Riverside—UC Riverside Baseball fans couldn't ask for much more than they received Friday evening at the Plex as the team retired the #12 jersey of former Head Coach Doug Smith in pregame festivities, and then picked up a come-from-behind victory over visiting UC Davis to open Big West Conference play.
Pinch hitter Adonis Morrison was the hero of the night, as his pinch-hit single in the bottom of the eighth broke a 3-3 tie and gave the Highlanders (11-13, 1-0) their final margin of victory.
The Aggies (6-14, 0-1) took the early lead though, plating a pair in the top of the second off of UC Riverside starter Austin Sodders. The first three batters reached via base hits with a single, a double and a single to make it 1-0 Aggies. Sodders recorded the first out of the inning when Cameron Briggs popped out to first baseman Aaron Cisneros in foul territory, but Garret Kelly singled up the middle scoring UC Davis' second run of the game. Logan Denholm tried to score from second on the play, but Austin Colvin's throw from center was on the mark to keep it a 2-0 ball game.
UC Riverside cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the second, putting runners on first and second with nobody out thanks to a hit batter and a base on balls. One out later, Colby Schultz hit a grounder to first which Mason Novak mishandled to load the bases. Michael Farris then hit a grounder into the hole at short, which Jacob Thomas fielded cleanly, but his throw to second for the force out was wide of the mark, and Colvin scored from third.
It was still a 2-1 game in the bottom of the fourth when the Highlanders put together a two-out rally to take the lead. With Schultz on first after a single to left, Mark Contreras ripped a double to left center to tie the score. Thomas Walker then hit a grounder to third, and Brad Pluschkell's throw to first pulled Novak off the bag putting runners on the corners. Vince Fernandez followed with a single through the right side to make it 3-2 UC Riverside.
Sodders kept the Aggies off the board into the sixth, and relievers Jared Morton and Matt Ellis kept it a 3-2 game into the seventh. But in the top of the eighth, UC Davis put runners on the corners against Keaton Leach, and a Novak single off of Ryan Lillie knotted the game up at three apiece.
It didn't take long for the Highlanders to climb back on top, though. Schultz and Michael Farris led off the bottom of the eighth with back-to-back singles, and Coach Percival called on Morrison to pinch hit. The Compton, California native didn't waste any time as he turned on the first pitch he saw, sending it back up the middle, driving in Schultz and Farris.
Lillie ensured that it remained a 5-3 game retiring the Aggies in order in the top of the ninth.
UC Riverside and UC Davis play game two of their three-game conference series on Saturday, April 2. First pitch at The Plex is scheduled for 6 pm PT.
