No. 25 Highlanders Upend No. 19 UC Santa Barbara 10-1

Monday, March 23

Santa Barbara, CA

2:00 PM

UC Riverside

UC Santa Barbara

No. 25 Highlanders Upend No. 19 UC Santa Barbara 10-1

3/23/2009 4:38:23 PM | Baseball

One day removed from collecting just four hits in a 3-2 loss to UC Santa Barbara, the Highlanders baseball team bounced back on Monday pounding out 11 hits in a 10-1 win over the 19th-ranked Gauchos. The victory earned UC Riverside (15-4) a split with UCSB in their two-game non-conference series.

Carl Uhl got things started immediately for UCR legging out a triple down the left field line to open the top of the first. Trevor Hairgrove's groundout to short brought Uhl home with the first run of the game. Uhl got things going again for the Highlanders two innings later when he drew a two-out walk in the top of the third. Hairgrove reached after getting hit by a pitch, and Michael Hur reached on an error by the second baseman which allowed Uhl to score for a 2-0 UCR lead.

UC Santa Barbara got an unearned run back in the bottom half of the third off of UC Riverside starter Ryan Platt (2-0) when a passed ball and a sac fly brought home Gunnar Terhune, who opened the inning with a double.

The Highlanders made it a 4-1 game in the fourth as Robert Brantly's single to right scored Tony Nix, who singled to open the frame, and Joey Gonzales, who doubled him to third the previous at bat. Nix's hit extended his hitting streak to 17 games on the year - three off of the Highlanders Division I-era record set by Ryan Harvey in 2003.

Brian McConkey tacked on another run for UCR in the sixth scoring Brantly with an RBI double. The Highlanders really broke things open in the seventh hanging a four-spot on the board courtesy of a three-run blast to left off of Hur's bat and a solo shot from Gonzales.

Meanwhile, Platt was cruising retiring the Gauchos in order in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. Shane Carlson opened the bottom of the seventh with a single, but Platt retired the next three in order to preserve the 9-1 lead.

Dustin Emmons came on to pitch a scoreless bottom of the eighth, as Platt's line for the day read seven innings pitched, two hits, and six strikeouts. Gonzales ended the scoring for UCR in the ninth with an RBI single to left plating Eddie Young who opened the inning by reaching on a three-base error by rightfielder Mark Haddow. Matt Andriese closed out the win getting the Gauchos in order in the bottom of the ninth.

Conference play begins this weekend for the Highlanders as No. 1 ranked Cal State Fullerton comes to the Riverside Sports Complex for a three-game set. Game times are 6 pm on Friday, March 27; 2 pm on Saturday, March 28; and 1 pm on Sunday, March 29.