Fullerton, CA—The UC Riverside Baseball Team has won seven of its last nine games, and three of four series in conference play, which has them positioned for a run at the top of the Big West standings over the final four weeks of the regular season. The Highlanders can really help their cause this weekend as they travel to front-running #17 Cal State Fullerton for a three game series against the front-running Titans.
Cal State Fullerton (27-16, 9-3) is two games ahead of UC Riverside (20-21, 7-5) in the crowded Big West standings. Just two games separates the top five teams in the standings.
| Big West Baseball Standings |
| Team |
W |
L |
| Cal State Fullerton |
9 |
3 |
| UC Santa Barbara |
8 |
4 |
| Long Beach State |
9 |
6 |
| Cal Poly |
7 |
5 |
| UC Riverside |
7 |
5 |
| UC Irvine |
7 |
8 |
| Hawai'i |
7 |
8 |
| CSUN |
4 |
11 |
| UC Davis |
2 |
10 |
The Highlanders send their revamped weekend rotation of Austin Sodders (4-3, 2.96), Keaton Leach (1-0, 2.45) and Angel Landazuri (4-3, 5.36) to the mound this weekend. Last weekend, that trio combined to pitch 18.2 innings, allowing just 14 hits and four earned runs in UC Riverside's series win over visiting CSUN.
Cal State Fullerton is ranked 17th in the nation in the Collegiate Baseball Poll—one of three conference teams ranked in the five major polls (UC Santa Barbara, Long Beach State). The Titans have won five of their last six conference games, but are coming off of a 10-7 loss to San Diego State on Tuesday.
Fullerton boasts one of the top offenses in the league, leading the circuit in slugging percentage while ranking third in on base percentage. Their pitching staff also has the best earned run average in the Big West by nearly a run at 2.28, and the defense owns the top fielding percentage in the conference.
The Highlanders are 22-41 all-time against Cal State Fullerton (
view results). The Titans swept UC Riverside a year ago, but the Highlanders won five the previous eight meetings between the clubs.
