Tuesday, April 25
UC Riverside
6
vs
4
UNLV
Highlanders Outrun Rebels, 6-4
4/25/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
UC Riverside snapped a two-game losing streak with a 6-4 victory over the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in a non-conference game Tuesday night at the Riverside Sports Complex. The Highlanders split the home-and-home series with the Rebels to improve to 21-15 on the season while dropping UNLV to 17-25.
UCR overcame a 4-3 deficit by scoring runs in three of the last four innings. Sophomore 1B Aaron Wible’s two-out double off the wall in left tied the game in the bottom of the fifth and the Highlanders took the lead in the sixth on back-to-back doubles by senior RF Andy Clay and sophomore SS Jaime Pedroza. UCR tacked on an insurance run in the eighth when junior DH Nick Salotti opened the inning with a double, his second of the game, with pinch-hitting senior Aaron Grant delivering an RBI groundout two batters later.
Junior LHP Marc Rzepczynski (2-1) had his most productive start of the season, striking out eight in seven innings. He allowed five hits and four runs, although none of the runs were earned. He walked two while throwing a season-high 112 pitches. Sophomore RHP Adam Reifer tossed one inning of scoreless relief before junior RHP Daniel Stange closed out the ninth for his ninth save of the season, tying the school’s Division I record.
UNLV scored all four of its runs in the fourth thanks to shoddy UCR fielding. With one out, Keith Smith walked. Rzepczynski looked to get out of the inning when the next batter, Chris Bonnell, hit a grounder to short that could have been a double play ball to end the inning. But Pedroza couldn’t handle it, putting runners on first and second. Zach Borba followed with a grounder to second but UCR junior 2B Kyle Barratt threw the ball into the dugout, allowing Smith to score and moving the runners to second and third. Consecutive singles tied the game at three and UNLV took a 4-3 lead on an RBI groundout by Xavier Scruggs.
UCR had taken a 1-0 lead in the first on an RBI single up the middle by senior 3B Brian Steinmeyer to plate junior LF D.J. Hollingsworth, who had earlier walked and stolen second. Salotti gave the Highlanders a 3-0 advantage with a two-out, two-run double with the bases loaded in the third.
Salotti went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI to give him a team-leading 13 doubles on the season. Steinmeyer was also 2-for-4, adding an RBI and two runs scored. Bigler was hitless in three at-bats, ending his nine-game hitting streak.
Ryan Tabor (2-4) took the loss for UNLV, giving up five runs on six hits in 5 2/3 innings. He walked three and struck out four. Smith and Braden Walker each had two hits.
UCR overcame a 4-3 deficit by scoring runs in three of the last four innings. Sophomore 1B Aaron Wible’s two-out double off the wall in left tied the game in the bottom of the fifth and the Highlanders took the lead in the sixth on back-to-back doubles by senior RF Andy Clay and sophomore SS Jaime Pedroza. UCR tacked on an insurance run in the eighth when junior DH Nick Salotti opened the inning with a double, his second of the game, with pinch-hitting senior Aaron Grant delivering an RBI groundout two batters later.
Junior LHP Marc Rzepczynski (2-1) had his most productive start of the season, striking out eight in seven innings. He allowed five hits and four runs, although none of the runs were earned. He walked two while throwing a season-high 112 pitches. Sophomore RHP Adam Reifer tossed one inning of scoreless relief before junior RHP Daniel Stange closed out the ninth for his ninth save of the season, tying the school’s Division I record.
UNLV scored all four of its runs in the fourth thanks to shoddy UCR fielding. With one out, Keith Smith walked. Rzepczynski looked to get out of the inning when the next batter, Chris Bonnell, hit a grounder to short that could have been a double play ball to end the inning. But Pedroza couldn’t handle it, putting runners on first and second. Zach Borba followed with a grounder to second but UCR junior 2B Kyle Barratt threw the ball into the dugout, allowing Smith to score and moving the runners to second and third. Consecutive singles tied the game at three and UNLV took a 4-3 lead on an RBI groundout by Xavier Scruggs.
UCR had taken a 1-0 lead in the first on an RBI single up the middle by senior 3B Brian Steinmeyer to plate junior LF D.J. Hollingsworth, who had earlier walked and stolen second. Salotti gave the Highlanders a 3-0 advantage with a two-out, two-run double with the bases loaded in the third.
Salotti went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI to give him a team-leading 13 doubles on the season. Steinmeyer was also 2-for-4, adding an RBI and two runs scored. Bigler was hitless in three at-bats, ending his nine-game hitting streak.
Ryan Tabor (2-4) took the loss for UNLV, giving up five runs on six hits in 5 2/3 innings. He walked three and struck out four. Smith and Braden Walker each had two hits.
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