Highlanders vs. WSU, Nebraska
vs. Washington St.	vs. Nebraska
Friday, Feb. 16, 11:00 am	Friday, Feb. 16, 3:00 pm
RHP Trenton Toplikar	LHP Hazahel Quijada
Live Stats	Live Stats
Live Audio	Live Audio
vs. Nebraska	vs. Washington St.
Saturday, Feb. 17, 3:00 pm	Sunday, Feb. 18, 3:00 pm
RHP Cole Percival	TBD
Live Stats	Live Stats

Tempe, AZ – The UC Riverside Baseball Team begins its 2018 campaign this weekend with four games in three days against Washington State and Nebraska at Tempe Diablo Stadium in Arizona.

This marks the second consecutive season that the Highlanders will begin the year by heading to Tempe to face the Cornhuskers and their head coach, Darin Erstad, who was a member of the 2002 World Series Champion Los Angeles Angels along with UCR Head Coach Troy Percival.

UC Riverside is coming off its second consecutive season of at least 22 wins, something it hadn't done since the 2011 and 2012 seasons.

The Highlanders will open the season without several key members from their 2017 squad, including graduated seniors Mark Contreras, Michael Farris and Alex Fagalde.

Contreras was UC Riverside's sole All-Big West First Teamer last season, after leading the team in batting average (.366), total bases (96), triples (8), slugging percentage (.558) and stolen bases (7). Fagalde was the Highlanders' top pitcher a year ago, posting a 7-4 record and leading the way with a 3.39 ERA.

2017 All-Big West Second Team selection Colby Schultz will be returning for his senior season on the heels of a career year in which he lead UCR in both hits (66) and doubles (15). Sophomore Connor Cannon (28 RBIs) and senior Cody Sporrer (27 RBIs) will also return to action this weekend, following years which saw them finish second and third on the team in RBIs, respectively.

Joining the returners will be a handful of newcomers, including 12 freshmen. Among the freshmen preparing for their first action at the collegiate level is son of Head Coach Troy Percival and right-handed pitcher Cole Percival, who will earn his first career start on Saturday against Nebraska.

Sophomore right-handed pitcher Trenton Toplikar (Feb. 16 vs. WSU) and junior lefty Hazahel Quijada (Feb. 16 vs. Nebraska) are the other Highlander pitchers scheduled to start this weekend.

UC Riverside will play two games on the opening day of the season, beginning with Washington State on Friday at 11:00 a.m. and ending the day with Nebraska at 3:00 p.m. Play-by-play radio broadcaster Ghizal Hasan will have the call for both of UCR's opening day games.