UCD baseball gets two of three to start the season

Opening the season with three home games against the Pac-12′s Washington on Friday and Saturday, the UC Davis baseball team came away with two victories.

After an 8-4 win on Friday, the Aggies took the first game of a Saturday doubleheader, 6-5. The Huskies won the nightcap, 3-2, in seven innings and the teams will lock horns once more on Sunday at 1 p.m.

In Friday’s contest, UCD senior outfielder Mike Mazzara clubbed a pair of doubles and drove in three runs while Craig Lanza pitched 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief at Dobbins Stadium.

Mazzara was one of four Aggies with two hits, delivering his two-baggers in the first and sixth innings. Right fielder John Williams, third baseman Paul Politi and designated hitter Nick Lynch — who, with Mazzara, make up UCD’s 2-5 hitters — each finished 2-for-5.

Lanza entered the game in the sixth in relief of starter and winning pitcher Harry Stanwyck. After surrendering an RBI single to Husky left fielder Joe Meggs, Lanza silenced the visting bats by retiring eight straight into the ninth frame.

Game 1 on Saturday saw Spencer Koopmans throw a solid 6 1/3 innings for the Aggies and shortstop Evan Heptig add two doubles and four RBIs.

UCD actually blew a five-run lead, but scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth. In his first career at-bat for the Aggies, pinch hitter Steven Patterson lined a single and was moved to second by Heptig. Tino Lipson then singled off the glove of the diving third basemen to plate Patterson from second.

UCD pitcher Max Cordy threw two scoreless innings for his first win of the year.