DAVIS, Calif. – Poised to win their third straight against the Aggies, the Highlanders settled for a split in their doubleheader Saturday, following a 6-2 win in game one with an 6-4, extra-inning defeat in game two, the middle pair of a four-game series in Davis.
 
Highlanders coach Justin Johnson did not need to go deep into his bullpen for game one, as freshman Tucker Juline took the hill and went a strong 6.0 innings. A diving stop by second baseman Ely Stuart with a baserunner on third kept game one scoreless after four, setting up a two-out rally in the fifth for UCR that saw Cole Pofek score Travis Bohall and Ethan Payne on a double for a 2-0 lead.
 
The Highlanders responded with a third run in the eight after UC Davis scored in the sixth, an RBI single by Nathan Webb scoring Jacob Shanks and chasing Aggie starter Jake Lachemann from the ballgame.
 
Stuart added a homerun in the ninth, and Shanks took his hitting streak to nine on a 3-2 pitch, adding another RBI to his total as the Highlanders won game one, 6-2.
 
In game two, the Highlanders dug themselves an early hole, failing to reach base while the Aggies built a 3-0 lead after two innings. Pitcher Kyle Anderson made his day more difficult with a wild pitch to allow the first run to cross for the Aggies. He was replaced in the bottom of the fourth inning by Abbott Haffner, who needed needs one pitch to get a grounder to end a jam.
 
Dylan Orick walked to start the fifth and Webb popped out for first out before Joey Nicolai singled just past Aggie shortstop Kyler Arenado, putting Highlanders at first and second. Anthony Mata made most of opportunity, pushing a single past the second baseman, allowing Orick to chance to show his hustle, beating the throw home to get UCR on the board. With runners on first and third and one out, Ely Stuart lifted a sacrifice fly to score Nicolai, making it a 3-2 game with two outs and a runner of first. Mason Grace was then hit by a pitch, moving Mata the tying run to second. Bohall jumped on a pitch early in the count but hit it to left field for the third out. Still, it was a new ballgame at 3-2.
 
The Highlanders' bats went back to work in the sixth, as Pofek led off with double to right field, ending the day for Aggie starter Tim Weiser.
 
Pofek stole third and Orick had him in position to tie the game by making contact, but his liner went directly to Arenado at short. The next batter, Webb, grounded to the shortstop again, but this time Arenado could not handle it, allowing Pofek to score and tie the game 3-3. The Highlanders had the go-ahead run in scoring position with runners on first and second, but Mata struck out swinging to end the top half of the sixth.
 
The bottom of eighth saw Pofek take first on a hit-by-pitch. The Aggies brought in reliever Nathan Peng and Shanks could not move the runner over, popping out in his bunt attempt, but Orick did on a slow grounder to the pitcher, leaving a two-out opportunity for Webb, who flied out.
 
The game remained tied, Haffar throwing one-hit ball through the seventh and striking out Arenado with two runners on to end the eighth. In the top of the ninth, Mata earned a walk and was thrown out at the plate on a double by Stuart, but Stuart followed him home for the go-ahead run on the same play as Aggie catcher Michael Campagna threw the ball down the line trying to stop him from stretching to third. The error allowing UCR to take a 4-3 lead. Redshirt senior Riley Ohl took the mound for the bottom of the ninth and could not save it, although he kept enough composure to keep the game at 4-4 into extra innings after leaving two Aggies on base.
 
The Highlanders went down in order in the top of the 10th, setting the stage for a disappointing end for UC Riverside as pinch hitter Isaiah Verrett sent the two-out offering from UCR reliever Eric Marrujo over the left-field wall for a two-run home run to end the second game.
 
The Highlanders and Aggies finish their four-game series tomorrow in Davis, with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. PT on Easter Sunday.