May 31, 2008

Box Score

STANFORD, Calif. - Nate Simon and Denny Duron both hit two-run homers, and No. 2 seed Pepperdine used three multiple run innings to defeat UC Davis, 7-4, in the fourth game of the NCAA Division I Stanford Regional Saturday night in front of 1,805 fans at Klein Field at Sunken Diamond. Ty Kelly led the Aggies with four hits, two doubles and two RBIs.

The win improves the Waves to 38-19 overall and sends them into the regional championship game on Sunday night . UC Davis falls to 35-23 and will face Stanford tomorrow for the chance to play Pepperdine again in the championship game.

"I thought both teams played fairly well, they (Pepperdine) just got a few more quality at bats with guys on base than we did and that was the difference," said UC Davis head coach Rex Peters. "They got one more crooked numbers up there in the seventh and eighth than we did and that was the difference in the ball game."

Kelly's four hits tied his season best while his two doubles and two runs batted in were also game highs. Ryan Scoma and Matt Demspey each had RBI singles for the Aggies in the game.

Simon finished the game with a two-run homer, two runs scored and a triple. Duron matched Simon with a two-run home run and two runs scored while Chase d'Arnaud and David Harris each added two hits. A total of five Waves hitters had RBIs.

UC Davis had its chances to score runs throughout the game but stranded 12 runners. The Waves stranded eight.

d'Arnaud got the first Pepperdine hit in the second inning with a bloop single to shallow center field. Nate Simon homered the next at bat to put the Waves up 2-0.

The Aggies loaded the bases in the bottom of the second with a two-out rally, but couldn't drive them home. Kevin James walked and Evan Hudson had the first Aggie hit. Demspey was hit by a pitch on the top of his helmet to load the bases.

UC Davis got on the board in the third inning with a single run to cut the lead in half, 2-1. Ryan Royster walked to open the inning and Kelly singled. Jake Jefferies narrowly missed a three-run home run to right field as his ball was kept in the park thanks to winds blowing into the stadium from right field. Royster was able to tag up on the play and was brought home the next at bat off Scoma's single down the right field side. Waves starter Brett Hunter got the next two batters to strikeout to strand two and get out of the inning.

The Waves loaded the bases in the fifth with one out, but Aggie starter Brad McAtee got out of the jam with a 5-4-3 double play to keep the game within one run. UC Davis got out of trouble again in the sixth after the lead off hitter was hit by a pitch as a strikeout out and a strike out-caught stealing double play ended the inning.

The Aggies tied the score at 2-2 in the sixth with another single run. Pepperdine walked the first three batters, but got one runner on a caught stealing for the first out in the inning. After changing pitchers, Dempsey singled up the middle to drive home Kevin James and tie the score. A pop out and strike out ended the threat for UC Davis.

Pepperdine reclaimed the lead in the seventh with another two-run inning. Duron singled to start the inning and advanced to second on a ground out. Bryce Mendonca then lined a single to left field and Duron charged hard around the bases to score from second. Mendoca then manufactured another run as he stole second and then advanced to third on a passed ball. He scored on the next play off Matt Aidem's RBI single.

The Waves used a three-run two-out rally in the eighth to break the game open. With a runner on second, Duron sent a 1-2 pitch over the left field wall for Pepperdine's second two-run homer of the game. Donald Brown then singled and stole second, and Harris lined a double to right field to bring him home.

UC Davis put together its own two-out rally in the bottom half of the eighth with two runs off Kelly's double down the right field line. The Aggies loaded the bases with two walks and a hit to set up Kelly's two-run extra-base hit.

Tyler Hess pitched two innings and gave up two runs on two hits, but got his fourth victory of the season. Nick Gaudi did not give up a hit in the final 1.1 innings to record his 15th save of the season. McAtee got the loss for UC Davis.

The Aggies will play Stanford for the second time in the regional tomorrow at 1 p.m. UC Davis will be the home team for the game, which will be simulcast live on KDVS 90.3 FM and ucdavisaggies.com. The game will also feature a live video stream through gostanford.com. The winner faces Pepperdine in the first game of the championship round. The regional will go through Monday if the winner of the UC Davis Stanford game defeats Pepperdine on Sunday night.