RIVERSIDE, Calif. – UC Riverside opened a three-game series with Portland under the lights at the Riverside Sports Complex on Thursday night, falling 5-4 
 
Portland wasted no time in their first at bats of the weekend, putting up two runs in the first inning before the Highlanders battled back and later accelerated to take a 4-2 lead. UCR got on the board in the first inning on a Joey Nicolai single to left field after Andrew Gamez led off the inning with a full count walk and stole second. 
 
A near mirror image took place in the third inning with Gamez working another full count into a walk. This time, an Andrew Rivas single moved Gamez two bases over before he was bought home on a Nicolai single to left. 
 
In all, Nicolai finished his evening going 2 for 5 with a pair of RBIs. Rivas went 3 for 5 on the night with a run, and Gamez tacked on a 2-for-3 performance.
 
Dylan Orick led off the eighth inning with a four-pitch walk before advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt and third on a wild pitch. A walk and a stolen base later put runners on asecond and third for the Highlanders, but UC Riverside would not push a run across in the frame.
 
UCR will finish out the series with a Friday doubleheader against the Pilots starting at 10:00 a.m. Tickets can be purchased at highlanderstickets.universitytickets.com, and students are free with a valid UCR ID.