No. 1 UC Irvine Sweeps UC Davis to Post Third Straight 40-Win Season
May 17, 2009
IRVINE, Calif. --- Top-ranked UC Irvine swept UC Davis with an 8-1 win Sunday at Anteater Ballpark. With the win, the Anteaters reached 40 wins (40-12, 20-1 Big West) for the third consecutive season and concluded its Big West Conference home schedule with a perfect 12-0 record.
UC Davis picked up an early run in the second on a sacrifice fly by Kyle Mihaylo but Sammy Donabedian delivered a clutch two-run single to center to give UCI a 2-1 lead.
DJ Crumlich took advantage of Casey Stevenson's leadoff double with an RBI hit in the fourth and Donabedian executed on the safety squeeze with a sacrifice bunt to plate Jeff Cusick in the sixth for a 4-1 lead.
An Aggie error with the bases loaded in the seventh yielded an Anteater run and pinch hitter Jordan Fox singled to right to drive in Eric Deragisch and widen the margin to 6-1. The Anteaters capped the scoring with two runs in the eighth.
Starter Crosby Slaught matched a personal-high with seven innings, striking out five and holding UC Davis to a run on five hits to improve to 6-0. Matt Dufour pitched a perfect eighth and Noel Avison faced the minimum in the ninth to end the game.
Donabedian recorded a team-high three RBI, a season-high for the catcher while Deragisch and Crumlich led UCI with two hits apiece.
Aggie starter Dayne Quist pitched six innings, giving up six runs on seven hits to fall to 2-6.
The Anteaters host UCLA in the final home contest of the regular season Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. Prior to the game, UC Irvine will honor Chancellor Emeritus Ralph Cicerone in a field dedication ceremony, beginning at 5:30 p.m.
