Baseball Makes It Three In A Row With 6-2 Victory Over Cal State Northridge

Saturday, April 5

Riverside, CA

6:00 pm

UC Riverside

14-12, 3-2

Cal State Northridge

12-18, 1-4

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Cal State Northridge	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	2	7	1
UC Riverside	0	0	1	1	0	2	1	1	X	6	9	1

Photo by: Gabriel L. Acosta

Baseball Makes It Three In A Row With 6-2 Victory Over Cal State Northridge

4/5/2014 9:50:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Riverside—The UC Riverside Baseball Team made it three wins in a row Saturday as the Highlanders upended visiting Cal State Northridge, 6-2 (Box Score).

Matadors (12-18, 1-4) starter Jerry Keel (0-6) needed just eight pitches to get through the first inning, but UCR got two base runners on in the second, and dented the scoreboard in the top of the third. Joe Chavez reached on a bunt single with one out, and stole second on a failed pick off attempt. A wild pitch moved him to third, Francisco Tellez drew a walk, and Devyn Bolasky's grounder to second scored Chavez.

The Highlanders (14-12, 3-2) tacked on another run in the bottom of the fourth as Thomas Walker began the frame with a double down the right field line, and one batter later, a Cody Hough ground out moved Walker to third. Matt Ellis drew a walk to put runners on the corners, setting up an unusual running play by UC Riverside.

With Chavez in the batter's box, Ellis took off for second drawing a throw from Matadors' catcher Dylan Alexander. Elllis stopped before reaching the bag, though, getting in a run down as Walker scampered home from third before the tag was applied to Ellis.

Northridge finally got to Highlanders' starter Zach Varela (4-1) in the top of the fifth. Designated hitter, Michael Livingston ripped a double to the wall in right field with one out, and Brett Balkan's single through the right side put runners on first and third. A passed ball scored Livingston cutting the UCR lead in half.

The Highlanders got the run back in the bottom of the sixth and Walker was in the middle of things again. With Andriese on first and one out, Walker ripped a triple to right center putting UC Riverside up 3-1. That ended Keel's night, and Brandon Warner came on in relief. The first batter he faced was pinch hitter Alex Rubanowitz. Rubanowitz lifted a fly ball to left center that center fielder Ranny Lowe appeared to have a bead on, but he dropped it allowing Rubanowitz to reach second. Walker would have scored on the sacrifice fly regardless, and the Highlanders lead ballooned to 4-1.

Chavez added some insurance in the bottom of the seventh as he led off the frame with a solo shot over the left field wall. The Matadors weren't done, though, as they put together a two-out rally in the bottom of the eighth. Ryan Raslowsky singled to short, and advanced to third when Chester Pak's single landed in right field. Brett Blaser then singled to center cutting the Highlanders' advantage to three.

UC Riverside countered with a two-out score of its own in the bottom of the inning, stringing together a Hough single, a stolen base and a single by Ellis for the final score of the game.

Kevin Sprague came on to pitch the top of the ninth, retiring the Matadors in order to close out the victory.

The Highlanders and Matadors finish their three-game series Sunday with a 1 pm PT first pitch at The Plex.