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(April
9, 2008) - UC Riverside dropped a 7-2 decision to the 13th
ranked San Diego Toreros at Cunningham Stadium in San Diego,
CA Wednesday afternoon. Drew Garcia picked up a base-hit in
the third inning to extend his hitting streak to 10 games
for the Highlanders (9-18).
The
Toreros picked up 10 hits and took advantage of three UCR
errors to improve to 24-11 on the season and take both meetings
from the Highlanders this season.
San
Diego struck first, using three hits to bring four runs across
in the bottom half of the first inning. The Highlanders answered
with a run in second on a two-out RBI infield single off the
bat of Daniel Pellegrino. Wible then led off the Riverside
second with a lined shot to left center and instead of setting
for the single, Wible hustled around first and slid in just
ahead of the tag for a double. Two batters later, Pellegrino
sent a ball down the first base line which was knocked down
by a diving USD first baseman, but Pellegrino beat out the
throw to allow Wible to cross for the Highlanders first run.
UCR
starting pitcher Ryan Platt came out for his second inning
of work hitting his spots and with a more visible confidence
on the mound. Platt used a spectacular play by Trevor Hairgrove
at shortstop who picked a hot shot to his left and threw on
to first to end the inning. Hairgrove then led off the Riverside
third with a single through the left side. Two batters later,
Garcia brought Hairgrove home with a two-out run scoring double
to left center to cut the USD lead to 4-2.
Dustin
Emmons came in for Platt to start the fourth and made quick
work of the Toreros, throwing only six pitches in the fourth
and then sat USD down in order in the fifth. San Diego’s
Jose Valerio finally got to Emmons with a solo homer to right
center in the sixth and open up a 5-2 lead.
USD
tacked on another run in the seventh and one more in the eighth
before the Torero bullpen limited UCR to just two hits over
the final five innings to pick up the victory. Platt (1-2)
suffered the loss after allowing four earned runs in his three
innings. Sammy Solis picked up the win after striking out
seven in his six innings of work to improve to 2-1 on the
season.
The
Highlanders continue on the road for a three-game weekend
series with UCLA beginning on Friday at 6:00 p.m. in Westwood,
CA.
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