Monday, March 29, 2010
Fresno State Series
The Aggies came into Fresno having played very good baseball as of late. After three games against the Bulldogs the Aggies now know that they have a lot of things to work on before they start conference play on April 1st in Fullerton. Overall it was a very tough weekend of baseball for UC Davis. I actually had the honor of being on site at Pete Beiden Field to call the evening game for KDVS alongside sports director Ben Taylor.
The Aggies came into Fresno Friday night with a good chance at coming away with a win. The reason for that was the Ags were throwing their ace Dayne Quist. Friday night was the first time all season Quist looked human on the mound. Before facing the Bulldogs Quist had 4 wins in 4 starts along with a 1.83 ERA while only allowing opponents to hit .167 against him. Friday was a very different story for the young southpaw. He looked very hittable against the potent offense of the Fresno State Bulldogs. The Aggie ace lasted 6 innings, which is his shortest appearance on the season, and he gave up 8 runs on 11 hits. I'll be looking at Quist more in depth later this week but Friday night presented a laundry list of things that he needs to improve on to get back to his dominant ways.
The Aggies offense didn't do much to help out their pitcher, being held to just 2 runs on 6 hits. Even worse, two of the Aggies top batters went with out a hit on the night. Scott Lyman and Eric Johnson both had very rough nights as they went a combined 0 for 8 with 2 strikeouts and left 7 runners on base. The other hitter in the heart of the lineup for the Aggies, clean up hitter David Popkins, preformed decently going 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored. Scott Kalush also had a nice night at the plate, going 1 for 2 with a walk and a run batted in. As far as the bullpen went, Scott Chew got some game time for the first time this season and looked decent. Chew could work out to be a nice southpaw coming out of the pen.
Overall Friday night was a good example of how the Aggies don't want to play once they hit the conference schedule. The pitching was sub-par for pretty much the entire night and the hitting left a lot to be desired. What made it even worse was just how good the Bulldogs looked in those two facets of the game.
From the outset it was clear that this Bulldogs team could mash, scoring 3 runs against Quist in the first inning. The offense continued in the second inning behind the bat of Junior second baseman Danny Muno, who finished the night 2 for 3 with a walk, 1 RBI and 2 runs scored. To start the bottom of the second, Muno drilled a no-doubter home run to right field. Quist held the Bulldogs scoreless for a couple innings but in the 5th the Bulldogs broke the game wide open with 4 runs. Quist was outpitched by fellow lefty Josh Poytress, who went 7 innings for Fresno. The 7 innings was a career high, and he held the Aggies to just 5 hits while walking 4. After the 5th inning of this game you could tell the the Aggies had been morally defeated.
The Saturday night game also had a 6:05 first pitch time but had a very different feel to the start of the game. Anthony Kupbens pitched very well through 6 innings but the term hit the wall seems to fit for how the game ended for the young lefty. He had a very nice slow loopy curve working off and on throughout the game that, when combined with his 84-85mph fastball, was very effective. His command was iffy from the get-go walking 5 and leaving the game with multiple runners on base that the bullpen had to deal with. Writing about this game is especially hard because of how it ended.
As I said before, I was on site for KDVS calling the game. To watch the Aggie pitching completely fall apart at the end of the game was difficult to say the least. The Aggies tried to hold off the Bulldog offense but the combination of strong Fresno State hitters and the struggles in the UC Davis bullpen gave the feeling that, even though the Aggies had led big early, the momentum was no longer in their favor. The Aggies allowed 6 runs in the last 3 innings to finish with a disappointing 7-6 loss. That will be a point of high concern going forward in my opinion. The starters won't be able to go 9 innings every game so they're going to have to get some help from the other pitchers on the roster.
The Aggies came into Fresno Friday night with a good chance at coming away with a win. The reason for that was the Ags were throwing their ace Dayne Quist. Friday night was the first time all season Quist looked human on the mound. Before facing the Bulldogs Quist had 4 wins in 4 starts along with a 1.83 ERA while only allowing opponents to hit .167 against him. Friday was a very different story for the young southpaw. He looked very hittable against the potent offense of the Fresno State Bulldogs. The Aggie ace lasted 6 innings, which is his shortest appearance on the season, and he gave up 8 runs on 11 hits. I'll be looking at Quist more in depth later this week but Friday night presented a laundry list of things that he needs to improve on to get back to his dominant ways.
