RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Facing San Diego State (27-14) on Tuesday at The Plex, UC Riverside (15-20) struggled to contain the Aztec offense, falling 19-1.

The Highlanders answered an early punch from the visitors, scoring a run in the bottom of the first after SDSU jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the inning.

UCR's early scratch came courtesy of senior shortstop Colby Schultz, who gave the Highlanders their first hit of the day with a single to center field. A Matt Hardy walk on the subsequent at bat would move Schultz over to second.

Schultz would eventually award Anthony Lepre an RBI as the junior opened his day with an infield single. That gave Lepre his 22nd RBI of the season, good for second on the team.

Unfortunately for the Highlanders, that would prove to be their only run of the day, as they went on to double the Aztecs in runners left on base, 12-6.

UC Riverside's batters finished with six hits and eight walks, but it wasn't enough to keep up with an SDSU offense that exploded for 12 runs between innings four through six.

Also tallying hits for UCR were Cade Peters, Robert Cruz, Tony Gudino and Nathan Webb. Both Peters and Cruz now have a hit in back-to-back games.

UCR will resume conference play this weekend as it travels up the coast to face UC Santa Barbara. Game one of the Highlanders' fourth Big West series ths year is set to begin at 3:00 p.m. on Friday.