Riverside—The UC Riverside Baseball Team welcomes CSU Bakersfield to The Plex this weekend for a three-game series, beginning Friday, March 17 at 6 pm PT. Saturday's first pitch is also slated for 6 pm, and Sunday's game begins at 1 pm.
The Highlanders are coming off of a 10-3 loss to Gonzaga on Tuesday evening (
box score/
recap), which dropped their record to 10-6 on the season. Each of the team's previous five losses were by just one run each.
UC Riverside has been without the services of leading hitter Mark Contreras (.433/.528/.667) over the last nine games, but the Highlanders have still managed to average 6.4 runs per game during that span.
Cade Peters has been the Highlanders' best hitter of late, raising his average nearly 180 points, from .176 to .353. He has hit safely in nine of his last ten games to the tune of a 441 batting average, and scored nine runs and driven in eight during that time.
Freshman Connor Cannon lifed his aveage by 60 points over the past eight games, and is now hitting .279/.338/.412. He has hit safely in seven of his last eight, and leads the team with three home runs and 17 RBIs.
As a team, the Highlanders were hitting .192 through six games, but over the last ten, they are batting .280. After scoring more than four runs in a game just once during that first six-game stretch, the Highlanders have topped that total on seven occasions.
Left-hander Hazahel Quijada (2-1, 2.79) makes his fourth start of the year for UC Riverside on Friday. He has 22 strikeouts in 19.1 innings, and is holding opponents to a .212 batting average. The sophomore leads the Big West in strikeouts per nine inning at 10.24.
Righty Alex Fagalde (3-0, 1.88) takes his turn on the hill Saturday night. His 23 Ks lead the team, as does his 7.7 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He boasts the fourth best ERA in the league, as well as the third best strikeout-to-walk radio, and is tied for the Big West lead in wins. Teams are hitting .169 off of the senior from El Dorado Hills, California, and Fagalde has given up just two extra base hits all season long.
Right-hander Daniel Martinez (1-0, 2.08) gets the starting nod on Sunday. He has 11 Ks in 13.0 innings of work, and is holding the opposition to a .208 batting average
CSU Bakersfield enters the weekend with a record of 8-4, but the Roadrunners haven't played a game since a 9-7 loss at Cal Poly on March 7. Weather issues in Omaha, Nebraska canceled the team's three-game series at Creighton, which was scheduled for last weekend.
Despite the loss to the Mustangs, CSUB has won seven of its last nine games. The first win in that streak came against UC Santa Barbara, when the Gauchos were ranked 24th in the nation. This is just the 'Runners second road game of the year.
As a team, CSU Bakersfield is hitting .305/.373/.372 on the season. Seven of the team's regulars are hitting .333 or better, led by Mahlik Jones, who is batting .405.
Andrew Penner leads the Runners with a .486 on base percentage, and Ryan Grotjohn tops the squad with a .558 slugging percentage. CSUB is still looking for its first home run this season as a team.
Righty Max Carter (2-0, 2.75) makes his fourth start of the year Friday. The senior has 18 Ks in 19.2 innings pitched, and is holding opponents to a .243 batting average.
In addition to flirting with the magic .400 mark as a hitter, righty Mahlik Jones (1-1, 3.60) also serves as the Runners' Saturday starter this weekend. He has 16 strikeouts in 15.0 innings of work, while holding teams to a .254 batting average.
Sophomore right-hander Isaiah Moten (2-1, 2.65) doesn't quite have the strikeout totals of his rotation-mates (11), but has allowed just 17 hits in 19.2 innings, limiting the opposition to a .243 average. He makes his third start of the season on Sunday afternoon.
The Highlanders are 14-6 all-time against the Roadrunners (
view results), but the teams have split the last 10 meetings between the clubs. UC Riverside took two of three on the road at Bakersfield last season.
