Saturday, May 31, 2008

Aggies not only Cinderella

UNION CITY - The UC Davis baseball team was considered the most dangerous No. 4 seed in the college regionals and the Aggies responded, beating Stanford 4-2 on Friday at Sunken Diamond.

UCD (35-22) was not the only 4 seed to advance though. Lipscomb upset Georgia 10-7 in the Athens Regional and in Long Beach, Fresno State upset the 49ers 7-3. Other Big West teams did advance though as Cal State Fullerton thumped Rider 11-0 and UC Irvine edged Oral Roberts 9-7.

The biggest upset though came in the Tallahassee Regional where Bucknell upset Florida State, the No. 2-ranked team in the nation, 7-0. It was only the Seminoles' 11th loss of the season and first time they had been shut out.

The Aggies will throw Brad McAtee today against No. 2 Pepperdine (37-19). The Waves escaped with a 4-3 win over Arkansas, needing a diving catch in the ninth by Nate Simon to preserve the victory.

The Waves were 7-4 against Big West teams this season, beating Fullerton, Long Beach, Santa Barbara Cal Poly and Riverside. They didn't play UCD or the conference's bottom feeders, Pacific or Northridge.

Since ace Nathan Newman started the opener, Pepperdine has a few choices today, but none has overwhelming numbers: Scott Alexander (7-4, 4.44), Matt Bywater (7-2, 4.97) or Robert Dickman (3-5, 5.46). Baseball America is guessing that the Waves may throw a wild card in Brett Hunter (14 strikeouts in 14 2/3 innings) against the Aggies.

Friday, May 30, 2008

The hat trick

STANFORD - Internet problems at Stanford did not allow a live blog, but Friday's Stanford Regional was everything the Aggies could have hoped for.

Senior Eddie Gamboa threw an unofficial 127 pitches and outdueled Cardinal ace Erik Davis as the Aggies advanced with a 4-2 win in front of 2,644 fans at Sunken Diamond. UCD beat Stanford for the third time this season.

Gamboa was sensational, striking out seven and allowing four hits, but none after the fifth. He walked the leadoff batter in the ninth, but Brent Milleville lined into a double play and Gamboa blew a 3-and-2 fastball past Randy Molina to end the game.

Gamboa's effort reached beyond the win though. The Aggies didn't have to use their bullpen, as the entire pitching staff will be rested for the rest of the regional.

Davis was sharp himself, retiring the first 10 batters of the game, four of those by strikeout. The Aggies hit into double plays in the fourth and fifth and appeared to be headed for the loser's bracket in the regional.

Instead, UCD rallied with four in the seventh. The key at-bat in the inning might have been Ryan Scoma, who couldn't get a bunt down with runners at first and second but singled to left to make it a 2-1 game. Evan Hudson put UCD ahead 3-2 with a single down the line in left and Matt Dempsey's suicide squeeze scored the final run.

Strangely enough, Stanford held two of the Aggies' big guns - Jake Jefferies and Ryan Royster - hitless in seven at-bats, although Jefferies did walk in the four-run seventh.

The Aggies take on Pepperdine at 5 p.m. on Saturday. A win against the Waves and UCD has the inside track on winning the regional.

For more on the Stanford win and the Saturday game, check out Sunday's Enterprise.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Tickets at Stanford

This note from the Stanford media relations office:

Here's the link on gostanford.com regarding ticket sales for this weekend.

According to the link, only all-session tickets are available for
advance purchase That began at 9 a.m. on Tuesday. Single-game tickets go on sale on Friday at 9 a.m.

Call 1-800-STANFORD or visit www.gostanford.com for any questions regarding tickets to the NCAA Regional.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Women's wrestling

UC Davis has completed just about all of the Title IX litigation connected to the cutting of four women from the wrestling program back in the 2000-01 academic year. But there's another side of the story. Former Aggie wrestling coach Michael Burch, who took $725K off the university in a settlement after alleging his firing was retaliation for supporting the women, told me once in an interview that women's wrestling would soon be a growth sport. In fact, he said, UCD was missing an opportunity to get in on the ground floor. Now he's telling the same thing to The New York Times, which has a story today on the growth of women's wrestling at small colleges. Can bigger programs be far behind?

