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(March
1, 2008) - UC Riverside fell in both games of their doubleheader
with the University of Nebraska, 10-4 and 5-2 in Lincoln,
NE Saturday. Junior Drew Garcia finished with four hits on
the day and freshman Brett Hambright launched his first career
homer in the opener for the Highlanders (2-6).
In the opener, the Cornhuskers (4-2) used a four-run second
off of Highlander freshman starter Matt Larkins to take a
6-0 lead after four complete innings. Larkins struggled to
find the zone early in the inning, walking the first two batters
and committing an error on the following play as the next
Nebraska hitter laid down a bunt, the throwing error allowed
the first run of the inning to come across and UN later picked
up three more runs on four hits in the inning.
Nebraska brought two more runs across in the fourth with a
RBI sacrifice fly and another UC Riverside's error, allowing
the Huskers to take a 6-0 lead into the fifth.
UCR answered with back-to-back two run innings, the first
coming in the fifth on an RBI double from Garcia and a sacrifice
fly from sophomore Joey Gonzales to cut it to 6-2. An inning
later, the Highlanders took advantage of a Cornhusker error
that was followed by a long ball from Hambirght to bring UCR
to within two, 6-4.
The Huskers then put up back-to-back two spots of their own
in the sixth and seventh. The runs in the sixth came on two
wild pitches and two Nebraska RBI singles in the seventh put
them up for good 10-4. Larkins (1-1) took the loss after allowing
six runs, only two earned, on five hits in five innings.
The Highlanders opened game two with a run in the first on
Hambrights fielder's choice, bringing home Gonzales from third
and gave UCR an early 1-0 lead. Both starters proved to be
effective through the early innings, not allowing another
run until Nebraska came to bat in the bottom of the sixth.
Cornhusker catcher Mitch Abeita's pinch-hit three-run homer
off of UCR sophomore start Paul Applebee, put NU on top 3-1.
UC Riverside answered in the seventh with a two-out RBI double
from freshman Trevor Hairgrove to score junior Carl Uhl from
first and cut the Cornhusker lead to 3-2. Nebraska came right
back with a run in their half, knocking out Applebee after
a UN run-scoring double to open up a two run lead, 4-2.
Nebraska added another run in the eighth and held on for the
5-2 win. Applebee (0-2) was very impressive in only his second
career start, allowing just four earned runs and striking
out three in 6.1 innings.
Garcia picked up two hits in each game for the Highlanders
who will look to sophomore Paul Bargas to pick up the win
in tomorrow's final game of the series, set for 1:05 p.m.
(CST).
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