Eddie Young's Pinch-Hit Single Gives Highlanders 3-2 Win Over Cal Poly

UC Riverside 3, Cal Poly 2 Box Score

Riverside—Pinch hitter Eddie Young laced a one out single to center with the bases loaded scoring Justin Shults and Mike Nesbitt in the bottom of the ninth and giving the Highlanders (13-8, 1-0) an improbable come-from-behind win over Cal Poly in the Big West Conference opener for both clubs Thursday evening.

Mustangs (7-17, 0-1) starter Matt Leonard kept UC Riverside off balance all evening allowing just one run on four hits and three walks through eight innings. In the bottom of the ninth, however, he gave way to relief pitcher Mark DeVincenzi.

DeVincenzi struck out Ryan Goetz to open the inning, but he followed that with a walk to pinch hitter Justin Shults, and a passed ball moved Shults into scoring position. The next batter, Mike Nesbitt, struck out swinging, but catcher Elliott Stewart couldn't hold onto it. After trying to tag Nesbitt as he raced to first, Stewart dropped the ball allowing Nesbitt to reach safely.

Joey Gonzales drew a walk to load the bases, and UC Riverside Head Coach Doug Smith sent up Eddie Young to pinch hit for Trevor Hairgrove. Young came into the at bat hitting .250 on the season and 0 for 1 in his only other pinch-hitting appearance on the year. The El Cajon, CA native drove a DeVincenzi offering up the middle and into center field to bring home the tying and winning runs.

Young's base hit made a winner of Highlanders starter Matt Andriese (3-2) who threw a complete game allowing nine hits and walking none while giving up just one earned run.

Andriese was forced to work harder than he might have liked as UC Riverside committed four errors behind him on the night which helped the Mustangs put runners in scoring position in eight of nine innings. Cal Poly only manged to plate one of those runners in the top fo the first, however.

Luke Yoder was hit by a pitch to open the game and advanced to third on a one-out single by Matt Jensen, The next batter, Ross Brayton laid down a perfect squeeze up the third base line bringing home Yoder with the first run of the game. David Van Ostrand hit a grounder to short for what would have been the third out of the inning, but Trevor Hairgrove got handcuffed by the ball and Jensen came home for the game's second run.

That was all the runs the Highlanders would allow as Matt Andriese shut down the Mustangs for the remainder of the evening.

Meanwhile, Leonard held UC Riverside hitless through the first three innings finally allowing a Bryan Horst single to open the bottom of the fourth. One out later, Robert Brantly brought Horst home with a double to right center cutting the Mustangs lead in half.

The Highlanders had an opportunity to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth when Michael Hur singled up the middle with one out and Brantly followed with a single through the right side. The throw from right field sailed over the cut off man's head, and Brantly tried to advance to second but was thrown out. Goetz's fly ball to right field ended the threat.

The win is the fourth in a row for the Highlanders while Cal Poly drops its 11th decision over its last 12 games. Game two of the three-game set between these clubs is slated for Friday evening at the Riverside Sports Complex. First pitch is scheduled for 6 pm PT.

Eddie Young's Pinch-Hit Single Gives Highlanders 3-2 Win Over Cal Poly

Next Event

Footer