Riverside—The UC Riverside Baseball Team concludes its 2015 campaign this week with a three-game Big West Conference series vs. the tenth-ranked team in the nation, UC Santa Barbara. The team will also honor its six seniors prior to the Highlanders 1 pm tilt with the Gauchos on Saturday.
The Highlanders rotation remains the same with Antonio Gonzales (0-2, 6.45) getting the start on Thursday, Joie Dunyon (1-4, 4.85) going on Friday night, and Kevin Sprague (3-7, 5.12) pitching on Senior Day Saturday.
UC Santa Barbara (39-13-1, 15-6) has been atop the league standings for most of the season, but Cal State Fullerton recently took two of three from the Gauchos, and the Titans now lead UCSB by a single game.
Baseball America has the Gauchos ranked 10th in the nation, and Santa Barbara ranks first in the Big West in batting average (.290) and on base percentage (.373), although in conference play those percentages are down to .265 and .338—just fifth best in the league.
Cameron Newell (.383/.463/.497) leads the conference in hitting, and ranks third in on base percentage and seventh in slugging.
The Gauchos pitching staff boasts the lowest ERA in the league at 2.39, as well as one of the top hurlers in the nation in Dillon Tate (8-4, 2.08). A virtual lock as a top five pick in the upcoming MLB Draft, many think that Tate will be the taken with the first selection. He has a league-leading 9.44 strikeouts per game and 100 on the season to go with just 27 walks.
The rest of his brethren in the weekend rotation are nearly as effective. Friday starter Justin Jacome (7-3, 2.46) has 85 punch outs to go along with 24 free passes this year, and on Saturday, the Highlanders face Shane Bieber (8-3, 2.26) who has walked just nine batters in 103.1 innings, while striking out 85.
The Highlanders are 26-20 overall against the Gauchos (
view results), but Santa Barbara has won seven of the last 10 meetings between the clubs.
