RBI. Pahulu batted 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.
The Aggies got the scoring started early, putting one run on the board in the bottom the first inning with the game still scoreless. UCD scored twice, with one run coming across on Kisling's single.
The Hornets then tied the ballgame at two before the Aggies came back to reclaim their advantage in the second inning. The UC Davis offense exploded for four runs, highlighted by a two-run single off the bat of Kisling, which brought the score to 6-2 in favor of the Aggies.
Sacramento State narrowed UC Davis' lead to 6-3, before the Aggies stretched the advantage to 7-3 in the fifth inning. Sacramento State put one run on the scoreboard for the final 7-4 margin.
UC Davis will continue its homestand against Pac-12 foe Cal. The two teams will play on Tuesday, March 7 with first pitch slated for 3 p.m.
