Austin Sodders (No. 47) milliseconds from pitching a fast one.
Austin Sodders (No. 47) milliseconds from pitching a fast one.

The UC Riverside baseball team made a statement two weeks ago with their 2-1 series win over nationally ranked Long Beach State (LBSU). The group carried this momentum into this past week, beating non-conference opponent University of San Diego, 3-2, and conference opponent CSU Northridge (CSUN), 6-4, before suffering a 2-7 loss the following game.

The win over CSUN on Friday, April 29 was quite the contrast to the late-inning heroics of last week’s wins over LBSU. Rather, the Highlanders got the scoring going early, notching four runs in the bottom of the first and eventually holding on to seal the win. The Highlanders were aided by a couple CSUN miscues — an uncharacteristic performance considering their Big West-leading .980 fielding percentage — that earned them three runs off a sac bunt and grounder to short.

The run continued in the second as UCR managed to earn a fifth run in the bottom of the inning, courtesy of a passed ball. From there, the Highlanders managed to hold off a run by CSUN, capped off by a Justin Toerner sac fly which brought the game to a two-run deficit. However, closer Ryan Lillie, who entered the ninth with two runners on and zero outs, managed to put an end to it, forcing a Dylan Alexander fly ball to right center, which Vince Fernandez hauled in to close the game.

The Highlanders followed this win with a dud in Saturday’s second game of the series against the Matadors. Again, the Highlanders got the scoring going early, jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the first courtesy of an Aaron Cisneros groundout which brought Drake Zarate home. However, unlike Friday’s game, CSUN was able to respond early as they tied the game at 1-1 with a Yusuke Akitoshi home run to lead off the second inning.

From there, the teams were relatively stagnant up until the top of the ninth when the Matadors managed two runs to take a 3-2 lead and the onslaught ensued from there as two CSUN batters each managed to bring in pair of runs in the ensuing plays. First, with the bases loaded, Dylan Alexander drew a five-pitch free pass to put the Matadors ahead by two. Then, with the bases loaded again, a Branden Berry sac fly to shallow right brought home two more, making it 7-2 CSUN.

The Highlanders managed to get two runners on in their side of the inning, but CSUN reliever Spencer O’Neil retired three consecutive batters to seal the win.