What’s the run-ahead rule/mercy rule for a game like this in the Big West? Why did this even go a full seven innings?

Is Del Oro product the next star QB for UC Davis?
What his coach and others say
By Joe Davidson
Tim Plough’s heart nearly dropped to the turf on Saturday afternoon.
A joyous day of football and community in Yolo County brightened a day heavy on ominous cloud cover, and then the UC Davis coach had a sudden sense of real dread and real storm clouds.
Plough watched helplessly as his fast-emerging quarterback went down early in the spring game and stayed down. The coach made the slow walk from the sideline to the far side of the field to check on Caden Pinnick. A moment after firing a perfectly placed 80-yard touchdown strike to highlight UCD’s afternoon that capped spring drills, Pinnick slumped to the ground. He was in agony, grabbing his right ankle and clutching onto any hope that this wasn’t as bad as it looked.
This was the franchise piece, the Del Oro High School product from Placer County also wondering if his 2025 season was in jeopardy before it really even got off the ground. But to know and understand Pinnick is to appreciate his relentless drive to find a way.
“I’m okay,” Pinnick said after the scrimmage, assuring it was nothing more than a high-ankle sprain. “I’ll be good to go. I’m sure of it.”
Then again, Pinnich is wired such that he could suffer multiple compound fractures on his legs and he would insist he was good to go. Barely able to walk Saturday after rolling his ankle, Pinnick urged Plough to put him back into the scrimmage. The coach did not budge, though he appreciated the grit.
X-rays and an MRI on Saturday and this week revealed no serious damage to the ankle or leg, no shredded ligaments or displaced bones. Pinnick has a high-ankle sprain, and his bum wheel will slow his pursuit of helping the UCD baseball team the rest of this spring. Pinnick stands as a unique two-sport college athlete who manages to squeeze in football, baseball and a full load of academics.
Plough wanted to name a starting quarterback heading into the offseason, and it’ll be Pinnick, a freshman who redshirted last season. He seized control of the job with an impressive spring camp.
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“Scary moment there,” Plough said of seeing Pinnick down. “He’s been really impressive. I don’t know if we’ve had a guy in that short of time come in and make that sort of impact. He makes everyone around him better. It’s the same stuff we saw when we recruited him. He’s a special player with a chance to be a unique leader. I think he’ll have a great career here.”
As for the refreshing approach of naming a starter sooner than later in an era where coaches at all levels prefer to keep things mum, Plough said, “It’s important not to mess around with that. Our guys should know who their quarterback is.”
Pinnick wowed Plough
There’s a lot to like about Pinnick if you’re the coach, or his linemen, or his receivers. He competes, for one. He’s a tremendous athlete who takes his craft seriously.
These are traits deep within him, and of which he witnessed growing up as a fan of his cousin. Stone Smartt quartebacked Del Oro football to two CIF State title games and is now a tight end with the Los Angeles Chargers. The two are close and are in regular contact.
Pinnick also plays with a chip the size of the town of Loomis on his shoulder, motivated to succeed as an under-recruited, three-sport star at Del Oro. He was under recruited not because he lacked skills. Pinnick has skills in abundance, be it his legs to create and extend plays, his rifle arm or his feel for the game and penchant for the dramatic big play.
Pinnick is all of 6 feet and 190 pounds. The thinking was that if he were, say, 3 inches taller, he would have been a major national recruit. Well, he’s not 6-3, and he is content with his opportunity to lead the storied Aggies. Pinnick invites the challenge of taking over for graduated and departed three-year starter Miles Hastings, who over the weekend signed a free-agent deal to play in the Canadian Football League.
When Plough invited Pinnick to visit him on campus in the middle of Pinnick’s senior season at Del Oro, they talked football, studies and life, one quarterback talking to another.
Plough played the position at UCD, and he’s helped recruit record-setters who stormed through UCD, including Jake Maier, now in the CFL. Plough can also relate to going down early in a game, his career flashing in front of him, as he was knocked around when he quarterbacked UCD.
Pinnick scored 42 in basketball with coach watching
Pinnick last spring regularly took an early morning train to Davis, to be around the Aggies, to get involved in workouts and film study, and then he’d train back to Placer County to be a Del Oro student.
That sort of commitment impressed Plough. The coach also recalled a story in which he watched Pinnick sizzle in a basketball game at Del Oro. With Oregon Ducks football coach Dan Lanning on hand to watch Folsom High quarterback star Ryder Lyons, Plough had his eyes on his prized recruit.
Pinnick scored 42 points. Lanning was impressed, too. Then amid laughter, Plough said to steer clear of his guy and to focus on the Folsom lad.
UCD center Zaire Collier of Granite Bay High School roots said the Aggies during the spring gravitated toward Pinnick, a natural leader. Never mind his freshman status. Players recognize a player and a leader when they see one.
“(Pinnick) had a great camp, bringing a new dynamic to the offense,” Collier said. “He showed a lot of good things.”
UCD’s QB camp includes Harper
Pinnick passed for 2,946 yards and 30 touchdowns, and rushed for nearly 500 more and nine scores, as a Del Oro senior, willing his team downfield as one of the greatest players in the history of the storied Golden Eagles program. He was the best quarterback prospect at Del Oro since Randy Fasani some 30 years ago. Fasani was the No. 1 quarterback recruit in the country who signed with Stanford and played in the NFL.
For his prep career, Pinnick passed for 4,625 yards and 57 scores, and he ran for 657 and 13 scores. His duel-threat ability is exactly what Plough wants as the Aggies seek to maintain momentum this fall after producing the school’s finest team in 2024, going 11-3.
Also in the quarterback mix this spring and this coming fall: Grant Harper, a 6-2, 200-pound redshirt left-hander who led championship teams at Campolindo High in the Bay Area.
Harper had similar numbers as Pinnick in high school and is UCD’s most experienced quarterback, having seen time in four games last season. He will play this fall, too, in an era where teams need two quarterbacks to get through long seasons. Because you never know when a guy might go down.
This story was originally published May 1, 2025 at 11:41 AM.
Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/sports/high-school/article305348651.html#storylink=cpy

