Box Score Fresno, CA—The UC Riverside Baseball Team recorded its third straight victory Saturday evening, but needed none of the theatrics of the previous two, as the Highlanders put five on the board in the top of the fourth, and held on for the 6-4 win.
UC Riverside didn't pick up its first hit of the evening until the top of the fourth when Colby Schultz singled to center off of Bulldogs' starter Rickey Ramirez. Ramirez then plunked Mark Contreras, and last night's hero, Connor Cannon, single up the middle scoring Schultz.
Cade Peter's reached on a fielder's choice, which erased Cannon, but moved Contreras over to third, and Aaron Cisneros singled to right center to make it 2-0 Highlanders.
Yeager Taylor followed with a single down the right field line, to put UC Riverside up by three, and two batters later, Casey Worden's single through the left side plated two more to make it a 5-0 game.
Ramirez settled down after that, but the damage was done. He tossed eight innings for the Bulldogs, striking out 11, and allowing just seven hits, five of which came in the pivotal fourth.
Hazahel Quijada (1-0) made his first start of the season for the Highlanders, and kept Fresno State off the board for the first five innings. The Bulldogs finally got to him in the bottom of the sixth, opening the frame with a double, a triple, a home run and a double. AJ Sawyer took over for Quijada with two outs, and the score 5-4 UCR, and promptly struck out Jeremiah Burks to end the inning.
Sawyer tossed a scoreless seventh, and gave way to Johnny Breidenthal in the eighth. Breidenthal picked up the first two outs of the inning before turning the game over to closer Ryan Lillie for the final four outs of the night. Lillie picked up his third save of the season, allowing one hit while striking out two.
UC Riverside tacked on an insurance run in the top of the ninth drawing four straight walks off of a pair of Fresno State relief pitchers.
The Highlanders and Bulldogs finish their three-game series on Sunday, February 26. First pitch is slated for 2:05 pm PT.
