Riverside, Calif. – Going for a series sweep of UC Davis (7-15, 1-2) Saturday afternoon, UC Riverside (12-11, 2-1) did well to battle back from a five-run deficit, but went on to fall, 10-5.
Junior outfielder Matt Hardy put together perhaps his best outing of the season, reaching on his first three at bats and going for season-highs in both hits (3) and RBI (3). Sophomore Connor Cannon also contributed with an RBI double, making it four straight games with a hit and an RBI.
UC Riverside entered Saturday's series finale as the Big West leader in virtually every offensive category, and would remain hot on the offensive end. The Highlanders ended the day with 14 hits, as all nine starters recorded a hit for the first time this season. However, the Aggies answered with 17 hits of their own, one shy of their season-high.
Similar to Thursday's series opener, UC Davis jumped out to an early lead, using a three-run third inning to take a 4-0 advantage.
The Highlanders would respond by scoring in each of the next four innings. Scratching first for the Highlanders was senior second baseman Cody Sporrer, who scored on Cannon's RBI double in the bottom of the third, making it 4-1.
The Aggies didn't let up in the top of the fourth, tallying two more runs on four hits and extending their lead to 6-1. Hardy would answer with a solo-homer over center field in the bottom of the inning – his third home run of the year – to make it 6-2.
With two outs on in the bottom of the fifth, Hardy's next at bat would see him pick up two more RBI. UCR strung together three consecutive hits – the first two coming as singles from Anthony Lepre and Tony Gudino – right before Hardy hung a deep shot off the center field wall to bring both runners home. That cut the deficit to 6-4.
The following inning would see another Aggie run answered by another run for Sporrer, who made it 7-5 on an RBI single from Dean Miller. However, the Aggies added another three runs in the top of the ninth, ending any hopes of a late Highlander comeback.
Sporrer ended the day tied with Hardy for the team-lead in hits (3), also leading the way with his two runs. That marks the second time this weekend and the third time this season that Sporrer has recorded three hits. Lepre and Miller finished with identical 2-of-5 marks at the plate.
UCR closes the weekend with an astounding 41 hits, the most its ever had following the opening weekend of Big West competition. Six Highlanders batted over .400 with five hits in three games. Cannon led the way with 9 RBI, two homers and a 1.083 slugging percentage.
Next weekend, the Highlanders will welcome CSUN to town for the second weekend of conference play, beginning with a Friday, Apr. 6 series opener at 6:00 p.m. at The Plex.
