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Sophomore
Joey Gonzales has hit safely in 22 of his past 23 games.
(Photo
by Matt Brown) |
(May 15,
2008) – UCR wraps up their 2008 road schedule with a
critical three-game conference series at UC Santa Barbara.
After taking two of three from UC Davis over the weekend,
UCR continues to hold onto second place in conference standings.
The Highlanders can move into a tie for first place with Cal
State Fullerton who owns a three game lead in the win column,
having played three more conference games that UCR at this
point.
About
UCSB - Highlanders Lead All-Time Series 16-7
• The Highlanders took two of three from the Gauchos
last season in Riverside.
• UCSB enters the weekend with a 31-19 overall record
and 10-8 in the Big West, placing them in a three-way tie
for fourth in the conference standings.
• Patrick Rose and Chris Rose pace the Gauchos with
a .344 batting average while Mike Zuanich leads the club in
home runs (12) and RBI (49).
• Bob Brontsema is in his 15th season as head coach
and owns a 402-398-2 career record.
Probable
Starters
Friday - 2 p.m.
UCR #14 Paul Applebee, So., LHP 2-4, 4.60 ERA, 42 K’s
in 60.2 IP
UCSB #12 Mike Ford, So., RHP 5-4, 2.98 ERA, 71 K’s in
84.2 IP
Saturday - 1 p.m.
UCR #38 Matt Larkins, Fr., RHP 6-3, 6.19 ERA, 30 K’s
in 56.2 IP
UCSB #11 Mario Hollands, Fr., LHP 6-2, 3.47 ERA, 51 K’s
in 72.2 IP
Sunday - 1 p.m.
UCR #20 Paul Bargas, So., LHP 1-4, 5.95 ERA, 29 K’s
in 62.0 IP
UCSB #27 Chuck Huggins, Sr., LHP 8-2, 3.99 ERA, 71 K’s
in 76.2 IP
UCR
Has Nation's 6th Toughest Schedule
In the latest set of Strength of Schedule ratings, Boydsworld.com
has UC Riverside’s schedule ranked as the sixth toughest
in all of Division I College Baseball. UCR has played then
#5 UC Irvine three times and UCI when they were #13. They
played Nebraska four times who is now #6. UCR took two of
three from then #9 Long Beach State, played USD twice who
is #10 this week, and played Cal State Fullerton three times
who is #12.
(All ratings are based off of this week’s USA Today/ESPN
Poll)
Highlander
Notes
• Joey Gonzales has hit safely in 12 straight and in
22 of his last 23 games. He has also scored a run in 13 of
his last 15.
• Joe Kelly has converted all six of his save opportunities
and all have come in Big West play.
• Ryan Platt is second on the team with 34 strikeouts
while throwing 36.2 of his 41.0 innings out of the bullpen
this season.
• Freshman shortstop Trevor Hairgrove enters the week
with the third best batting average on the team (.387). He
came into this season as a back up to Bryan Horst who was
lost for the season after suffering a dislocated shoulder
at Texas Tech.
• Lead-off hitter Carl Uhl has scored a run in four
straight games and recorded multi-hit games in five of his
last six.
Bring
Me The Lefty
Coach Smith moved sophomore Paul Applebee into the Friday
starting pitcher role prior to the CSUN series. The move has
paid off as the left-handed throwing Applebee fired 7.1 scoreless
innings against Cal State Northridge before handing the ball
over to Stephen Penney who had been the Friday starter but
was moved to the bullpen. Applebee held the top hitting offense
in the conference, UC Davis, to four runs in 7.1 innings and
struck out a career-high eight last Friday. He has stepped
up in conference play, currently holding the seventh best
ERA (3.07) in conference games. He comes into the week with
a 2-4 record and leads the team with 42 strikeouts in 60.2
IP.
Garcia
Getting It Done
Junior second baseman Drew Garcia produced back-to-back three-hit
three-RBI games this week against UNLV and USC. Garcia leads
the lead with 22 multi-hit games including seven three-hit
performances. He also has put together hitting streaks of
ten-games and six-games so far this season. He is currently
on a nine-game streak. Drew enters the weekend leading the
team in batting average (.349), RBI (45), doubles (13), hits
(66), and a .433 average with runners in scoring position.
