Tucson, AZ—For the second straight game, the UC Riverside Baseball Team erased a three-run deficit at Arizona, but it was the Wildcats who pushed across a run in the bottom of the ninth to escape with the 4-3 victory.

The Highlanders got off to a great start loading the bases with no outs in the top of the first, but the Wildcats were able to work out of the jam unscathed.

Freshman Hazahel Quijada got the start for UC Riverside (10-13), making the first appearance of his collegiate career. Arizona (17-8) touched him for four hits and two runs in the bottom of the first to take the lead, and the Wildcats tacked on another run in the bottom of the second off of reliever Matt Ellis.

That was all the offense Arizona would generate until the bottom of the ninth as Jared Morton tossed three scoress innings of one-hit ball, and Max Compton and Ryan Lillie combined to toss a pair of shutout innings.

The Highlanders left two runners on in the top of the third, but finally broke through in the fourth when Yeager Taylor led off the inning with the first home run of his career.

Taylor drove in his second run of the game in the top of the fifth scoring Vince Fernandez from second on a double down the right field line.

UCR tied the score in the top of the seventh on an RBI ground out by Drake Zarate, and in the eighth the Highlanders put runners on first and second with two outs, but failed to score.

It remained a tie game into the ninth, and Coach Percival handed the ball to Jacob Worrell (0-3) to start the bottom of the frame. Unfortunately, Worrell was felled by a bout of wildness, loading the bases with a bunt single and a pair of walks. That brought Ryan Aguilar to the plate, and he worked Worrell for a five pitch walk to bring in the winning run.

The Highlanders return home this weekend to begin Big West Conference play with a three-game series against UC Davis. UC Riverside is retiring the #12 jersey of former Head Coach Doug Smith prior to first pitch of Friday's game beginning at 5:50 pm.