
Highlanders Fall in Series Opener
3/10/2022 8:34:00 PM | Baseball
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – UC Riverside opened a three-game series with Portland under the lights at the Riverside Sports Complex on Thursday night, falling 5-4Â
Â
Portland wasted no time in their first at bats of the weekend, putting up two runs in the first inning before the Highlanders battled back and later accelerated to take a 4-2 lead. UCR got on the board in the first inning on a Joey Nicolai single to left field after Andrew Gamez led off the inning with a full count walk and stole second.Â
Â
A near mirror image took place in the third inning with Gamez working another full count into a walk. This time, an Andrew Rivas single moved Gamez two bases over before he was bought home on a Nicolai single to left.Â
Â
In all, Nicolai finished his evening going 2 for 5 with a pair of RBIs. Rivas went 3 for 5 on the night with a run, and Gamez tacked on a 2-for-3 performance.
Â
Dylan Orick led off the eighth inning with a four-pitch walk before advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt and third on a wild pitch. A walk and a stolen base later put runners on asecond and third for the Highlanders, but UC Riverside would not push a run across in the frame.
Â
UCR will finish out the series with a Friday doubleheader against the Pilots starting at 10:00 a.m. Tickets can be purchased at highlanderstickets.universitytickets.com, and students are free with a valid UCR ID.Â
Â
Â
Portland wasted no time in their first at bats of the weekend, putting up two runs in the first inning before the Highlanders battled back and later accelerated to take a 4-2 lead. UCR got on the board in the first inning on a Joey Nicolai single to left field after Andrew Gamez led off the inning with a full count walk and stole second.Â
Â
A near mirror image took place in the third inning with Gamez working another full count into a walk. This time, an Andrew Rivas single moved Gamez two bases over before he was bought home on a Nicolai single to left.Â
Â
In all, Nicolai finished his evening going 2 for 5 with a pair of RBIs. Rivas went 3 for 5 on the night with a run, and Gamez tacked on a 2-for-3 performance.
Â
Dylan Orick led off the eighth inning with a four-pitch walk before advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt and third on a wild pitch. A walk and a stolen base later put runners on asecond and third for the Highlanders, but UC Riverside would not push a run across in the frame.
Â
UCR will finish out the series with a Friday doubleheader against the Pilots starting at 10:00 a.m. Tickets can be purchased at highlanderstickets.universitytickets.com, and students are free with a valid UCR ID.Â
Â
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: MORSE, Eli (3-0)
L: Marrujo, Eric (0-2)
S: ALLEGRO, Peter (4)
Batting:
2B: BROWN, Sam 1 ; TSUKADA, Jake 1
RBI: BROWN, Sam 1 ; BOETTO, Tony 1 ; TAMMARO, Trace 1 ; PATACSIL, Ben 1 ; TSUKADA, Jake 1
SH: SAUNDERS, Ty 1
Base Running:
RUNS: HOLCROFT, Jake 1 ; BROWN, Sam 2 ; BOETTO, Tony 1 ; TAMMARO, Trace 1
SB: HOLCROFT, Jake 2 ; TSUKADA, Jake 1
HBP: PATACSIL, Ben 1

Batting:
3B: Carnazzo, Danny 1
RBI: Nicolai, Joey 2 ; McFarland, Anthony 1
SH: Mata, Anthony 1
SF: McFarland, Anthony 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gamez, Andrew 2 ; Rivas, Andrew 1 ; Carnazzo, Danny 1
SB: Gamez, Andrew 1 ; Mata, Anthony 1 ; Pofek, Cole 1 ; Badawi, Jacob 1
CS: Gamez, Andrew 1
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Day in the Life: Leilani Juan
Monday, May 04
UCR Student-Athletes cheer on our students.
Friday, May 01
UCR Athletics Director Introductory Full Press Conference
Tuesday, March 24
Athletics Director Greg Paules Introductory Presentation Recap
Tuesday, March 24












