Photos By David Cohen / BHEphotos
David Cohen
4
UC Riverside UCR 2-6
5
Winner San Jose State SJ 5-2
UC Riverside UCR
2-6
4
Final
5
San Jose State SJ
5-2
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
UC Riverside UCR 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 4 6 2
San Jose State SJ 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 5 12 1

W: BONTA-SMITH, Fineas (1-0) L: West, Kevin (0-2)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Baseball Unable to Get Series Victory in 5-4 Loss to San Jose State

SAN JOSE, Calif.—While the UC Riverside Baseball team supplied plenty of power in Sunday's series finale against San Jose State, it ultimately couldn't hold on to a lead and took a 5-4 walk-off loss.

After Kevin West allowed a leadoff single to begin the bottom of the ninth with the score tied at 4-4, head coach Troy Percival went to the bullpen. After a sacrifice fly and an intentional walk, an infield single loaded the bases with one out.

A thorn in the Highlanders side the entire day, Spartans third baseman Troy Viola came to the plate against Hayden Petrovick and on a 1-2 count, singled to left center field to win the game. Before the at-bat, Viola was 3-for-3 with an RBI.

It was quite a day for Connor Cannon at the plate. He belted a home run to left center field on the first pitch to begin the second inning, giving the Highlanders an early 1-0 lead. He also crushed a double in the eighth inning, marking the second straight game he had at least two hits.

Matt Hardy wouldn't be outdone. With two on and two out in the sixth inning, he hit a three-run home run to left field on a full count to give the Highlanders a 4-1 lead.

However, the Spartans slowly pecked away at the team's lead. After an error and a walk with Devin Mckesson pitching, Percival brought in West, who gave up a single through the left side, advancing the runners. After recording the second out of the inning, West got a little overanxious and threw a wild pitch that allowed the runner to score from third base.

In the eighth inning, San Jose State played some small ball after Viola walked with one out. He stole second and then scored on a single to left field by Nico Malbrough.

Jeremiah Priddy had another strong outing in his second start of the season. He went 5 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits. He also had four strikeouts.

Even though the Highlanders were unable to win the series, they showed plenty of toughness, coming back from a 9-1 loss on Friday to get a 12-3 win on Saturday.

The team will now move on to face Grand Canyon on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Phoenix.