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Baseball

Baseball Tries for Fifth Straight Win vs. San Diego

RIVERSIDE, Calif.—Riding high after an exciting three-game sweep of Cal Baptist in the Crosstown Showdown, the UC Riverside Baseball team will play the University of San Diego at home on Tuesday at 1 p.m.

The Highlanders, who have won four straight games, got their first series sweep since 2015 and currently sit at .500 with a 6-6 record.

The team's offense was on full display during the series, with the Highlanders banging out 37 hits and 20 runs.

"I think they are starting to believe," head coach Troy Percival said. "When you have 13 new faces, it's hard to get everyone to gel, but a couple of big victories and this team is a lot lighter now."

Connor Cannon gets the nod for the Highlanders. This will mark his second start of the season. Slowly working him back into the rotation after an injury, Percival started Cannon against Grand Canyon last Tuesday. He allowed one run on two hits in two innings.  

Cannon has also been a huge offensive threat in the middle of the lineup, hitting .321 with two home runs and three RBIs, while slugging .607.

Dylan Orick has been a standout on the offensive side for the Highlanders as well. He is batting .326 on the season with nine RBIs, which leads the team. He went 4-for-6 with a pair of RBIs last game against CBU.

The two teams didn't play each other last season, but the Highlanders lost both games vs. San Diego in 2017. The Highlanders are 43-45-1 all-time vs. Toreros, but 31-26 all-time at home. The teams will play again on April 2 in San Diego.

After Tuesday's game, UCR will not play another home game until April 12 against Hawaii. That's a stretch of 17 games on the road.