Sophomore Austin March hit his first career home run in the eighth inning but it wasn’t enough, as the UC Davis baseball team dropped a 10-5 Big West Conference contest to UC Santa Barbara on Thursday afternoon at Dobbins Stadium.
Trailing 10-2 in the bottom of the eighth, the Aggies (19-35, 5-20) scored three times in the frame to get back into the game, but the Gauchos (32-23, 15-10) held on.
With one out, UCD catcher Spencer Brann singled to left, then advanced to second on a groundout. That brought on March, who crushed a no-doubter over the right-field fence on a 2-1 count. Tanner Bily followed with a single up the middle. He stole second, then scored when third baseman Paul Politi ripped a single to left.
Politi scored the Aggies’ first run in the fourth inning, when second baseman Steven Patterson singled him in from second.
UCD will host UCSB on Friday (2:30 p.m.) and Saturday (1 p.m.) in the Aggies’ final two games of the season.