Riverside—For the second straight evening, UC Riverside and San Diego State's Baseball Teams needed the ninth inning to decide a winner. Friday it was the Highlanders getting a pinch-hit home run from Jordan Abernathy in a 3-2 victory. Saturday it was Chase Calabuig delivering a two-RBI triple in a 7-6 Aztecs win.
It was a pitchers' duel through the first six innings as UC Riverside's Angel Landazuri allowed just two runs and three hits over that span. San Diego State starter Brett Seeburger did him one run better, allowing just one run on five hits in his five-and-two-thirds innings of work.
All that changed in the seventh inning thanks in part to a Highlanders defensive miscue. Seby Zavala hit a grounder to second that Chavez couldn't come up with, and Ryan Muno's single to center ended Landazuri's evening.
Landazuri gave way to Jared Morton who got Andrew Brown to pop up to first for the first out of the inning. Pinch hitter Spencer Thornton loaded the bases with a single to right, but Morton struck out Ryan Alvarez for out number two.
It looked as if Morton might get out of the inning unscathed, but a balk moved all three base runners up 90 feet, and made it a 3-1 ball game. Calabuig then singled to right scoring two more, to put the Aztecs up four, 5-1.
The Highlanders weren't done, however, as pinch hitter Edgar Morales walked on four straight pitches to begin the bottom half of the seventh, and moved to second on a passed ball. After Dante Chupek struck out, Drake Zarate beat out an infield single to third, and Mark Contreras singled up the middle to load the bases.
Vince Fernandez' infield single to short scored Morales bring up Matthew Ellis. Ellis struck out, but the next batter, Alex Rubanowitz, turned on the first offering from Marcus Reyes and sent it screaming over the right field fence for a grand slam to give the Highlanders the lead, 6-5.
Neither team was able to produce a baserunner in the eighth, but in the top of the ninth, Andrew Brown and Alan Trejo hit back-to-back singles off of Jordan Kron with nobody out. Ryan Lillie came on to replace Kron and struck out Alvarez on three straight pitches for the first out of the inning, but his first offering to Calabuig made its way to the wall in left center. Both base runners scored, and Calabuig slid into third safely with a triple.
Lillie got out of the inning without any further damage, but CJ Saylor came on to pitch the bottom of the ninth for the Aztecs and retired the Highlanders in order for his fourth save of the season.
UC Riverside and San Diego State complete their four-game, road-home series on Sunday beginning at 1 pm PT at The Plex.
