Box Score San Diego, CA—Mark Contreras went five for five with three triples and three RBIs, and seven different Highlanders' pitchers held San Diego State to just seven hits in the UC Riverside Baseball Team's 7-4 victory over the Aztecs Tuesday evening. The win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Highlanders.
Contreras put UC Riverside (14-22) on top in the first with an RBI triple down the right field line that scored Collby Schultz. Michael Farris then made it 2-0 Highlanders with a fielder's choice grounder.
UCR starter Hazahel Quidaja faced the minimum six batters through the first two innings, but the Aztecs tied the score in the bottom of the third thanks to a Alan Trejo RBI single, and a Chase Calabuig suicide squeeze.
Angel Landazuri (2-3) took over for Quijada in the fourth, and he tossed one-and-a-third innings of hitless baseball, striking out three. Devin McKessson, Johnny Breidenthal, Nick Shur, and Trenton Toplikar also kept San Diego State off the board through the eighth.
The Highlanders regained the lead in the top of the fifth off of Aztecs relief pitcher Adrian Mardueno (1-1). Mardueno was wild throughout the inning, walking Schultz and AJ Sawyer to lead things off. Contreras drove in his second run of the game with a double down the left field line, and Sawyer came home thanks to a passed ball to make it 4-2 UC Riverside. Harrison Pyatt came on in relief of Mardueno, but he uncorked a wild pitch that scored Contreras from third.
UC Riverside kept up the pressure in the top of the sixth, and once again, free passes and wild pitches played a role. Matt Hardy drew a lead off walk, and two batters later, so did Sawyer. Contreras then lined a single up the middle to put the Highlanders up 6-2. Sawyer scampered home on a wild pitch to make it a five run game.
Contreras' last hit of the game came in the top of the ninth, when he belted a lead off triple down the right field line. The last member of the Highlanders to record five hits in a single game was David Andriese who did so against Washington on February 17, 2014. That was also Contreras' third triple of the day, which not only tied the program record originally set by Brian McConkey on April 3, 2010 vs. Cal Poly, but also tied the NCAA record for triples in a game.
The Aztecs (29-13) touched Jared Morton for three hits and two runs in the bottom of the ninth, but the deficit was to great for San Diego State to overcome.
The Highlanders return home this weekend for a three-game, Big West Conference series against UC Santa Barbara. Friday and Saturday's games are being broadcast on ESPN3.
