31-25, 11-12
UC Davis
17-35, 5-18
UC Davis Takes Advantage of Five Cal Poly Errors for 11-5 Big West Victory
5/27/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — UC Davis senior southpaw Spencer Henderson scattered five hits over 8 1/3 innings and the Aggies took advantage of five Cal Poly errors en route to an 11-5 victory in the middle game of a Big West Conference baseball series Friday night in Baggett Stadium.
Henderson (2-5) struck out two and also walked two for his second win of the year for UC Davis, which snapped an eight-game losing streak and improved to 17-35 for the season and 5-18 in Big West games.
In evening the series at a game apiece, the Aggies earned just their second win in the 16-year history of Baggett Stadium. UC Davis had lost 16 consecutive games in the facility and now is 2-18 inside the home of the Mustangs.
Cal Poly fell to 31-25 and 11-12, losing for just the eighth time in 30 games at home. The Mustangs are 6-12 since April 24 when they completed a three-game series sweep against UC Santa Barbara and moved into a tie for first place with Cal State Fullerton in the Big West.
Cal Poly's five errors matched a season high set against UC Irvine on May 14. The Mustangs have made 83 errors in 56 games, second-most in Larry Lee's 14 seasons at the helm. The 2003 Mustang squad, Lee's first at Cal Poly, made 97 errors in 56 games.
One school record was tied Friday night as junior first baseman Brett Barbier was hit by a pitch for the 17th time this season. Jon Macalutas also was hit 17 times with a pitch in 1995.
UC Davis jumped to a 9-0 lead with two runs in the third frame and seven more in the fifth. All nine runs were charged to Mustang starter Erich Uelmen (5-3), who lost his third straight decision after a 5-0 start. Only one of the nine runs was earned.
Cal Poly's offense was held to just six hits for the second straight night. Six were enough for a 2-1 victory Thursday night, but far short of a victory Friday night as UC Davis produced an 11-hit offensive attack.
Left fielder Josh George (pictured above) doubled twice and knocked in two runs to lead Cal Poly at the plate. Both RBI came in a three-run ninth-inning rally. Catcher Nick Meyer added a triple in the sixth inning and scored on a grounder by John Schuknecht.
Alec Smith drove in a run in the fifth inning with a groundout and Kevin Morgan added an RBI single in the ninth.
UC Davis, which sent 12 batters to the plate for seven runs on five hits, one walk and three Mustang errors, was led offensively by Mark Cardinalli, Guillermo Salazar and Cameron Briggs, all with two hits and a pair of RBI. Brad Pluschkell added a two-run double in the third inning.
Mustang redshirt freshman right-hander Austin Dondanville pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of Uelmen, allowing two hits and striking out three.
Rubber game of the series is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday with redshirt freshman right-hander Spencer Howard (3-1, 2.45 ERA) of Cal Poly to face UC Davis senior right-hander Nat Hamby (3-6, 4.97 ERA).
A trio of Mustangs playing in their final game at Baggett Stadium -- Barbier, Schuknecht and Connor H'Hare -- will be honored in a pregame ceremony.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Henderson, Spencer (2-5)
L: Uelmen, Erich (5-3)
Batting:
2B: Pluschkell, Brad 1 ; Briggs, Cameron 1
RBI: Bily, Tanner 1 ; Pluschkell, Brad 2 ; Anderson, Ryan 1 ; Cardinalli, Mark 2 ; Salazar, Guillermo 2 ; Briggs, Cameron 2
SH: Novak, Mason 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bily, Tanner 1 ; Olson, Cameron 1 ; Aguiar, Alex 1 ; Denholm, Logan 2 ; Anderson, Ryan 1 ; Cardinalli, Mark 1 ; Salazar, Guillermo 2 ; Novak, Mason 1 ; Briggs, Cameron 1
Batting:
2B: George, Josh 2
3B: Meyer, Nick 1
RBI: Schuknecht, John 1 ; George, Josh 2 ; Smith, Alec 1 ; Morgan, Kevin 1
SH: Meyer, Nick 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Meyer, Nick 1 ; Schuknecht, John 1 ; O'Hare, Connor 1 ; George, Josh 2
CS: George, Josh 1
HBP: Barbier, Brett 1 ; Sanderson, Michael 1
PO: Schuknecht, John 1
