Northridge, CA—The UC Riverside Baseball Team resumes Big West play this afternoon with a three-game series at CSUN beginning at 3 pm PT.
The Highlanders (13-19, 2-7) are coming off of a 10-1 loss to San Diego State on Tuesday (
box score/
recap). In that game, UC Riverside found itself trailing 6-1 after the first three innings. That is the 11th in its last 17 games that UCR has had to battle back from a deficit after three frames. The Highlanders are 3-14 during that 17-game stretch, after starting the season with a 10-5 mark.
Prior to the start of conference play, UC Riverside was averaging a league-high 6.05 runs per game. Against Big West foes, the Highlanders are averaging a league-low 2.78 runs per game, and have a slash line of .237/.282/.339.
Shortstop Colby Schultz is one member of UC Riverside's offensive contingent who has been feasting on Big West pitching, to the tune of a .424 batting average, a .486 on base percentage, and a .606 slugging percentage. All three of those marks rank in the top 10 in the league.
Cade Peters has also performed well against the conference, with a slash line of .343/.395/.457 in Big West compettion. Mark Contreras continues to be the team's top overall hitter, batting .375 with a .438 on base percentage and a .488 slugging percentage. Freshman Connor Cannon belted two home runs over the weekend, and is tied for first in the Big West in dingers, and tied for sixth in RBIs with 24.
The Highlanders' pitching staff has also had difficulty in conference play, with an ERA of 6.12, and an opponents batting average against of .291.
Right-hander Ryan Lillie (1-4, 3.35) makes his fourth straight weekend start since moving back into the rotation. During that time he has logged 21.0 innings, allowed 19 hits, struck out 19, and posted an ERA of 2.58. Those efforts lowered his season ERA from 4.32 to 3.35.
Righty Alex Fagalde (5-2, 4.02) has been the Highlanders most consistent starter since moving into the rotation in early March. He leads the team in wins, and innings pitched, while holding the opposition to a .247 batting average.
Sunday's starter is still TBD.
CSUN (17-21, 4-5) has dropped four of its last five games, including two of three over the weekend to #12 Long Beach State.
The Matadors are hitting .244/.325/.376 as a team this season, and they rank ninth, eighth and sixth in the Big West in those categories. Kevin Riley is the team's top hitter with a slash line of .299/.363/.567. He is tops on the squad in batting average and slugging percentage, while Alvaro Rubalcaba leads them with a .400 on base percentage.
CSUN does lead the Big West in home runs with 30, and Riley and Albee Weiss are both tied for the league lead with seven apiece.
The Matadors team ERA is 5.08 overall, and 6.08 in conference. They have allowed a league-high 32 home runs on the season, including 12 against Big West opponents.
CSUN sends a trio of right-handers to the mound this weekend beginning with Tei Vanderford (4-4. 3,29). Vanderford is holding opponents to a .222 batting average, and has allowed just 53 hits in 65.2 innings. He is susceptible to giving up walks, however, having issued 24 free passes on the year, and 22 of the 53 hits he has allowed have gone for extra bases.
Samuel Myers (2-5, 4.17) gets the nod on Saturday, and he has been even more effective at preventing base runners than Vanderford. Myers has given up 38 hits in 54.0 innings, walking 18, and limiting the opposition to a .201 batting average.
Andrew Weston (4-1, 3.83) closes out the series for the Matadors on Sunday. Although teams are hitting .281 against him, he owns the best won-loss record on the team, and the second lowest ERA among starters.
The Highlanders are 85-86-1 all-time against CSUN (
view results), after taking two of three from the Matadors a year ago.