UCD baseball defeated CSUS, 6-5, in a game in Sacramento.

This was the final meeting of the two schools in the 2024-25 season. The final tally for the Causeway Cup is UCD 59.8, CSUS 29.8.

Go Ags!

It won't count in the overall Causeway score, but UCD men's golf finished in a tie for third in the Big West Championship held over the last three days in La Quinta with a score of 856 strokes while Sac finished tied for 9th with 871 strokes.

Shaq to become volunteer GM for Sac State hoops.
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/44908348/sources-shaquille-oneal-agrees-sacramento-state-gm

Sac’s outdoor track & field teams won both the men’s meet (105-91) and the women’s meet (101-99) in the Causeway Duals held today in Davis.

Causeway score is now UCD 58.2, CSUS 29.8.

The next (and final!!) event for the 2024-25 year is the third of three baseball games which is scheduled for this coming Tuesday in Sacramento.

To add to Sac's issues...the Bee is reporting that the state is proposing a $375 million dollar cut to the overall CSU budget and Sac itself is facing a $31.2 million dollar shortfall for the coming fiscal year. This has resulted in courses being cut and in layoffs.
https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/education/article304970956.html

Sounds like a good time to upgrade the interscholastic athletic program.

They tried that several years ago. Not sure why they went back to on campus games, but I would guess it had something to do with expenses, parking, attendance…

Sac women's tennis shut out the Ags, 5-0, in a match held in Sacramento.

Causeway score is now UCD 58.2, CSUS, 19.8.

Next event/events is/are the Causeway Duals in both men's and women't track & field, to be held next Friday, the 25th, in Davis.

CSUS defeated UCD in baseball 8-2.

Causeway score is now UCD 58.2, CSUS 14.8

Next event is women's tennis this coming Friday in Sacramento.

....and gets local kids thinking about Sac State.

The CSUS men’s golf team finished the El Macero Classic tied for 9th place with a final score of 894 strokes, while the UCD men finished in 11th place with 898 strokes.

The Causeway score is now UCD 58.2, CSUS 13.2.

The next scheduled event is baseball on Tuesday, April 15th, in Davis.

Ags shut out the Hornets (and then some) in baseball this evening by a final score of 14-0.

Causeway score is now UCD 58.2, CSUS 10.7.

This weekend both schools men’s golf teams will compete in the El Macero Classic.

UCD defeated Sac in beach volleyball, 4-1, yesterday at the Sac Beach Invite.

Causeway score is now UCD 56.6, CSUS 10.7.

Next event is baseball this coming Tuesday in Davis.

….and think of Duke, Kentucky, etc., playing basketball at The Nest!

And South Carolina women’s basketball!

We’ll all feel bad when Notre Dame comes to Sac to play!

Af the conclusion of the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational in Maui, HI, the CSUS women’s golf finished in 2nd place with a final score of 856 strokes, while the UCD women finished tied for 11th place with a final score of 880 strokes.

The Causeway score is now UCD 54.1, CSUS 10.7.

The next scheduled event is beach volleyball on April 5th when both teams compete in the Sac Beach Invite hosted by Sac.

From the Stanford athletic website:
https://gostanford.com/news/2025/03/25/stanford-football-program-statement-from-andrew-luck

UCD defeated Sac in beach volleyball, 4-1, yesterday at the Big West Challenge in San Luis Obispo.

Causeway score is now UCD 54.1, CSUS 9.1.

Next event is women's golf this coming week, March 24-26, at the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational, in Maui, HI, hosted by Hawai'i.

In related news UCD finished second and Sac third at the MPSF gymnastics championships in Anchorage, AK. Southern Utah finished in first place and host Alaska-Anchorage finished in fourth.

Don’t talk politics or religion, but it’s not “woke” to refrain from bulling or belittling staff…