Goetz's 4 RBIs, Larkins Relief Pitching Help UCR To 9-4 Win Over UCSB
Warren Bell
4 RBI night off the bat of Ryan Goetz to top the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos
9-4 Friday evening and move into fifth place in the Big West Conference.
The Highlanders' (30-17, 9-10) pitching rotation was off kilter to begin
with this weekend as Paul Bargas came down with food poisoning earlier in
the week forcing Matt Andriese into the Friday night starter role. The
freshman righthander retired the side in order in the first, but ran into
some trouble in the second loading the bases with nobody out. A sacrifice
fly by Shane Carlson brought home one run, but a double play grounder got
UCR out of the inning without any further damage.
The Highlanders struck back in the bottom of the second as Tony Nix reached
on an error by the shortstop, Justin Shultz singled to right field, and
Bryan Horst walked to load the bases with nobody out. Trevor Hairgrove was
hit by a pitch to bring home the first run, and after Carl Uhl lined into a
double play, Michael Nesbitt brought home a run with a single to right and
Hairgrove scored on a wild pitch.
Andriese ran into some trouble again in the top of the third as the Gauchos
put runners on the corners with no outs. One out later, an Eric Oliver
double pushed one run across and Ryan Cavan's sac fly to center evened
things up at three runs apiece. Andriese didn't make it through the inning
giving way to Larkins with two outs gone and the bases loaded. A grounder to
third ended the threat.
UCR didn't waste any time in re-taking the lead in the third, but they did
so against relief pitcher Clayton Edwards who replaced Gauchos (27-20, 9-10)
starter Joe Gardner due to an unspecified injury. Goetz opened the inning
with a single and scored one out later on a Nix double to left. Shultz's
single to left scored Nix and the Highlanders led 5-3.
Larkins held UC Santa Barbara scoreless in the fourth and fifth innings
while a Goetz sac fly in the fourth pushed UCR's lead to 6-3. The Gauchos
touched Larkins for a single run in the sixth, but it was the last run they
would scored. The Corona, CA native gave up just one single in the seventh
and eighth innings before turning things over to Dustin Emmons in the ninth.
Larkins finished the night allowing just four hits in 5.1 innings.
By then, the Highlanders had increased their lead to 9-4 as Goetz hit a solo
shot in the seventh that just missed hitting the Subway bulls-eye in right
field which would have sent everybody in attendance home with a free
six-inch sub. Goetz knocked in two more runs in the eighth with a single to
left.
UC Santa Barbara made things interesting in the top of the ninth loading the
bases against Emmons, but the righthander worked his way out of the jam for
UCR's 30th win of the season.
The Highlanders and Gauchos face one another again on Saturday, May 15 at
the Riverside Sports Complex beginning at 2 p.m.
http://www.gohighlanders.com/news/2009/5/15/BB_0515092127.aspx?path=baseball