Baseball preview

Teams:UC Davis vs.No.16California

Records:Aggies,29-16; Golden Bears,29-14

Where:Evans Diamond– Berkeley

When:Today at2:30p.m.

Who to watch:Sophomore outfielder Kyle Mihaylo’s playing time this season has been scattered between starting in the outfield,acting as designated hitter and coming off the bench.TheAliso Viejo,Calif.native made a strong case for a more consistent role this past week,going8-for-12including the game-tying two-run single in Sunday’s series-clinching win against Long Beach State.

Did you know? Last season,the Aggies went just1-9against ranked opponents.This year,UC Davis is7-5against the nation’s best,including a pair of wins againstthen-No.3Stanford and a series victory overthen-No.23Long Beach State this past weekend.

Preview:So far,so good.

The Aggies are nearly throughtheirdaunting stretch of eight consecutive games against four ranked opponents,going a combined4-3against No.12CalStateFullerton,Stanford andLong BeachState.

The final hurdle in the eight-game stretch is today’s Northern California affair withNo.16Cal inBerkeley.

In the two teams‘ lone meeting last season,the Golden Bears rallied for three runs with two outs in the ninth inning at Dobbins Stadium to win7-6and avoid an upset by the Aggies.

If a team mounts a comeback victory this time around,it may be UC Davis that does it.The Aggies‘ last five wins have all been in come-from-behind fashion,including the last two sparked by rallies in the seventh and eighth innings.

Cal is coming off of a weekend series win over Pacific-10rival No.20Arizona,but came out on the wrong end of a16-5blowout on Sunday.Junior first baseman David Cooper,who is leading the Golden Bears with18home runs and52RBI this season,went4-for-11 (.364) with4RBI including a solo home run in the three-game set with the Wildcats.

Today’s contest will be a good test for bothCal and UC Davis,asthe Golden Bears are19-5at Evans Diamond whilethe Aggies‘ 14-8road record is second in the Big West only to No.13UC Irvine.