Lights, Camera, Action come to UC Davis baseball stadium

Friday Night Lights will grace Phil Swimley Field for 2025 season

The motto of the University of California at Davis is "Let There Be Light."

However, the Aggie baseball team is pleased to announce that for the upcoming 2025 season, that motto is being revised ever so slightly to say "Let There Be Lights."

Yes, for the first time in school history, UC Davis will host night baseball games on campus, starting with the season opener February 14 against Gonzaga of the West Coast Conference.

Phil Swimley Field at Dobbins Stadium will be awash in light for this 6 p.m. Valentine's Day special, the first of a three-game set with their highly respected visitors out of Spokane.

Phil Swimley Field at Dobbins Stadium

Once the 30-game Big West season begins in mid-March, each weekend series at home will tentatively feature start times of 6 p.m. on Fridays, 2 p.m. on Saturdays and 1 p.m. on Sundays.

The Aggies will play 15 Big West games at home and 15 on the road, plus 26 non-conference games, also split evenly, for 28 home games in all, including seven home dates in a row to open the season.

"The addition of lights to Phil Swimley Field is exciting for everyone in and around our program," said an enthused UC Davis head coach Tommy Nicholson as he begins his fourth season guiding Aggie fortunes.

Head Coach Tommy Nicholson

"Players past and present have envisioned playing night games in Davis for a long time. Thanks to Rocko DeLuca (UCD Athletic Director) and his staff, we are finally able to see this vision come to fruition. I think night games will give the community and student body a chance to come out and create one of the best college baseball atmospheres in the Big West and a home field advantage for our team."

The Big West Conference has four College World Series titles to its credit, all from Cal State Fullerton in 1979, 1984, 1995 and 2004.

This year, for the first time, the Big West will hold a season-ending conference tournament to determine the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament that leads to the College World Series.

Cal State Fullerton will play host to the 2025 Big West championship, May 21-25.

Five teams will qualify for the tournament, which features a play-in game between No. 4 and No. 5 before the final four teams meet in a double-elimination format.

Along with new state-of-the-art lights at Dobbins, the addition of a new video board in right centerfield will enhance the game-day experience for players and fans alike.

The list of opponents UC Davis is scheduled to host under the lights includes Gonzaga, Santa Clara, San Francisco, UC Riverside, Nevada, Cal Poly, UC Irvine, Washington State, Cal State Fullerton, Utah Tech, Northridge and Causeway rival Sacramento State.

In addition to the team’s home games, the Aggies will play two highly anticipated games against Stanford in Palo Alto on April 7 and April 21.

After the seven-game home stand to begin the season, the Aggies' first road test is a midweek matchup against Pacific in Stockton on Tuesday, Feb. 25.

The Aggies then head to Utah Valley in Orem from Feb. 28 to March 2.

One of the most interesting trips for the Aggies will be their three-game series against Creighton in Omaha, March 7-9, with all games taking place at Charles Schwab Field, the permanent site of the College World Series.

UC Davis opens the Big West season against UC Riverside, March 14-16 at Phil Swimley Field.

The Aggies then head to Hawaii, March 22-24.

The Aggies' full slate of road Big West games will also feature series at UC Santa Barbara (April 4-6), Cal State Bakersfield (April 17-19), Long Beach State (May 2-4) and UC San Diego (May 9-11).

In addition to UC Riverside, the Aggies will welcome Cal Poly (March 28-30), UC Irvine (April 11-13), Cal State Fullerton (April 25-27) and Cal State Northridge (May 15-17).

Reach Bob Dunning at bobdunning@thewaryone.com