Driving
Them In
Senior left fielder Aaron Wible has produced three six-RBI
weeks this season and drove home four more last series against
UCD. He tied a UCR Division I school record with five hits
in the 19-9 win over Pacific (5/3). This past Sunday, Wible
hit his first career walk-off home run with a solo shot in
ninth against UC Davis. Earlier this season, he jumped on
the first pitch in he saw in the ninth to single home the
game-winner in the April 27th 4-3 comeback win against CSUN.
Wible is tied for the Big West lead with 21 RBI in conference
games and owns the team lead in home runs (7). He is second
on the team in RBI (37) and fourth in batting average (.277).
Enjoying
His Time In The Pen
Junior Stephen Penney started in the season as the Friday
starter but moved to the bullpen prior to the CSUN series
to serve as the team’s set-up man. In his starter role,
he struck out a career-high eight in the season-opening win
over Washington (2/23). He later produced a career-high 8.1
innings at #21 Cal State Fullerton (3/28). Penney fired 1.2
scoreless innings of relief against CSUN (4/25) to pick up
his first save of the season and picked up a win this past
Friday against UC Davis. He is second on the team with 38
strikeouts and is fourth on the club in innings with 56.1.
Doing
What He’s Supposed To Do
Junior lead-off hitter Carl Uhl picked up four hits, scored
three runs, and stole two bases this past weekend against
UCD. In games against UNLV and USC this week, he scored six
runs and stole two bases. Earlier this year, he collected
three hits in all three games of the series against #9 LBSU.
He finished that week with 10 hits and improved his average
by 60 points and currently owns a .268 batting average. He
enters this week tied for third in the Big West with 21 stolen
bases.
Larkins
Leading The Way
Freshman starting pitcher Matt Larkins has shown that he can
handle the Saturday starting role in his first collegiate
season. Larkins leads the team in wins (6) and is fourth in
strikeouts (30). He threw a career-high 7.2 innings and struck
out four to pick up the win against #9 LBSU (4/5). Larkins
allowed just three earned runs to #21 Cal State Fullerton
in six innings of work. He picked up his fifth win after limiting
#5 UCI to just one unearned run in 5.2 innings of work.
Coming
Back To Form Just in Time
Sophomore right fielder Joey Gonzales boosted his average
another 12 more points with three hits against UNLV and three
more against USC. Last week, in the three game series against
UC Davis and single game with UC Irvine, he went 8-for-19
with five runs scored, a double, two triples and one home
run. Joey has added over 80 points to his average since the
start of conference play and takes a .328 average into the
week. He homered against #13 UCI (5/6) and now has four long
balls this season. Gonzales is coming off a season in which
he was named Freshman All-American and Easton Big West Freshman
Player of the Year.
New
Schedule Taking It’s Toll on Pitching Staff
With the start of the college baseball season pushed back
to the last weekend of February, to accommodate the teams
that are hindered by cold weather, the 2008 schedules have
been compacted. Instead of playing a single weekday game and
a three-game weekend series, this year, team’s have
been forced to play two weekday games along with a weekend
series in order to get the maximum number of games in for
the season. The young pitching staff has battled throughout
the year, owning a 5.89 ERA.
After
Big Weekend, Goetz Named Big West Co-Player of the Week
The Big West Conference named UC Riverside first baseman Ryan
Goetz Big West Co-Player of the Week Monday afternoon.
It is the first career player of the week honor for Goetz
who went 6-for-14 with six RBI in this past weekend’s
series win over #5 UC Irvine. He shares the award with Long
Beach State’s Shane Peterson.
Goetz (Temple City, CA/ Bishop Amat HS) finished the week
10-for-18 (.389) with a double, a triple, and seven RBI. In
Saturday’s 5-3 win over UCI, he had two hits and two
RBI both coming on a two-run single in UCR’s three-run
first inning. Goetz followed that performance with a three-hit
and three RBI game the very next day. His RBI single in the
sixth gave UCR a 2-1 lead and he later put the Highlanders
up for good with a two-out two-run triple in the seventh.
This is the second player of the week award for UCR who had
Paul Bargas earn pitcher of the week honors after he beat
then #9 Long Beach State earlier this season.
Bargas
Named Big West Pitcher of the Week
Sophomore Paul Bargas was named Big West Pitcher of the Week
after he fired a complete game five hitter to beat 9th ranked
Long Beach State this past Sunday. This marks the first weekly
award for the Highlanders this season after they picked up
10 last season.
