UCD roundup: Aggies are third after Day 1 at Cal Classic

Senior Demi Runas fired a 1-under 71 and was tied for second while senior Amy Simanton had a 72 on Monday as No. 11 UC Davis finished the first round of the inaugural Cal Classic on Monday at Ruby Hill Golf Club in third place.

The Aggies shot a 10-over 298 on the first 18 holes, tying with No. 13 Stanford just two shots behind No. 14 Arizona.

Simanton was tied for fifth while freshman Raegan Bremer, coming off of a seventh-place finish at Stanford last week, shot a 76 and was tied for 17th. UCD sophomore Blair Lewis was tied for 37th after her 79 and freshman Betty Chen posted an 80 and was tied for 43rd.

Starting on the 10th hole, Runas had three birdies, two bogeys and four pars over her first nine holes to make her turn a shot under par. She was even before a birdie on the par-5 fourth hole put her at 1-under, where she finished. Runas, ranked 11th in the country by Golfstat, was tied with two other golfers, three strokes back of Arizona State’s Noemi Jimenez.

The tournament was set to finish on Tuesday with the final round beginning at 8:30 a.m.

UCD women’s water polo

The 14th-ranked Aggies split a pair of Sunday contests to finish 10th at the UCI Invitational, which featured a field of entirely top 20 teams. UCD (7-7) defeated No. 13 UC Santa Barbara, 13-7, then lost to No. 16 Loyola Marymount, 9-5, in games played at Corona del Mar High School.

Aggie seniors Jessica Dunn and Carmen Eggert each scored three goals in the win over the Gauchos, as did junior center Hannah Curran. Adding her seven goals from Saturday’s portion of the event, Curran completed the weekend with a team-high 10 tallies.

Elsie Fullerton, a Davis High graduate, added two goals for UCD, while Danelle Kenny and Courtney Weddle each punched in one in the win. Sophomore goalie Jillian Wilding recorded six saves.

Fullerton and Eggert each scored twice in the loss to LMU, with Dunn netting the other goal. Freshman Haley Cameron, another former Blue Devil, earned her first collegiate start and finished with six saves.

The locals return home to host the two-day Aggie Shootout this Friday and Saturday. UCD will play all Saturday games, facing Concordia, Santa Clara and Colorado State.

UCD softball

Starting pitcher Justine Vela ended the Aggies’ weekend at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Fla., with a one-hit shutout in a 2-0 win over Fordham.

With her weekend also including a complete-game shutout of No. 14 South Florida on Saturday, Velas was named to the all-tournament team and won Big West Pitcher of the Week honors on Monday.

The sophomore right-hander ended her weekend with a 2-0 record, a 1.88 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 18 2/3 innings pitched.

In addition to the victory over Fordham, the Aggies (7-9) played an eight-inning thriller against Illinois State on Sunday, eventually falling 2-1.

After four scoreless innings against Fordham, UCD got on the board after singles from Megan Guzman and Krista Bava in consecutive at-bats. Guzman advanced to third on Bava’s single and Kelly Schulze drove her home on a sacrifice fly.

That was all the runs Vela would need to earn her fourth win of the season, but the Aggies added an insurance run in the sixth when Kayla Tyler scored on Chandler Wagner’s sac fly.

Guzman had three hits and was one of five UCD players — with Tyler, Christina Guidry, Amy Nunez and JJ Wagoner — to steal a base. On the weekend, the Aggies were successful in all six of their stolen-base attempts — all by different runners — and have now swiped 22 bags in their first 16 games.

Wagoner led all Aggie starters at the tournament with a .400 batting average, while Tyler knocked in four runs.

UCD women’s lacrosse

Seniors Stephanie Guercio, Elizabeth Datino and Hannah Mirza each had hat tricks, while Meghan Jordan tallied four assists to lead the Aggies to an 18-4 win over host Stetson on Sunday at the Athletic Training Center.

The victory pushed UCD to 1-1 and was the first for new head coach Kate Henwood.

Datino’s four assists lifts her career total to 80, tying the school record set by Christina Corsa in 2011. Datino, last year’s NCAA champion in points per game, already holds the Aggies’ season and single-game benchmarks.

In Sunday’s win, UCD freshman Ellie Delich chipped in two goals, while Jordan, Carly Voris, Sam Axenroth, Allie Lehner, Courtney Neff, Anna Geissbuhler and Mary Doyle each scored once. Sophomore Kai Murphy and junior Jordan Majka split time in goal for the Aggies, combining to save three of the 11 shots they faced.

UCD — which outshot the Hatters (0-2) by a 43-11 margin — begins Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play with a road game at St. Mary’s on Friday.