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(March
29, 2008) - For the second consecutive day, UC Riverside
and #21 Cal State Fullerton played to extra innings. The Highlanders
(7-13, 1-1 Big West) brought two runs across in the 12th to
pick up the 6-4 12-inning victory at Goodwin Field in Fullerton,
CA Saturday night. Junior pitcher Ryan Platt struck out six
and held CSF to just two hits in his six scoreless innings
of relief.
The Highlanders banged out
a season-high 16 hits and received a dominating performance
from Platt after a night in which UCR struggled to put the
ball in the play in Friday’s 16-inning loss.
Junior Jordan Opdyke led
off the Highlander 12th with a base-hit through the left side
and was then bunted over to second by senior Ben Price. Freshman
Trevor Hairgrove followed with a single to right field to
set up first and third for the UCR top of the order. Junior
lead-off hitter Carl Uhl then singled to right to bring across
junior Brandon Schnebly, who had come on to run for Opdyke
at second base, and give the Highlanders a 5-4 lead. Gonzales
followed Uhl with a base-hit of his own to score Hairgrove
from second to make it a two run cushion, 6-4.
Platt (1-1) allowed just
a two-out single before getting the final batter to ground
out and pick up his first career win as a Highlander.
Just like the previous night,
the scoring came early in the game. The Highlanders answered
a Fullerton two-run first with a run in the second, two in
the third, and one more in fourth. Senior Aaron Wible led
off the second with his second homer in as many days and back-to-back
RBI singles by freshman Daniel Pellegrino and Opdyke gave
UCR a 3-2 lead. Riverside added another run in the fourth
as Hairgrove came across on a Gonzales ground out.
CSF produced single runs
in the fifth and sixth to tie the game. Neither team could
push across the deciding run over the next five-plus innings
until the Highlanders produced their two in the 12th.
Hairgrove produced a career-high
four hits as five different Highlander hitters recorded two
or more hits. Gonzales finished with two RBI and UCR freshman
starting pitcher Matt Larkins allowed just three earned runs
and struck out two in his six-inning effort.
UCR and Cal State Fullerton
conclude their series on Sunday with the first pitch set for
1 p.m.
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