Riverside—The UC Riverside Baseball Teams continues its seven-game home stand this week with a three-game Big West series against Hawai'i beginning Thursday with a 6 pm PT first pitch at The Plex.
The Highlanders dropped the first three-games of the home stand over the weekend, as Cal State Fullerton continued its push for an NCAA postseason berth.
Vince Fernandez continues to lead UCR in nearly every offensive category including batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, hits, doubles, home runs, RBIs, and stolen bases. He is also the team's top offensive threat in conference games, leading in all three slash line categories (.313/.441/.438).
Joie Dunyon (1-2, 4.21) gets the Thursday start for the Highlanders. He struggled in his most recent start vs. Fullerton, but in his two previous trips to the mound he logged 16.0 innings, allowing 11 hits and three earned runs, while striking out 15 and walking just one.
Kevin Sprague (3-5, 4.79) makes his 12th start of the season on Friday. He also struggled against the Titans, but in his previous two starts, Sprague pitched 13.1 innings, allowing 11 hits and three earned runs while striking out nine and walking three.
Saturday's starter is TBD.
Hawai'i (18-26, 9-9) improved to .500 in Big West play over the weekend with a three-game road sweep of Long Beach State. The Rainbow Warriors are 6-3 over their last nine conference games.
Offensively, Hawai'i has a slash line of .249/.33/.314. All of those figures are in the bottom third of the conference, but the Rainbow Warriors also play in one of the most pitcher-friendly parks in the Big West. Twenty-seven of the team's games have been played at their home park, with just 17 contests played on the mainland.
No member of the Rainbow Warriors with more than three at bats his hitting over .300 on the season. They are led by Eric Ramirez and his .288 batting average and .401 on base percentage. Kaeo Aliviado is Hawai'i top slugger with four home runs and a team-high .369 slugging percentage.
Right-hander LJ Brewster (5-4, 2.81) makes his 13th start of the season on Thursday. He is holding opponents to a .245 batting average on the year, and gives up less than one extra base hit per game.
Righty Tyler Brashears (7-4, 1.78) also takes the mound for the 13th time in 2015. The Rainbow Warriors' Friday starter has a WHIP of 1.012 (82 walks and hits in 81.0 innings), and opponents are hitting .225 against him.
Southpaw Jarrett Arakawa (3-3, 3.63) takes his tenth turn in the rotation on Sunday. He averages less then five innings per start.
The Highlanders are 4-3 all-time against Hawai'i (
view results), but dropped two of three last season on the road to the Rainbow Warriors.
