BEAUMONT, Texas - UC Riverside kicked off a three-game series in the Lone Star State on Friday evening in Beaumont, Texas with a 5-0 defeat to Lamar at Vincent-Beck Stadium.

Tucker Juline got the nod on the bump for what began strictly as a pitcher's duel through five innings. The junior held down the Cardinal offense for a majority of his 5.0 innings of work, retiring six of his first eight batters.  

Anthony McFarland belted a two-out single to left field in the third before shifting 90 feet into scoring position on Andrew Gamez's hit-by-pitch. Andrew Rivas also extended his hit streak to seven games with a one-out single to right field in the fifth inning, but was caught stealing second. 

The Highlanders made a pitching change, going to Jack Weeks and later Blake Burzell while Lamar found a hole in UCR's pitching staff for three runs in the sixth inning. The Cardinals added a run in each in the seventh and eighth. 

UC Riverside will continue the three-game stretch on Saturday, March 11 with a 12:00 p.m. first pitch on ESPN+.