Riverside—The UC Riverside Baseball Team opens its 2016 season this weekend with a four-game home stand against Kansas State. First pitch at The
Plex on Friday is slated for 6 pm PT.
Troy
Percival's new-look Highlanders send junior transfer Austin
Sodders to the mound on Friday to make the first start of his UCR career.
Sodders, who was drafted by the Pittsburg Pirates last year in the
17th round of the Major League Baseball Draft, went 7-1 last season at nearby Riverside City College, posting a 2.03 ERA along with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of nearly six-to-one.
Last season's top returning starter, Angel
Landazuri, takes the mound on Saturday beginning at 1 pm. The junior struck out 45 batters in 45.2 innings a season ago, while walking just eight men. He led all starters on the squad with a 3.55 ERA.
Sunday's turn on the rubber goes to another newcomer in junior transfer Richard Delgado. The Antioch, California native went 9-0 last season at San Joaquin Delta with a 2.26 ERA, striking out 60 in 83.2 innings of work.
The Highlanders top hitter from a season ago, outfielder Vince Fernandez, is back in the lineup. He hit .316/.387/.524 in 2015 and was named to the All-Big West, Second Team. Also back in the fold is senior outfielder Thomas Walker. The right-handed slugger missed the entire 2015 season with an injury, after being named to the All-Big West First Team as a junior in 2013.
Kansas State went 27-30 a year ago including a 10-14 mark in Big 12 play. The Wildcats return 14 letter winners from a year ago including eight seniors. Their team ERA of 4.27 last season was the fifth best in school history during the aluminum bat era (since 1977).
K-State throwing senior right-hander Corey Fischer (4-6, 4.37) on Friday night, followed by lefty junior transfer Parker
Rigler on Saturday, senior
righty Levi
MaVorhis (2-1, 6.20) on Sunday and junior right-hander Colton
Kalmus (2-4, 4.13) on Monday
This is just the second time that the Highlanders and Wildcats have faced off against one another. The first meeting back back on March 27, 1971 when Kansas State traveled to the Inland Empire to take part in the UC Riverside's annual RBI Tournament. The Highlanders won the game 4-3.
