RIVERSIDE, Calif. – The UC Riverside Highlanders returned to the Plex today for their fourth game in five days, hosting the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) Rebels for a weekday one-off game sandwiched between two weekend series. Yesterday, the Highlanders took down CBU in dramatic fashion with a 14-2 win. That game was originally scheduled for Saturday, February 22 but was rescheduled to February 24 due to rain. Even without the rain out, the Highlanders would have been facing the Rebels after 27 innings of pitching in the preceding four days. If the 14-2 win over CBU last night served as a showcase of the 2020 Highlander's offensive capabilities, tonight's 3-2 win in 11 innings over the Rebels was a display of the depth and skill in UCR's pitching staff and defense.
It would come down to a pitchers' duel between the two teams, with nine Rebels and four Highlanders taking the mound through the course of the extra-inning ballgame. There were just five runs scored between the two teams across 11 innings, with UCR outhitting UNLV nine to eight. Both teams bent, but the Highlanders didn't break.
Trevor Bateson started on the bump in his third appearance and first start for the Highlanders. Bateson would put up five innings, letting up four hits, one run, two walks and punching two strikeouts.
Cole Pofek put out the first two batters of the game while making it look easy, fielding a line drive and fly ball to kick off another solid performance in left field that would endure the complete 11 innings.
In the bottom of the first,
Travis Bohall reached on a fielding error by the Rebels third baseman and scored the first Highlander run after a pair of errors. Nate Webb moved him around with a ground ball to second base. Bohall advanced to third on an error as UNLV's first baseman attempted to put out
Dylan Orick. Bohall scored on the same play off of a muffed throw by UNLV starting pitcher Noah Mattera.
Shortstop
Skyler De Los Reyes had an impressive back up grab on a ground ball up the middle in the second inning. It'd be followed by a nice grab off a one-hop throw from UCR first baseman
Garrett Calvert to complete the out, in just one instance of spectacular Highlander defense.
Jacob Shanks scored the Highlanders second run of the game in the bottom of the second after leading off the inning with a single to right center to get on base. Shanks advanced from first to third as Calvert reached on another Rebel fielding error.
Damien Sanchez would get the RBI on a sacrifice bunt to put the Highlanders up 2-0.
Highlander defense backed up Bateson's hard work on the mound, ending the top of the third inning with a well-executed double play from SS De Los Reyes to 2B Sanchez to 1B Calvert. They repeated the play in the top of the fourth but switched the order around. Sanchez threw out the runner at second and De Los Reyes turned it to Calvert at first for the outs to end the inning.
UNLV would cause trouble for the Highlanders in the top of the fifth, after a double and single put Rebel runners on the corners. A sacrifice fly scored one run to cut the Highlanders lead in half, 2-1. A rebel baserunner gunned for home plate off a fly ball to left field. Pofek ended the inning with an excellent throw to the plate, preventing the Rebels from tying the game.
Kevin West relieved Bateson in the top of the sixth and went three-up, three-down in both the sixth and seventh innings. He threw 2.2 innings, let up one run on two hits, one walk, and two strikeouts.
Abbott Haffar relieved West after he loaded the bases in the top of the eighth. The tying Rebel run came in after a deep single to right field was thrown by
Dylan Orick to shortstop to third base to second base for the final out of the inning. The run that crossed the plate while the play at second was completed tied the game 2-2.
Andre Granillo came in to close for the Highlanders. Granillo finished the game and collected the win, throwing an impressive three innings letting up just one hit, one walk and punching three strike outs.
Travis Bohall and Nate Webb, the Highlander's pair of lead off hitters, ended the game in walk-off fashion in the top of the eleventh. Nate Webb sent Bohall home with a hard-hit double down the left field line.
The Highlanders advance to 3-5 on the season, tallying their second win in a row as they set their sights on next weekend's target, a three-game travel series at Saint Mary's College in Moraga, Calif. They begin play on February 28 at 2 PM, continue February 29 at 1 PM, and wrap up the series on March 1 at 1:00 PM before heading home.
