DAVIS, Calif – UC Riverside's baseball team lost their Big West opener at UC Davis, 2-10. The loss drops the Highlanders to 7-16 on the season.
 
Left-handed junior Shamus Lyons started on the mound for the Highlanders on a beautiful, sunny day of baseball in Davis, California. He started the game off throwing two shutout innings before running into some trouble against the Aggies. A three-run homerun by Logan Denholm of UC Davis ended Lyons day as the Highlanders fell behind 0-7 after four innings.
 
Senior Devin Mckesson came in for relief in the bottom of the fifth inning and pitched a solid 1-2-3 inning striking out two of the batters he faced. The left-hander lowered his ERA to 1.64 with the shutout inning. After Mckesson held Davis scoreless, the Highlanders showed some life on offense in the top of the sixth.
 
Right fielder Dean Miller led the inning off with a double to left center which put him in a tie for the team lead in doubles with four. Miller was followed up by an RBI triple by first baseman, Yeager Taylor, to get the Highlanders on the board; Taylor's triple was the first of his career. The next batter, designated hitter Connor Cannon, singled up the middle for an RBI to cut the deficit down to 2-7.
 
After that strong offensive inning, the team wasn't able to find the holes in the defense and UC Davis was able to fend off the UCR rally. The team also had singles from sophomores Dylan Orick and Nathan Webb.
 
The Highlanders play at UC Davis for the second game of the three game set tomorrow, Saturday, March 30^th at 1:00pm.