SACRAMENTO — Sophomore Jacob Cortez finished 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored to help his team take a lead midway through Tuesday night's contest against UC Davis, but the Aggies scored single runs in the seventh and eighth innings lifting them to a 3-2 win over Sacramento State at John Smith Field.
The Hornets fell to 21-25 overall on the year with the defeat, while UC Davis improved to 19-23 overall.
Junior Tyler White and sophomore Ryan Christiansen added hits for Sacramento State, which combined to draw a total of eight walks off the Aggies' pitching staff, but could plate only one of those as the two offenses combined to strand a total of 16 runners on base for the night — 11 of those in scoring position.
A home run by UC Davis in the third was quickly erased with single runs by the Hornets in the fourth and fifth to give them their first lead of the night.
Sacramento State took advantage of a bit of wildness from the Aggies to plate the tying run as walks to JP Smith and Jaxon Byrd forced a pitching change. After a flyout, a ground ball hit to short was thrown away by the UC Davis infield trying to turn a double play, bouncing into the dugout to allow Smith to score from third to make it a 1-1 game.
In the fifth, a pair of singles put runners at the corners for Gunner Gouldsmith, whose fly ball to left was deep enough to score Cortez for the 2-1 advantage.
Another home run by the Aggies — this one a solo shot in the seventh — brought the visitors even and UC Davis rallied to take the lead for good in the eighth as a double and a sacrifice put the go-ahead run at third. Braydon Wooldridge, facing a drawn-in infield grounded a ball to second, but pinch-runner Damian Stone was able to slide under the tag attempt by Cortez at the plate for the 3-2 lead.
The Hornets could not manufacture another comeback as the Aggie bullpen retired 10 of the final 11 batters in the game, allowing only a two-out walk in the ninth before closing out the game.
Kaden Hogan (1-0) earned the win as the seventh pitcher of the night for UC Davis, throwing 1.1 innings without allowing a hit or a run, while Carter Delaney picked up his third save of the year, pitching a scoreless ninth. Noah Lucchesi (2-2) suffered the loss, allowing a run on a hit in two-thirds of an inning, striking out one.
Sacramento State returns to Western Athletic Conference play this weekend on the road, heading to the Lone Star State to take on UT Arlington for a three-game series on May 3-5.
