Davis, CA—The UC Riverside Baseball Team heads back out on the road this weekend, traveling to UC Davis for three games against the Aggies.
Both teams are trying to work their way into the upper division of the Big West Conference, trailing fourth place CSUN by three games in the loss column.
The Highlanders are coming off of a stretch where they played five non-conference games in six days, taking two of three from the Pac-12's Utah, and dropping one-game decisions to Fresno State and LMU.
UC Riverside's offense is averaging 5.9 runs over its last nine games, and has banged out 10 or more hits in five of its last seven. That has upped the team's batting average from .249 to .257
Senior outfielder Mark Contreras continues to lead the team in all three slash line categories at .369/.434/.562. Those figures would rank second, third and third respectively in the Big West, but Contreras hasn't played in enough games yet to qualify for the league's leader board due to a hand injury that kept him out of the lineup for most of the month of March.
Junior shortstop Colby Schultz is the other UC Riverside regular who is hitting better than .300 on the season with a slash line of .309/.384/.398. Freshman designated hitter Connor Cannon leads the team with eight home runs and 28 RBIs. His eight dingers are two shy of tying the program record for home runs by a freshman.
The Highlanders ERA has decreased from 5.57 to 5.40 over the past three weeks. Right-hander Ryan Lillie (2-5, 4.50) gets the start on Friday afternoon. He has 60 Ks and just 14 walks in 54.0 innings, while holding the opposition to a .251 batting average.
Saturday starter Alex Fagalde (6-3) has been almost as effective as Lillie, holding foes to a .256 batting average and striking out 52, while walking 20, in 62.1 innings.
Sunday's starter is TBD.
UC Davis took two of three from UC Santa Barbara last weekend before dropping a 3-2 decision at Pacific on Tuesday. The Aggies own the second best ERA in Big West contests at 3.31, despite striking out the second fewest batters per inning in the league at 6.27.
Lefty Orlando Razo (5-3, 4.50) gets the starting nod on Friday for UC Davis. He has 64 strikeouts in 70.0 innings on the year, and has held opponents to a .255 batting average.
Right-hander Justin Mullins (2-3, 4.70) takes the ball on Saturday, and held the opposition to a .263 batting average this year. He has 28 strikeouts and 21 walks in 59.1 innings.
Left-hander Robert Garcia (2-5, 3.92) finishes out the series on Sunday. He has 50 Ks and has issued 25 free passes on the season, while keeping foes to a .260 batting average.
The Aggies have just one regular hitting better than .300 in Ryan Anderson at .306. Alex Aguilar leads the team with a .379 on base percentage, while Cameron Olson paces the Aggies with a .492 slugging percentage.
As a team, UC Davis is hitting .266/.330/.378.
The Highlanders are 40-27 all-time against the Aggies, and have taken four of the last six games between the clubs (
view results). UC Davis has won six straight in their home park, however.