The Ags' chances

Here's what Baseball America writer Aaron Fitt thought about UC Davis' chances in the Stanford regional:

Q: Tim from Northridge, Calif asks:
I saw UC Davis play against Cal State Northridge all weekend. With good starting pitching and an outstanding offense, can UC Davis win that regional having owned the only standout, Stanford, in the regular season?

A: Aaron Fitt: I think the Aggies can win that regional. They're probably the most dangerous 4 seed in the tournament -- UC Davis and Fresno State are the only No. 4 seeds capable of winning regionals, in my opinion. And I don't like Fresno's chances in that loaded Long Beach regional without Tanner Scheppers, so Davis has the best shot to carry the banner for No. 4 seeds.

Off the bubble

Players gathered at pitcher Brad McAtee's house on Monday morning to watch ESPN's NCAA Selection Show. The Aggies thought they might have to sweep their final series of the season to make the postseason but dropped the final game at Cal State Northridge on a walkoff homer in the bottom of the ninth.

UC Santa Barbara lost its final game of the season and dropped a series at UC Irvine, however, as both teams had good credentials for being the Big West Conference's final at-large team.

The NCAA ultimately picked UCD, which finished sixth in the Big West but had a stronger RPI than Santa Barbara (52 to 61). The Gauchos, who finished a game ahead of the Aggies in the standings, played two games against NAIA Westmont and also opened the season with a sweep of a terrible Marist squad. The Aggies, to their credit, played all of their games against Division I competition.

UCD coach Rex Peters thought Santa Barbara might have gotten in with a win on Sunday at Irvine.

"Santa Barbara is a quality team," Peters said. "If they would have won a series at Irvine on the road, they might have gotten in. Who knows? They might have taken five teams from the Big West."

The Aggies received one of the final three at-large bids, along with Tulane and Arkansas, according to Baseball America. Defending two-time NCAA champ Oregon State was left off the field, along with other bubble teams Missouri State and Baylor.

The Big West was given four slots last season as well as two eventually advanced to the College World Series, another factor that might have played into the selection process this year.

Peters said the team will begin practicing again on Tuesday. He said Eddie Gamboa will throw on Friday against regional host Stanford (33-21-2), a team the Aggies beat twice this season and have won four of five against dating back to 2006.

The game at Sunken Diamond is 5 p.m. Arkansas (34-22) and Pepperdine (36-19) are scheduled to start at 1 p.m.

For a complete story on the selection, see Tuesday's Enterprise.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Draft possibilities

This came from a chat about the baseball draft with Baseball America writer Matt Blood:

Q: John Bench from San Diego asks:
With only two college catchers in your top 100, which remaining college catchers follow in the top 200?

A: Matt Blood: The catching crop is thin this year but other names in our list are: Pete Paramore from ASU, Jake Jefferies from UC Davis, Tim Federowicz from UNC, and Ryan Lavarnway from Yale. Expect these guys to go higher than their prospect rankings as there is usually a push for the premium position.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Peters suspended

The Big West has suspended UC Davis baseball coach Rex Peters one game for his outburst during Sunday's 5-3 loss to UC Irvine. He'll miss Friday's crunch series opener against Cal State Northridge. The Aggies need to win this series to have much a shot at making the postseason.

Peters was thrown in the first inning Sunday for aruging balls and strikes. Presumably he was defending senior Ryan Royster, who had just been ejected. He protest and was kicked out of the game. Before leaving the field, he threw a bag of baseballs onto the field.

"His conduct following this ejection, including the tossing of a bag full of balls onto the field and his approaching of homeplate umpire Rick Scarbery following the game, was inappropriate, unprofessional, and unsportsmanlike," Big West Commissioner Dennis Farrell said in a statement.

Peters spoke harshly about the umpire after the game to The Enterprise:

"In my opinion, the umpire was not ready to umpire when he stepped onto the field, and the strike zone in the first inning showed that," Peters said. "He wasn't calling the strike at the knees, which has been mandated by the supervisor of umps this season. Royster just asked him why he didn't get the same call, and to throw a player like him out in a game of this magnitude for that, isn't right."

UPDATE: Royster will be available for Friday's game against the Matadors.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Aggies vs. Gauchos

With UC Davis' series loss to UC Irvine, the Aggies' postseason hopes are in serious danger. UCD has lost Big West series to Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine, UC Riverside and Cal Poly while sweeping Pacific and taking two of three from UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach State. A series win (maybe a sweep) over Cal State Northridge is a must.

