Although their campuses are 2,442 miles apart, the UC Davis and Hawaii baseball teams are heading in the same direction.
Both teams adhere to the same scrappy offensive approach.
“We kind of took a page out of Hawaii’s book,” UCD coach Tommy Nicholson said. “We try to do the same thing. We try to get on base, move guys around, bunt guys over. Get ’em on, get ’em over, get ’em in.”
Both have heralded two-way players — Braydon Woodridge for UCD, Itsuki Takemoto for UH.
And both teams move from the Big West to the Mountain West on July 1, 2026.
“We’re excited to go to the Mountain West,” Nicholson said. “It’s kind of nice Hawaii’s going with us so we can keep that trip (to Hawaii). We get to keep that home-and-home with them.”
The moves are part of the shifting landscape of college athletics. After 10 schools left the Pac-12 ahead of the 2024-25 academic year, the two remaining schools — Washington State and Oregon State — lured Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State from the Mountain West. Those five schools officially join the Pac-12 in July 2026.
In a counter move, 15 UH sports teams agreed to join the UH football team in the Mountain West. The Warriors have been football-only members since 2012. UC Davis, Grand Canyon, UTEP and Northern Illinois also join the Mountain West in 2026. While UCD’s football team will remains an FCS member, the Aggies will be part of an eight-team Mountain West baseball conference in 2027.
“It’ll be fun to play in different environments,” Nicholson said. “We’ll be traveling to Arizona (Grand Canyon), New Mexico, Nevada. It’ll be a new challenge, for sure.”
In the Big West, 10 of the 11 teams are based in California. But UC Davis is the only one in Northern California.
“As far as California teams go, we are the farthest away,” Nicholson said. “Fullerton, Long Beach, Irvine, Northridge are all within an hour of each other. San Diego is a couple hours away. And Santa Barbara is an hour and a half from them. We have a minimum 5-hour bus ride to the closest one. We are a little bit on the edge of traveling. Definitely not like how Hawaii (travels), but it’s not like we’re as close as everyone else.”
When UH’s Rich Hill was the University of San Diego’s baseball coach, he tried to schedule nonconference games against teams outside the West region. Hill said playing common opponents impacts strength-of-schedule rankings because teams end up beating each other. This season, Hill scheduled three nonconference series against teams from the Eastern and Central time zones. Nicholson also has embraced that tactic, scheduling road series in Orem, Utah, and Omaha, Neb.
With San Jose State as the only other California-based school in the new Mountain West, Nicholson will be able to play nonconference games against in-state opponents.
“We do have a lot of players from California,” said Nicholson, referencing the 39 Golden State residents on the 40-player roster. To be able to play in front of friends and family is always nice.”
Nicholson is used to adjustments. When he was hired as head coach in December 2021, the Aggies were coming off a self-imposed suspension. He held tryouts to restock a roster that had lost players to de-commitments and transfers. The Aggies went 6-35 overall and 5-25 in the Big West during the 2022 season. Last year, they finished 29-27, their first winning season since 2015. This season, they are 11-7 and 3-0.
“Throwing strikes, playing good defense, getting on base, and creating a lot of opportunities on offense.” Nicholson said. “That’s been the recipe so far. The players have bought into everything we’ve thrown at them. I think the biggest thing is they play as a team. They play together. They’re unselfish.”
RAINBOW BASEBALL
At Les Murakami Stadium
UC Davis (11-7, 3-0 Big West) vs. Hawaii (14-5, 3-3)
>> Schedule: 6:35 p.m. Saturday, Monday; 1:05 p.m. Sunday
>> TV: Spectrum Sports on Saturday, Monday
>> Radio: 1420-AM / 92.7-FM
