RIVERSIDE, Calif. – UC Riverside welcomed Utah Valley to the Riverside Sports Complex on Wednesday for a midweek clash, downing the Wolverines 4-2.  
 
The Highlanders' fifth win of the season came from a number of breakout performances, including Eric Marrujo's first career complete game with five strikeouts on just 110 pitches. The sophomore pieced together a 1-2-3 eighth inning on just seven pitches and retired nine of his next 10 batters after UVU took the lead on a home run in the first inning.
 
Anthony Mata's hitting and speed put UCR in business in the second. Mata led off the inning with a single to left field and picked up a pair of steals to make his way over to third. Back-to-back strikeouts ended the inning with no runs across, but the Highlanders didn't have to wait long for run production. 
 
Mata continued an impressive month of April on Wednesday night at The Plex, going 3 for 4 with a run and two stolen bases for his fifth multi-hit game of the season – all of which have come in April. 
 
After a promising second, aggressive hitting came through to put UCR ahead in the third inning. Andrez Melendrez drew a seven-pitch walk, then Joey Nicolai sent his first pitch down the left field line for an RBI double and later came home on Dylan Orick's infield single on the first pitch of his at bat. 
 
Mata delivered UC Riverside's second first-pitch double of the frame, and after Dylan Orick advanced to third, Marcellus Pearson broke the game open with a two-run RBI single to left. Pearson's night saw continued success at the plate for the redshirt freshman, who recorded his third multi-hit game in his last five and his fourth and his last five with an RBI. 
 
UVU put runners on first and second in the seventh, but a 5-3 double play got the Highlanders out of the jam to leave the Wolverines' second and third runners on base of the night. Marrujo shut the door in the ninth. 
 
UC Riverside resumes Big West action in the midst of a seven-game home stand, as Cal Poly visits the Inland Empire for a three-game series starting on Friday, April 22 at 6:00 p.m. Fans can purchase tickets at highlanderstickets.universitytickets.com and current UCR students are free with a valid UCR ID.