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Box
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| With
two outs in the ninth, senior Aaron Wible singled home
Joey Gonzales for the game-winner on Sunday. |
(April
27, 2008) - Aaron Wible’s two-out walk-off RBI single
completed a two run ninth-inning comeback and gave UC Riverside
a 4-3 series clinching win over Cal State Northridge Sunday
afternoon. UCR picked up two runs on three hits in the last
inning, giving them their third series win of the season,
all coming in Big West Conference play.
The
Highlanders improve to 13-25 overall and 7-5 in the Big West,
placing them in a tie with UC Davis for fourth, while the
Matadors fall to 17-22 overall and 5-10 in conference.
UCR starting pitcher battled throughout the day, scattering
nine hits and allowing three earned runs in his seven innings
of work. He allowed a Matador run in the third, before UCR
took advantage of three CSUN errors in their half of the inning
and brought two runs across at take a 2-1 lead. Carl Uhl started
the inning with a triple off the right field wall and later
came home on a safety squeeze, put down by Joey Gonzales.
Gonzales reached on the play after the Matador first baseman
pulled his foot. He then stole second and came around to score
the second UCR run on the third Northridge error of the inning.
CSUN
tied things up with an RBI groundout in the fourth and later
took a 3-2 lead on a seventh inning RBI base-hit by Justin
DeMarco.
After
stranding a runner at the third in their half of the seventh
and another runner at second in the eighth, the Highlanders
came through with runners on base, in the ninth. Stephen Penney
came in and fired a perfect eighth and Joe Kelly followed
with a one-two-three ninth to set the stage for the Highlander
comeback in the ninth.
Trevor
Hairgrove beat out an infield single to start the inning.
One batter later, UCR used a perfectly executed hit-and-run
as Gonzales slapped a ball through the vacated hole at shortstop,
allowing Hairgrove to scamper to third. With runners on first
and third and just one out, Highlander leading hitter Drew
Garcia brought home Hairgrove for the game-tying run on sacrifice
fly to center. During the play, Gonzales alertly took second
base on the throw to the plate, putting himself in scoring
position for Wible. The first pitch from CSUN reliever Edwin
Quirarte was lined off the bat of Wible and over the right
fielder, one-hopping the wall and allowing Gonzales to score
easily for the game-winner.
It
is the second walk-off win for the Highlanders this season
after a Ben Price double beat Washington in the first game
of the season. Kelly (1-0) picked the win and Quirarte (2-3)
took the loss as Uhl and Wible each collected two hits, and
Gonzales scored two runs on the day.
Next
up for UCR is a three-game road series at the University of
Pacific in Stockton, CA beginning Friday. |
