Dons Matchup with UC Davis Tuesday Afternoon

Tuesday, April 5

Davis, Calif.

2:30 p.m.

University of San Francisco

UC Davis

Photo by: Stephanie Trapp

4/5/2016 9:38:00 AM | Baseball

TUESDAY
USF Dons (9-21, 4-5 WCC) at UC Davis Aggies (7-15, 1-2 Big West)
Tuesday, April 5 | 2:30 p.m. | Dobbins Stadium (Davis, Calif.)
Coverage: Live Stats
Probable Starters: USF: RHP Grant Goodman (0-2, 11.88) | UCD: TBD

SAN FRANCISCO – The USF Dons (9-21, 4-5 WCC) travel to face UC Davis (7-15, 1-2 Big West) at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon at Dobbins Stadium. This will be the second matchup between the Aggies and Dons this season, as USF took the first meeting 2-1 on Mar. 1 behind Benji Post's three-inning relief victory and RBI singles from Blake Valley and Matt Warkentin.

Tuesday's action can be followed via live stats on USFDons.com.

THE STORY SO FAR
USF captured a victory in the series finale at Pepperdine this past week, but dropped the first two games of the series.

Friday's series opener saw Pepperdine's A.J. Puckett turn in 8.2 innings of shutout ball where he struck out 10 in leading the Waves to a 2-0 win over USF. Dons' starter Anthony Shew took the loss but had a nice outing of his own in going seven innings where he allowed just one run on six hits while striking out three.

Pepperdine then clinched the series with a 7-0 win on Saturday, as Ryan Wilson and Max Gamboa combined for the shutout in limiting the Dons to a season-low three hits on the day. USF right-hander Thomas Ponticelli was saddled with a loss after throwing 6.2 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on eight hits with a walk and four strikeouts. Pepperdine used five runs in the seventh and eighth innings to put that game away.

The Dons salvaged the weekend by earning a 3-1 win on Sunday behind right-hander James Kannenberg's season-best eight shutout innings where he scattered four hits while striking out three. Ross Puskarich delivered a two-out, two-run double in the top of the fourth, while Nico Giarratano contributed a run-scoring single in the eighth to lead the Dons offensively.

• INF Allen Smoot had his nine-game hitting streak snapped by going hitless in Sunday's win. His streak was the second-longest on the team this season behind Blake Valley's 13-game stretch between Feb. 26 and Mar. 16.
• Smoot has been leading the Dons at the plate over the past 10 games, hitting .361 (13-for-36) with four doubles, five RBI and four runs scored during that span.
• Right-hander James Kannenberg turned in the Dons' longest outing of the year in this past Sunday's 3-1 win at Pepperdine, going eight scoreless innings en route to his third win in his last four starts.

ABOUT UC DAVIS
The Aggies come into the week with a 7-15 overall record and a 1-2 mark in Big West play after losing two of three at UC Riverside this past weekend in their Big West opener. The Aggies' 13-12 win over UCR on Sunday snapped a five-game losing streak.

Left fielder Mark Cardinalli (.375, 7 RBI) leads UC Davis at the plate, while shortstop Jacob Thomas (.282, 5 RBI) has chipped in offensively.

The Aggies are hitting .254 as a team with five home runs and are 30-for-48 in stolen base attempts on the year.

The UC Davis pitching staff carries a 4.59 ERA into the week, registering 164 strikeouts in 202.0 innings with opposing batters hitting 2.56 against them.

THE SERIES
The Dons are 20-5 against the Aggies during head coach Nino Giarratano's tenure (since 1999), while winning five of the last six meetings over UC Davis.