Sophomore Connor Cannon was a problem for the visitors, reaching career-highs in both RBI (5) and hits (3). Cannon becomes the first Highlander in nearly eight years to record multiple 5-RBI games in the same season, reaching the mark for the first time since UCR's first game of 2018.
The last Highlander to accomplish that feat was Tony Nix, who in 2010 put up three 5-RBI outings.
The Highlanders tacked on 20 hits, registering the program's first 20-hit game in more than three years and the 22nd in its Division I era (2002-pres). They also shattered their previous all-time highs for runs (7 vs. UCSB in 2007), hits (15 vs. Cal Poly in 2003) and RBI (8, twice) in a conference season-opener since joining the Big West in 2002.
While UC Davis jumped out of the gates for three runs in three innings, UC Riverside was held
without a hit until the bottom of the third, when it exploded for six runs and six hits. The Highlanders opened the third with two singles and a double, the latter coming in the form of utility Nathan Webb. The freshman hit his first of two doubles on the night down the left field line to score runs from both senior Cody Sporrer and junior Matt Hardy, cutting what was a 3-0 deficit to just one run.
Several batters later, senior shortstop Colby Schultz singled through the right side, scoring a run by Webb to tie the game at 3-3. Shortly thereafter, Cannon delivered in a big way, blasting one over the center field wall to score three and put UCR up 6-3. It was his team-leading fifth home run of the season as well as his second in as many games.
UC Riverside scored six runs in an inning for the third time this season. The only other six-run innings this year came in the Highlanders' 8-1 season-opening win over Washington State, and in their most recent road win, a 9-2 bashing at Nevada. The strong third helped UCR put up what would ballon to 16 runs, already easily surpassing its 2017 Big West season-high of 12.
The Highlanders would stay hot well into the bottom of the fourth. After Davis answered with another run in the top of the inning, UC Riverside scored four more times on five hits, the fifth being a two-run double by Cannon. Junior Justin Mannens and Schultz both added an RBI apiece as the Highlanders took a commanding 10-4 lead into the fifth.
However, the Aggies would storm back with six runs of their own in the top of the seventh, making it a brand new ballgame at 11-10. Making sure not to repeat what happened in their last game at The Plex on Mar. 14 – when the Highlanders let a 5-0 advantage slip away and needed 14 innings to decide a 9-8 outlasting over GCU – the home side answered sternly with a run in the bottom of the seventh and four more in the eighth to ice it.
UCR's penultimate hit of the night was a three-run homer by Anthony Lepre, giving the junior his first of the season while bringing home junior Ian Nowak along with Cannon. That put the Highlanders up by six for second time in the game, as they closed things out with a shutout in the top of the ninth.
Right hander Trenton Toplikar (3-2) earned his third win of the year while tallying six of the Highlanders' ten strikeouts, falling just one shy of a team season-high. Junior Hazahel Quijada didn't give up an earned and struck out four in just under three innings, picking up his first save of the year in the process.
The Highlanders finished with five players notching three hits for the first time this season. Webb had a career-high four hits on five at bats, two of which were doubles. Of his 13 hits as a freshman, nine of them have resulted in doubles. The other Highlanders to record three hits on the night were junior Dean Miller, Cannon and Sporrer.
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