SACRAMENTO — In an exciting contest worthy of the two Causeway rivals, Sacramento State broke open a tied baseball game in the eighth inning to defeat visiting UC Davis, 6-4, on Tuesday at John Smith Field.

The Aggies (10-16) jumped ahead early with three runs in the second inning, but managed to tally just one more time and get only three more hits against the Hornets (15-13).

Sac State reliever Brandon Creel (4-1) picked up the win by tossing 1 1/3 innings of one-hit ball over the seventh and eighth frames, while UCD freshman reliever Zach Williams suffered his first career loss.

The Aggies got it going early off of Sacramento State junior starter Hunter Greenwood, following up a two-hit first inning with a big second frame:

With one out in the second, UCD catcher Spencer Brann singled through the right side and moved to second on center fielder Kevin Barker’s single. First baseman Austin Logan was hit by a pitch to load the bases and a passed ball in the next at-bat brought home Brann. Left fielder Austin March hit a deep foul ball to left that plated Barker and shortstop Tino Lipson followed with a single up the middle to score Logan.

The Aggies’ lead was short-lived, however, as the Hornets posted three runs on three hits of their own in the bottom of the third.

The score remained tied until the sixth inning, when Sacramento State catcher Dane Fujinaka drew a bases-loaded walk. But UCD turned a double play to get out of the jam and tied it up once again an inning later.

Again it was a Brann single that got the Aggies going — he finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored — and he advanced to second on a wild pitch. Pinch hitter Nick Lynch flied out to deep right, but as Brann tagged up to go to third the Hornets’ right fielder bounced the throw and Brann was able to come all the way around.

Sacramento State broke the second tie of the game with two runs on three hits in the eighth inning, including Fujinaka’s RBI bunt single and David Del Grande’s run-scoring fielder’s choice grounder, which was nearly a double play to end the rally.

Next, UCD hosts No. 4 Cal State Fullerton in a Big West Conference series at Dobbins Stadium. First pitch on Friday is at 2:30 p.m. followed by 1 p.m. start times on Saturday and Sunday.

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UCD catcher Spencer Brann (18) — shown here in an early-season home game — had three hits on Tuesday but the Aggies lost, 6-4, at Sacramento State. Wayne Tilcock/Enterprise file photo

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