On March 1, the University of California, Riverside (UCR) baseball team blew out the University of Utah 10-5 behind impressive offensive and defensive performances. Solid pitching, fielding and hitting cemented UCR’s seventh win of the year.
On the other end, the Utes suffered just their second loss of their young and promising season. This was the second game of a very busy four-game weekend for the team, picking up right where they left off the night before after shutting out California Baptist University (CBU) 3-0.
The dominant showing from the Highlanders was spearheaded by their sophomore duo, pitcher Kurt Marton and second baseman Manoah Chapman.
Marton pitched an impressive 5.2 innings, surrendering just one earned run on seven hits, while also striking out three in the process. This marked his first win of the 2025 season, and third career win overall.
Following the win, Marton stated that this game “is huge. [They’re] a Power Four school; it’s a huge win. I know they came in, they were 8-1 before this, that’s huge for us.”
Going into the game, the Highlanders hadn’t given up a run in twelve straight innings, and didn’t surrender a single one until the sixth inning. By this point, they had already jumped out to a 5-0 lead and had no plans of letting Utah back into the game.
Chapman was a core contributor to this lead. He hit a key double in the fourth that drove in shortstop Griffin Harrison for the first run of the game. The fourth inning proved to be quite a fruitful one, resulting in a quick 4-0 lead for UCR. This was one of two massive innings for the Highlanders.
The Utes would attempt to claw their way back into the game, bringing the score back down to 5-2 at the top of the sixth. However, this would be all for naught, as UCR would quickly snuff out these flames in the bottom of the sixth.
The inning began with a walk, drawn by catcher Ethan Bergan then a bunt double by center fielder Robert Pitts followed. This extremely elusive play seemed to be the catalyst for the inning, paving the way for multiple Highlanders to make their mark on the game.
Right fielder Landon Nunes walked, Harrison flew out to center field bringing in a run, and left fielder Jayden Lopez walked as well, reloading the bases. Chapman would once more come up in a big spot, lacing the ball up the middle, driving in two more runners. Further increasing the strangeness of this inning, Lopez was able to score on a balk, bringing the lead to a commanding 9-2.
Utah would score a few consolation runs, but they would not mean much in the end. Chapman earned his fourth RBI of the game by way of a sac fly as the Highlanders stunned the Utes 10-5.
Other notable offensive performances from the Highlanders include first baseman Andrew Rivas who had three hits and a walk on five plate appearances and third baseman Tyler Gordon’s three RBIs. The Highlanders set a new season-high in runs with ten and tied their season-high in hits with 14.
It would be remiss to not mention UCR’s solid pitching and fielding performances. Pitchers Jaxon Byrd and Nolan Milliman were excellent out of the bullpen, doing exactly what they needed to in order to secure the win for UCR. The Highlanders were also able to turn not one, but two double plays, further highlighting their defensive chemistry.
When asked how the Highlanders plan on carrying this momentum into their early 11am start the next day against Utah, left fielder Jayden Lopez said they can achieve this by, “[sticking] to the game plan. Just keep hitting fastballs and don’t try to do too much.”
The following day, the Highlanders continued to hit the ball with efficiency. However, it wasn’t quite enough to earn the sweep. Utah came back with a vengeance, earning a monstrous 17 runs on 21 hits.
The final score ended at 17-7 Utah, but splitting this set with a team as hot as Utah is still a victory. The Highlanders would conclude their day on a positive note, downing CBU 7-4 at the Riverside Sports Complex (Plex) in the second-half of a doubleheader.
UCR finished 3-1 for the weekend, sitting at a solid 8-5 before heading into their break.
Due to rain on March 5, their game against the Michigan Wolverines was cancelled, allowing them to rest for five consecutive days. They returned to the Plex on March 7 with three games lined up against the 11-2 University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors. The Highlanders took a 3-2 lead in the second inning of game one, but this was short lived as Hawaii would retake the lead and never give it back, handing UCR a crushing 17-5 loss.
The following day, they would meet at noon for the second showdown of their three-game series, culminating in a 13 inning slugfest that resulted in a nail biting 4-3 UCR win.
The final game of the series ended in a 7-4 UCR victory as the Highlanders improved to 10-6 overall.
