Photos By David Cohen / BHEphotos
David Cohen
1
UC Riverside UCR 1-5
9
Winner San Jose State SJ 4-1
UC Riverside UCR
1-5
1
Final
9
San Jose State SJ
4-1
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
UC Riverside UCR 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 6 3
San Jose State SJ 0 1 0 0 2 3 0 3 X 9 8 0

W: POLACK, Ben (1-0) L: Ohl, Riley (1-1) S: ZANGER, Josh (2)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Baseball Unable to Pick Up Win in Series Opener vs. San Jose State

San Jose, Calif.—Inconsistent hitting and pitching has been a trend so far this season for the UC Riverside Baseball team. Unfortunately, that tendency continued Friday night, when the team took a 9-1 loss vs. San Jose State in the series opener.  

A tight game through the first five innings, with San Jose State up 3-0, the Spartans scored six runs over the final handful of innings to put the game out of reach.

The achilles heel of the Highlanders (1-5) so far this season has been their inability to hit with runners in scoring position. That was the case again Friday night. The team is hitting just .196 so far this season with RISP. Opponents on the other hand are hitting .396.

The team had its chances early with runners on first and second with one out in the first inning, but Dylan Orick struck out. Then, after a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third, Matt Hardy flied out to right field to end the threat.

The team picked up a run in the top of the ninth inning to make sure it didn't go scoreless. After a leadoff walk and then a single put runners on the corners, Cole Pofek singled through the right side to pick up an RBI.

Riley Ohl got the start for the Highlanders. He won Game 1 of Saturday's doubleheader against Nebraska and once again pitched well. He allowed just one unearned run and no hits over three innings. However, he was rather erratic, allowing five walks and taking the loss.

Head coach Troy Percival chose to go to his bullpen because of that and used a total of five relievers. They combined to allow eight runs (six earned). It's a decision that could have a major impact on the rest of the series.

The series picks back up on Saturday at 2 p.m. when Shamus Lyons takes the hill.