Riverside—For the second straight game, the UC Riverside Baseball Team was done in by a seven-run third inning as UC Irvine picked up its 11th straight win Friday evening with a 10-4 victory over the Highlanders.

The Anteaters (17-10, 5-0) led 1-0 heading into the all-too familiar third, and up until that point, UC Riverside starter Keaton Leach (2-4) had allowed just one base hit. The momentum began to swing heavily in UCI's favor on the very first at bat of the third, however, as John Brontsema reached on a fielding error by UCR third baseman Edgar Morales

The next five Irvine batters reached safely, and Leach's evening ended as Head Coach Troy Percival brought in Cody Rogina from the bullpen. The first two batters Rogina faced reached base as well on an infield single and a throwing error, but he worked his way out of the inning thanks to a double play and a line out to third. The Anteaters sent 11 hitters to the plate in the frame, and took advantage of four UCR miscues in the process.

The Highlanders (10-21, 0-4) scored two runs in their half of the third thanks to an RBI single by Joe Chavez and a run-scoring wild pitch, and picked up a third run in the fourth when Vince Fernanddex crushed his fourth home run of the season over the left field wall.

Rogina hunkered down and gave Percival 102 pitches over seven innings allowing just four hits, but the UC Riverside offense managed just one more run on the night off of Anteaters starter Matt Esparza (6-1).

Game three of the three-game series between the clubs is slated fo 1 pm PT Saturday at The Plex.