The Aggies offense didn't do much to help out their pitcher, being held to just 2 runs on 6 hits. Even worse, two of the Aggies top batters went with out a hit on the night. Scott Lyman and Eric Johnson both had very rough nights as they went a combined 0 for 8 with 2 strikeouts and left 7 runners on base. The other hitter in the heart of the lineup for the Aggies, clean up hitter David Popkins, preformed decently going 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored. Scott Kalush also had a nice night at the plate, going 1 for 2 with a walk and a run batted in. As far as the bullpen went, Scott Chew got some game time for the first time this season and looked decent. Chew could work out to be a nice southpaw coming out of the pen.
Overall Friday night was a good example of how the Aggies don't want to play once they hit the conference schedule. The pitching was sub-par for pretty much the entire night and the hitting left a lot to be desired. What made it even worse was just how good the Bulldogs looked in those two facets of the game.
From the outset it was clear that this Bulldogs team could mash, scoring 3 runs against Quist in the first inning. The offense continued in the second inning behind the bat of Junior second baseman Danny Muno, who finished the night 2 for 3 with a walk, 1 RBI and 2 runs scored. To start the bottom of the second, Muno drilled a no-doubter home run to right field. Quist held the Bulldogs scoreless for a couple innings but in the 5th the Bulldogs broke the game wide open with 4 runs. Quist was outpitched by fellow lefty Josh Poytress, who went 7 innings for Fresno. The 7 innings was a career high, and he held the Aggies to just 5 hits while walking 4. After the 5th inning of this game you could tell the the Aggies had been morally defeated.
The Saturday night game also had a 6:05 first pitch time but had a very different feel to the start of the game. Anthony Kupbens pitched very well through 6 innings but the term hit the wall seems to fit for how the game ended for the young lefty. He had a very nice slow loopy curve working off and on throughout the game that, when combined with his 84-85mph fastball, was very effective. His command was iffy from the get-go walking 5 and leaving the game with multiple runners on base that the bullpen had to deal with. Writing about this game is especially hard because of how it ended.
As I said before, I was on site for KDVS calling the game. To watch the Aggie pitching completely fall apart at the end of the game was difficult to say the least. The Aggies tried to hold off the Bulldog offense but the combination of strong Fresno State hitters and the struggles in the UC Davis bullpen gave the feeling that, even though the Aggies had led big early, the momentum was no longer in their favor. The Aggies allowed 6 runs in the last 3 innings to finish with a disappointing 7-6 loss. That will be a point of high concern going forward in my opinion. The starters won't be able to go 9 innings every game so they're going to have to get some help from the other pitchers on the roster.
Unfortunately the one game that I was unable to see in person was by far the best performance of the weekend for the Aggies. Scott Lyman took the mound Sunday afternoon and he showed everyone that when he is put in the right situation he has a very good chance at being something special.
It only took Lyman 85 pitches to complete the game and get his first victory of the year. Lyman had what was easily the best showing of his on the mound this season. He did walk a few too many batters at 4 but he held the Bulldogs to 6 hits and only 1 earned run. One of the most important things for Lyman was keeping Danny Muno hitless and only allowing him on the bases 1 time. Paul Politi lead the Aggie offense chipping in at 3 for 5 for the night with 2 runs scored and 2 RBI. Politi went yard in the top of the 9th to put the game out of reach of the Bulldogs.
It only took Lyman 85 pitches to complete the game and get his first victory of the year. Lyman had what was easily the best showing of his on the mound this season. He did walk a few too many batters at 4 but he held the Bulldogs to 6 hits and only 1 earned run. One of the most important things for Lyman was keeping Danny Muno hitless and only allowing him on the bases 1 time. Paul Politi lead the Aggie offense chipping in at 3 for 5 for the night with 2 runs scored and 2 RBI. Politi went yard in the top of the 9th to put the game out of reach of the Bulldogs.
The Aggies will have one more chance before conference play starts on Thursday in Fullerton. Tomorrow, weather permitting, they will be in the friendly confines of Dobbins Stadium facing the Saint Mary's Gaels. Since it's a midweek match-up it's not clear who will be starting but whoever it is they are likely to need the bullpens help at some point.
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