Santa Barbara is making a case it deserves the Big West's final at-large berth after sweeping Riverside over the weekend. Another factor possibly working against the Aggies: They're a first-year, Division I school. If it's even close with Santa Barbara, don't be surprised to see the committee give the Gauchos the nod.

Here is how Baseball America's Aaron Fitt thinks it might go down for the Aggies and Gauchos:

"As I wrote in Three Strikes today over on the College Blog, I think the Gauchos will get in if they take two of three from Irvine, and they might still have a chance if they can win just one game from the Anteaters. Davis' chances are sagging, but if the Aggies can sweep Northridge next weekend (which is very much within the realm of possibility) and Irvine wins that series at home against UCSB, Davis and Santa Barbara will have identical 14-10 records in conference play. Davis has the more impressive resume, thanks to series wins against Long Beach State, UCSB and Santa Clara, so you'd have to give UCD the upper hand in that scenario. Of course, if neither team finishes strong, the Big West will be a three-bid league."

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Building the resume

Mid-week nonleague wins aren't quite as impressive as winning series in college baseball because teams are generally saving their best pitchers for the weekend. With that in mind, however, UC Davis' 9-5 win over No. 13 Cal on Tuesday did help to boost the Aggies' resume to make the postseason.

UCD finished 5-3 against the Pac-10 and is now 8-6 against nationally ranked opponents. If the Aggies are on the "bubble" of making the NCAA field, these kind of numbers should come in handy.

The team is still in must-win territory against UC Irvine this weekend and Cal State Northridge next weekend. Losing either series could cost the Aggies an at-large bid.

Baseball America writer Aaron Fitt projected the field again this week and still has the Aggies in the Stanford regional, this time with Pepperdine and Wright State as the other teams.

He did make this point: "UC Davis, Santa Clara, College of Charleston and Notre Dame get in off the bubble, but none of them can afford any hiccups in the next two weeks."

Friday, May 9, 2008

WATER POLO: UCD 9, SDSU 8

By Michael Mirer
Enterprise staff writer
STANFORD – Casey Hines, with some help from the goal posts behind her, stood tall as the UC Davis women’s water polo team swam into uncharted waters. The Aggies held off San Diego State 9-8 on Friday, advancing to the semifinals of the NCAA Women’s Water Polo Tournament at Avery Aquatics Center.

Hines made six saves, as UCD prevented a talented Aztec offensive team. San Diego State hit the woodwork a number of times, which proved frustrating for a team that boasted two players with more than 70 goals and two more with more than 40.

“You just go one at a time,” said Hines, a sophomore who redshirted two years ago when the Aggies last reached the NCAA Tournament. “Every time I got the ball in my hands and they were swimming away, it was like, that’s one less time, that’s 30 less seconds, that’s one step closer to the end of the game.”

Davis High graduate Christi Raycraft and Lindsay Kiyama each scored three goals for the Aggies.

Kiyama scored twice in the fourth quarter to help the Aggies salt the away the game. Her goal at the far post off a slick cross from Jessica Soza with 6 minutes, 27 seconds remaining made it 7-5 after SDSU had pulled to within one. Kiyama’s six-on-five goal with 1:43 left looked like insurance, but proved to be vital as the Aztecs surged late.

SDSU scored three times in the final 2:20 of the game, but still came up short.

“I knew it was going to a one- or two-goal type of a game,” UCD head coach Jamey Wright said. “We got just enough stops. Casey played an amazing game. She’s done that all year long.”

UCD never trailed Friday, which Hines said made it a little easier to hang in against San Diego State’s determined shooters. She faced 27 shots and pronounced herself frustrated with a couple that got in. But having that advantage was a source of confidence much of the night.

“It helps,” Hines said. “Every time we block it and I get the ball, then you exhale. You still have your lead. You know when it gets to the end of the game, every inch they get, they’re going to take a shot.”

Jenna Schuster, who led the Aztecs with 76 goals this season, scored three for San Diego State.

The Aggies are the first non-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation team to reach the second round of the tournament since 2004. Fifth-seeded UCD earned itself a date with undefeated UCLA (31-0) on Saturday. The Bruins beat little Pomona Pitzer 19-6 in opening-round play earlier Friday.

