Riverside—The UC Riverside Baseball Team jumped out to a three-run lead Thursday evening over visiting UC Irvine, but the Anteaters scored seven runs in the top of the third en route to a 15-5 victory.

UC Irvine (16-10, 4-0) scored first thanks to a first-inning, lead-off double from Mikey Duarte, followed by a sacrifice bunt and a ground out which made it 1-0 Anteaters.

It didn't take long for the Highlanders to respond, though, as they took advantage of an 'Eaters miscue in the bottom of the frame. Joe Chavez led off the inning with a grounder to first that Mitchell Holland couldn't handle, and Austin Colvin followed with a double down the right field line to tie the score. Adonis Morrison singled to put runners on the corners, and a Mark Contreras sac fly to right center put UC Riverside on top. The Highlanders weren't done, however, as Cody Sporrer singled to center scoring Morrison to put Riverside up 3-1.

Kevin Sprague (2-4) pitched a scoreless second inning, and the Highlanders tacked on another run in their half on a Colvin RBI single.

UC Irvine solved Sprague in the third though, as the Anteaters sent 12 batters to the plate. When the dust settled, it was an 8-4 lead for Irvine. Meanwhile, UCI starter Elliot Surrey (4-2) retired 15 straight at one point, keeping the Highlanders in check.

The Anteaters pushed across two more runs in the eighth and five in the ninth, as UC Riverside was forced to use seven pitchers on the evening. The Highlanders pushed across a run in the eighth on a Sporrer RBI ground out, but Shaun Vetrovec worked a scoreless night to close out the win.

Riverside and Irvine play game two of their three-games series at The Plex on Friday beginning at 6 pm PT.