Sunday, May 21
UC Riverside
2
vs
5
Long Beach State
UCR No Match for Hughes in 5-2 Defeat
5/21/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Long Beach State spoiled Senior Day at UC Riverside, beating the Highlanders 5-2 behind Jared Hughes' complete game Sunday afternoon at the Riverside Sports Complex. UCR drops to 28-23, 8-10 BWC while the 49ers improve to 29-24, 12-6.
Hughes (8-3) opened the game by striking out the side in the first and didn't slow down, registering a career-high and UCR season opponent-high 13 strikeouts in his first complete game. Hughes retired the first nine batters he faced, six via strikeout. He allowed two runs on six hits.
Trailing 1-0 after Robert Perry's solo homer in the third, UCR finally got to Hughes in the fourth as senior RF Aaron Grant and junior CF Brett Bigler hit back-to-back singles to open the inning. A wild pitch moved them to third with no outs. But Hughes struck out senior 3B Brian Steinmeyer swinging, then went 3-2 on junior LF D.J. Hollingsworth. LBSU catcher Jordan Struble stood up, signaling for an intentional fourth ball but at the last minute crouched back down as Hughes fired strike three down the middle. Junior 1B Kyle Barratt then went down swinging to end the threat.
The 49ers padded their lead in the fifth as errors continued to plague UCR. With one out and a runner on, senior C Jeff Abney tried to pick the runner off of first but threw wide, moving the runner into scoring position. Perry later added a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.
UCR struck back in the fifth with two outs. Sophomore 2B Drew Garcia and sophomore SS Jaime Pedroza hit back-to-back doubles for the first Highlander run of the afternoon. Evan Longoria then led off the Long Beach sixth with a solo home run to restore the two-run cushion.
Yet again, the Highlanders would pull within one as Grant's double in the seventh brought home Pedroza to make it 3-2. The comeback would falter, however, as UCR's bullpen gave up single runs in both the eighth and ninth innings.
Sophomore RHP James Simmons (8-5) suffered his second consecutive defeat, allowing three runs (two earned) on eight hits in seven innings. He walked one and struck out four.
Garcia and Grant each had two hits for UCR while Grant and Pedroza had the only runs batted in.
Prior to the game, UC Riverside honored its six seniors in their final home game of the season.
Hughes (8-3) opened the game by striking out the side in the first and didn't slow down, registering a career-high and UCR season opponent-high 13 strikeouts in his first complete game. Hughes retired the first nine batters he faced, six via strikeout. He allowed two runs on six hits.
Trailing 1-0 after Robert Perry's solo homer in the third, UCR finally got to Hughes in the fourth as senior RF Aaron Grant and junior CF Brett Bigler hit back-to-back singles to open the inning. A wild pitch moved them to third with no outs. But Hughes struck out senior 3B Brian Steinmeyer swinging, then went 3-2 on junior LF D.J. Hollingsworth. LBSU catcher Jordan Struble stood up, signaling for an intentional fourth ball but at the last minute crouched back down as Hughes fired strike three down the middle. Junior 1B Kyle Barratt then went down swinging to end the threat.
The 49ers padded their lead in the fifth as errors continued to plague UCR. With one out and a runner on, senior C Jeff Abney tried to pick the runner off of first but threw wide, moving the runner into scoring position. Perry later added a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.
UCR struck back in the fifth with two outs. Sophomore 2B Drew Garcia and sophomore SS Jaime Pedroza hit back-to-back doubles for the first Highlander run of the afternoon. Evan Longoria then led off the Long Beach sixth with a solo home run to restore the two-run cushion.
Yet again, the Highlanders would pull within one as Grant's double in the seventh brought home Pedroza to make it 3-2. The comeback would falter, however, as UCR's bullpen gave up single runs in both the eighth and ninth innings.
Sophomore RHP James Simmons (8-5) suffered his second consecutive defeat, allowing three runs (two earned) on eight hits in seven innings. He walked one and struck out four.
Garcia and Grant each had two hits for UCR while Grant and Pedroza had the only runs batted in.
Prior to the game, UC Riverside honored its six seniors in their final home game of the season.
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