Box Score Davis, CA—UC Riverside freshman shortstop Casey Henderson launched his second home run of the day in the top of the eighth to pull the Highlanders even with UC Davis at eight apiece, but the Aggies scratched out a run in the bottom of the 11th to eke out a 9-8 victory Saturday.
The Aggies (16-7-1) jumped out to a 7-0 lead on Friday, but on Saturday it was the Highlanders turn. UCR took advantage of a pair of Davis errors in the top of the first to go up 3-0, as Joe Chavez led off the game reaching on a throwing error by third baseman Nick Lynch, and singles by Vince Fernandez and AJ Sawyer made it 1-0 UC Riverside. Jordan Abernathy then reached on another Lynch error, scoring Fernandez, and two batters later, Cody Sporrer made it 3-0 Highlanders with an RBI ground out to short.
UC Riverside (10-17, 0-2) took advantage of yet another UC Davis miscue putting together a two-out rally in the top of the third. Adonis Morrison got things started with a hit by pitch, and promptly stole second. Sporrer then beat out an infield single to third, and Morrison scored on Lynch's third error of the afternoon. Austin Colvin singled through the left side to put runners on first and second, and Casey Henderson launched his first home run of the season down the left field line to make it 7-0 Highlanders.
UC Riverside starter Kevin Sprague retired the first eight batters he faced, but a John Williams double and a Brad Pluschkell single in the bottom of the third put the Aggies on the board.
UC Davis solved Sprague the very next inning as the first five batters reached on three singles and a pair of doubles to make it 7-4 Highlanders, a double play grounder scored the Aggies fifth run of the inning to make it a 7-5 ballgame.
UC Davis sliced the Highlanders' lead to one the very next inning, taking advantage of a Sprague throwing error on a sacrifice bunt. Pluschkell singled to center to open the frame, and Tanner Bily dropped down a bunt, but Sprague's throw was off the mark putting runners at second and third. One batter later, Sprague intentionally walked Lynch to load the bases, and Austin March beat out an infield single to pull the Aggies to within one.
UCD plated two more runs in the bottom of the sixth thanks in part to a Henderson throwing error. Jordan Kron, who relieved Sprague in the fifth, retired the first two batters in the Aggies half of the sixth. Pluschkell then doubled to left bringing up Bily, who hit a grounder to Henderson at short. Henderson's throw was wide, allowing Pluschkell to score, and the next batter, Tino Lipson doubled to right center to give the Aggies the lead, 8-7.
Meanwhile, UC Davis starter Orlando Razo began to settle down as his defense stopped giving away outs, facing the minimum six batters in the fourth and fifth innings. Razo tired in the top of the sixth, though. loading the bases with two outs on a pair of singles and a walk. Reliever Blake Peters struck out UCR pinch hitter Mark Contreras to get out of the jam.
By the time Henderson strode to the plate to lead off the eighth, Peters was in his second full inning of relief work. Up until that point, Peters had allowed just one hit, but Henderson turned on his first offering and yanked it over the left field wall to tie the score.
It remained an 8-8 game heading into the bottom of the 11th, as the Highlanders were unable to record a base runner in their halves of the 10th and 11th innings against Aggies reliever Zach Stone (2-0).
Ryan Lillie (0-2) came on for UC Riverside with two outs in the ninth, and retired the first four batters he faced. Pluschkell led off the bottom of the 11th with a grounder to short that Henderson couldn't handle. Lillie then plunked Bily to put runners on first and second, before recording the first out of the inning on a failed sacrifice bunt.
A Lynch single down the right field line loaded the bases, and March singled to center bringing home Pluschkell with the game-winning run.
The Highlanders and Aggies conclude their three-game series on Sunday with a 1 pm PT first pitch.
