Riverside—In a game that saw 29 hits and 25 runs, it was ultimately an error and the sun that foiled the UC Riverside Baseball Team Sunday afternoon, as they dropped a 13-12 decision to visiting UC Davis.

Tied at 12 heading into the ninth, Aggies lead-off hitter Tanner Bily singled through the left side off of UCR reliever Ryan Lillie (3-2) to put the go-ahead run on base. A sacrifice bunt moved Bily to second, and the Highlanders elected to walk Mark Cardinalli to face Cameron Olson.

During Olson's at bat, Lillie caught Bily leaning, and appeared to have him picked off. Lillie threw to Michael Farris at third, who chased Bily back to second. Bily did a 180 when Farris threw to shortstop Colby Schultz. Lillie was covering third, and he received the throw from Schultz sending Bily scampering back to second again. As Lillie closed on Bily, the Highlanders (12-14, 2-1) pitcher seemed caught between trying to tag the runner or throw back to second. That indecision cost him, as he fumbled the ball, allowing Bily to retreat safely to the bag.

Shortly thereafter, Olson lifted a fly ball to right field, but Vince Fernandez had to fight the late afternoon sun, and he was unable to make the play as the ball fell safely for a double, and scored Bily to make it 13-12 UC Davis.

Blake Peters (3-2) pitched the final 2.1 innings for the Aggies to secure the victory, retiring the Highlanders 1-2-3 hitters in order in the bottom of the ninth.

Prior to the Aggies (7-15, 1-2) late-game scoring efforts, the story of the game was the Highlanders' offense plating 12 runs in the bottom of the third to turn a 9-0 deficit into a 12-9 lead.

The Aggies jumped out to that 9-0 lead after two-and-a-half innings scoring seven runs off of UC Riverside starter Angel Landazuri, and a pair off of his replacement, Matt Ellis. Meanwhile, Nat Hamby kept the Highlanders at bay tossing a pair of scoreless innings out of the gate.

All of that changed in the bottom of the third, however, as UC Riverside sent 17 batters to the plate, pounded out eight hits, and put a 12 spot on the board to take a 12-9 lead. Saturday night's hero, Vince Fernandez, drove in four runs during the inning—two each on a pair of singles to right.

The 12 runs in the inning are the third most scored by the Highlanders in a single frame since they joined the Big West Conference prior to the 2002 season. The program's Big West-era record is 14 set back on February 23, 2002 in the eighth inning of a 21-4 win over Oregon State.

The Aggies got two back in the top of the fourth off of Keaton Leach to  make it a 12-11 ballgame, and there the score stayed until the top of the eighth. Jacob Worrell came out from the pen to start the inning for UC Riverside,, and Logan Denholm greeted him with a double off the wall in left field. A ground out moved Denholm to third, and Coach Percival made the call to the bullpen again, bringing in Ryan Lillie.

David Langer fell behind 1-2, but laced the next offering back up the middle, just out of reach of Lillie, and a diving second baseman Steven Mercado II. Denholm scored on the play, tying the score at 12 apiece.

The Highlanders are on the road for the next three weeks, beginning Tuesday, April 5 with a 6 pm PT first pitch at LMU.