CSUDH Baseball Drops Two to UC Davis, 8-2 and 16-9
April 9, 2004

Complete Box Scores
Game 1       Game 2

Carson, CA -- Cal State Dominguez Hills dropped both ends of a doubleheader to visiting UC Davis, falling 8-2 in the first game before losing 16-9 in the nightcap.

With the sweep, CSUDH falls to 10-40, 5-25 CCAA, while UCD improves to 28-8, 23-3 CCAA.

CSUDH game one starter Ryan Owen (Riverside, CA/West Torrance HS) and UCD's Michael Potter engaged in a pitching duel, as each pitcher limited the opposing teams to one run each over the first five innings. The Aggies would put together two hits in the top of the sixth inning, benefitting from a costly Toro error which allowed two unearned runs to cross the plate and give UCD a 3-1 lead.

The Toros would respond in their bottom half of the seventh frame as a Joey Caira (La Palma, CA/Kennedy HS) double to left center brought home pinch-runner Fred Medina (Santa Ana, CA/Century HS), replacing Ian Corso (Thousand Oaks, CA/Thousand Oaks HS) who began the frame with a leadoff single.

UC Davis, however, would respond in the top of the ninth, exploding for five runs and putting the game away as they strung together four hits and again capitalizing on a costly Toro error, the big blow coming on a 2RBI double by Aaron Hanke.

Aggie reliever Dave McKae did the rest, hurling 2.2 innings and shutting down the Toros to earn his fourth save of the season. Toro starter Owen took the hard-luck loss, throwing 8.2 innings, allowing 11 hits and only one earned run (3-7), while UCD's Potter hurled 6.1 innings, scattering seven hits to improve to 6-0 on the season.

Jason Flores (Whittier, CA/St. Paul HS) and Corso led the Toros with three hits apiece, while the Aggies were led by Matt Blankenheim, who contributed three hits in the UCD win.

The Aggie momentum carried over to game two as they scored five runs on one hit in their first at-bats, using a Hanke grand slam to cash in four walks issued by Toro starter Raul Claros (Hawthorne, CA/Los Angeles HS).

CSUDH would score four in its first inning at-bat as the first four Toro batters reached base in the first frame, with the final two runs coming on a two-out 2RBI double from Fernando Hernandez (South Gate, CA/South Gate HS).

UCD's bats would remain hot as they would score 11 runs over the final five innings to break the game open. CSUDH answered with two runs in each of the final two innings, but it wasn't enough as UCD game-two starter Vince Decoito hurled a complete-game nine-hit victory, improving to 7-1 on the year.

Claros lasted 3.0 innings, allowing seven earned runs on five hits to take the loss (0-6).

Caira swung the hot bat for the Toros, banging four hits in four at-bats, scoring three runs and driving in two RBI. Zac Cort (El Cerrito, CA/El Cerrito HS) added his fourth home run of the year, a two-run blast in the sixth inning, while scoring two runs in the game.

For the Aggies, Andy Reisinger and Hanke each tallied three hits, with Hanke leading the charge with six RBI. Reisinger and Matt Kamigawachi also went yard for UCD as the Aggies belted four home runs on the afternoon.

CSUDH concludes its four-game series with the Aggies tomorrow, April 10, with first pitch of game one's doubleheader scheduled for a 11 a.m. start on Toro Field.