The Aggies (27-8) haven’t played the Bruins since Feb. 25, 2006, when they lost 10-1 at the Gaucho Invitational in Santa Barbara.

“We’re not going to go out without a fight,” Raycraft said.

Ashley Chandler added two goals for the Aggies

The Aztecs, meanwhile, were left to lament too many missed opportunities. They hit the posts and crossbar a number of times in the first half.

“We were all over that little three-inch crossbar today,” San Diego State coach Carin Crawford said. “We got within and then would give one up. We went down by three and then we really started to take our chances. To lose a game where you don’t feel like you’ve been completely outplayed is frustrating. But credit to Davis, they absolutely put their shots away.”

Notes: Davis High graduate Heather West scored a goal Friday in Stanford’s 12-1 win over Marist. USC topped Michigan 12-3. The Cardinal and the Women of Troy will play in Saturday’s second semifinal at 5:45 p.m. … For the program, it was the first team victory in NCAA competition since 2003, when the Aggie women’s rowing team won the Division II national championship.

--Reach Michael Mirer at mmirer@davisenterprise.com

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Ags are lead item

Baseball America has a lengthy item about UC Davis baseball in its mailbag section. Aaron Fitt talks at length about the UCD pitching staff, the team's draft prospects and the chances of the Aggies being ranked if they win this weekend's road series at UC Riverside.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

UC Davis is pretty much making the grade

The latest Academic Progress Rate data is out, and UC Davis finds itself in pretty good standing with NCAA's grade police. Only two of the school's 26 sports fall below the cutoff point of 925, and even in that news, there's a fairly positive trend. Wrestling, which posted 826 in the initial release of the data two years ago, is up to 914. That said, wrestling did lose the equivalent of one scholarship. Men's swimming is at 923, which is not far enough below the line to subject the team to penalties from the NCAA.

Men's Soccer and softball, which both fell below the cutoff point last year saw marked improvements. The men's soccer team went from 894 to 935. Softball went from 841 to 926. The data is for the 2006-07 academic year.

What do these numbers mean? Every scholarship athlete can earn up to two points per semester/quarter, one for remaining eligible and one for remaining enrolled in school. The number of points earned is then divided by the maximum number of points. That quotient is then multiplied by 1000 to eliminate decimal points. According to the NCAA, the number 925 projects to a 60 percent graduation rate. Continuous offenders face the loss of scholarships and eventually will miss out on postseason events.

Monday, May 5, 2008

More poll watching

UC Davis' 3-1 week against No. 3 Stanford and No. 23 Long Beach State earned the Aggies consideration outside the top-25 in the rivals.com college baseball poll and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll.

UCD catcher Jake Jefferies and third baseman Ty Kelly appear on rivals.com's power rankings this week, rating the best players at their positions. Kelly is 14th among third baseman Jefferies is 15th among catchers.

Kelly (.415), Ryan Scoma (.381) and Jefferies (.379) occupy the top three spots in the Big West for average.

Baseball America writer Aaron Fitt predicted the field of 64 last week and projected UC Davis would be in the Stanford regional, along with Pepperdine and Lipscomb.

Speaking of Fitt, he was asked a question about why the Aggies weren't ranked in the top-25 this week and this is what he said:

"What's really hurting Davis, as far as the rankings go, is that it lost its last two series before this weekend. I do like that 7-5 mark against the top 25, though. The Aggies really do look like a regional team to me."

UCD ends an eight-game stretch against nationally ranked opponents on Tuesday when it travels to Cal (29-15-2). The Bears are 19-5-2 at home and feature top hitters Josh Satin (.401, 15 homers, 45 RBIs) and David Cooper (.389, 18, 52). Win or lose, the Aggies' matchup with UC Riverside this weekend will loom larger. The Highlanders have been one of the hottest teams since conference play began after an awful preseason.

Also, the Aggies moved up to 41st in RPI this week, according to boydsworld.com. UCD is actually just a spot ahead of Long Beach. Fullerton is 13th, Irvine is 20th and Santa Barbara is 63rd this week.

O'Sullivan in Mix

UC Davis graduate J.T. O'Sullivan apparently made a pretty big impression during 49ers minicamp this weekend. Our friends at the San Francisco Chronicle (and others) are reporting today that head coach Mike Nolan said the quarterback would in the mix for a chance at the starting job. That would be a pretty big deal.