San Diego—The UC Riverside Baseball Team returns to the diamond this week after taking nine days off for final exams. Up first is a Tuesday road trip to #23 San Diego where the Highlanders take on the Toreros at 6 pm PT. That is followed by the opening of Big West play, as the 10th ranked team in the nation, Cal State Fullerton, makes its way to The Plex for a three-game weekend series.
UC Riverside is 11-8 on the season after dropping two of three to CSU Bakersfield from March 17-19. After holding Kansas State to four runs over three games on March 10 and 12, the Highlanders have given up 34 runs in their last four games. The team's ERA has increased from 3.63 to 4.47 during that time.
Right-hander Kevin West (0-0, 1.50) makes his second start of the season, Tuesday. He has allowed one run on seven hits in 6.0 innings of work in 2017. His first start of the year came in the Highlanders' 5-4 loss to Holy Cross on March 7 (
box score/
recap), but he did not figure in the decision.
Offensively, the Highlanders continue to improve, having raised the team's collective batting average 90 points over the last 15 games to .266. In each of the last three contests, UC Riverside has banged out 13 or more hits, and the Highlanders are averaging 7.8 runs per game over their last five. UCR ranks first in the Big West in runs per game (6.3) and third in slugging percentage (.383).
The offensive surge is taking place despite the fact that the Highlanders have been without leading hitter Mark Contreras (.433/.474/.556) for the last 12 games. He is expected to return to the lineup shortly.
In the meantime, Cade Peters is hitting .381 over his last 13 games, and now leads UC Riverside with a .333 batting average and a .427 on base percentage. Casey Worden has upped his batting average by 201 points to .326 over the last four weeks. Over his last seven games, the senior catcher is hitting .444.
Freshman Connor Cannon remains the team's top power threat, ranking fourth in the Big West with four home runs, and fifth in the league with 18 RBIs.
San Diego is 15-6 on the season, and 5-1 in conference, after taking two of three from Santa Clara over the weekend. Like the Highlanders, the Toreros have a win over UCLA on their ledger this season. San Diego also has two results against Big West foes in 2017—a 14-6 win over UC Irvine on February 25, and a 9-2 defeat at the hands of Cal State Fullerton on March 21.
The Toreros bring a 3.92 staff ERA into the week with 217 strikeouts in 190.2 innings pitched. Opponents are hitting .233 against San Diego this year.
The Highlanders will face left-hander Miles Sandum (1-2, 7.13) on Tuesday, in the freshman's second start of the season. He has 19 strikeouts in 17.2 innings, but has allowed 20 hits and walked eight, while allowing 14 runs on the year.
San Diego is hitting .256 on the season with a .357 on base percentage an a .410 slugging percentage. Roman Garcia is the team's top hitter with a slash line of .333/.420/.739. He and teammate Riley Adams each have six home runs on the season, and six members of the squad have driven in 10 or more runs.
UC Riverside is 43-43-1 all-time against the Toreros (
view results), but San Diego has taken eight of the last 11 meetings between the clubs. The Highlanders picked up a pair of one-run wins in their 2016 contests against the Toreros—5-4 on April 19 (
box score/
recap), and 3-2 on April 26 (
box score/
recap).