It is the
first career player of the week award for Bargas (Riverside,
CA/North HS/Arizona) who held the 49ers to just one run and
five hits in the Highlanders 7-1 series-clinching victory
on Sunday. He allowed only one hit for the first 5.1 innings
before surrendering a solo homer for the only LBSU run of
the day. Bargas then settled down and struck out five, of
his career-high six strikeouts, over the next five innings.
His nine-inning effort was also the first of his career and
the first for the Highlanders this season.
Smith
Picks Up Win Number 100
Fourth year Head Coach Doug Smith earned the 100th win of
his head coaching career with a 9-4 victory over Harvard on
Friday. Smith was named last season’s Easton Big West
Coach of the Year after winning the school’s first ever
Big West Conference title with an overall record of 38-21
and 16-5 Big West.
UCR
Ranked in Collegiate Baseball Pre-Season Poll
UC Riverside was ranked 35th in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper
annual pre-season top 40 poll released Friday. Prior to last
season, the Highlanders (38-21, 16-5 Big West) received votes
in the same poll and went on to win the schools first ever
Big West Conference Baseball title and earned an automatic
berth into the 2007 NCAA tournament. UCR received 411 points
as other Big West members Cal State Fullerton (16th), Long
Beach State (17th), and UC Irvine (26th) all made an appearance
in the poll. Other 2008 Highlander opponents making the list
were UCLA (18th) and Pepperdine (29th) along with four other
teams that received votes.
Kelly
Named 2008 Pre-Season All-American by Ping! and NBWA
Sophomore pitcher Joe Kelly was named to the Ping! Baseball
Preseason All Ping! Third-Team. It is the second pre-season
honor for Kelly who also earned pre-season All-American honors
by the National Baseball Writers Association. Kelly is coming
off of one of the best freshman campaigns in UCR history last
season after serving as the team’s closer. He led the
Highlanders with a 1.32 earned run average and six saves after
posting a 3-1 record in 22 appearances and struck out 19 batters
in 27.1 innings. Following the season, Kelly was named to
three different Freshman All-American teams (Collegiate Baseball,
Ping!, and Rivals.com) along with earning the Easton Big West
Conference Freshman Pitcher of the Year award and a place
on the Big West All-Conference first team. Kelly also was
selected to play for Team USA this past summer.
Gonzales
and Kelly on 2008 Brooks Wallace Watch List
Sophomore’s Joey Gonzales and Joe Kelly were named to
the pre-season release of the 2008 Brooks Wallace Player of
the Year Award Watch List on Monday. The Wallace Award is
presented to the nation’s top collegiate baseball player
by the College Baseball Foundation. The list will be cut down
throughout the season before the winner will be announced
at the College Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony in
July.
Big
West Pre-Season Poll Released, UCR 5th
The Big West announced it’s 2008 pre-season poll as
voted on by the coaches with in the conference. After winning
their first ever Big West Title last season, UC Riverside
was picked to finish fifth in 2008.Long Beach State earned
the top spot after receiving five first place votes, followed
by Cal State Fullerton, who received four first place votes.
A team that played well down the stretch last season was Cal
Poly, they were placed in the third spot, followed by UC rvine,
then the Highlanders. After UCR, it went, UC Santa Barbara
in sixth, Pacific in seventh, and both Cal State Northridge
and UC Davis were placed in the eight spot.
Highlanders
Incoming Class Among Nation’s Best
The UC Riverside 2008 recruiting class has been named the
25th best in the nation by Baseball America. 15 student-athletes
make up the list of newcomers for the Highlanders as they
prepare to defend their Big West Conference title.
Pedroza
and Simmons Named Baseball America All-Americans
Last season, juniors Jaime Pedroza and James Simmons became
the first Highlander teammates at the Division I level to
earn All-America honors. Baseball America awarded both players
second team recognition. Simmons had an outstanding season,
going 11-3 and earning Big West Pitcher of the Year honors.
He led the conference with a 2.40 earned run average and posted
a .220 batting average against while striking out 116 in 123.2
innings. He threw five complete games in 17 starts. Simmons
was the 26th overall pick of the Oakland Athletics in the
Major League Baseball Amateur Draft earlier this month. He
was also awarded First Team All-America by Rivals.com and
was a third team selection by Collegiate Baseball. Pedroza
set a UCR Division I record with 13 home runs and 55 runs
batted in while hitting .325. He also led the team with 17
doubles en route to First Team All-Big West honors. He was
a ninth round pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Simmons and
Pedroza were the first Highlanders to earn All-America status
from any entity since Ryan Harvey received Honorable Mention
recognition by College Baseball Insider in 2003. They are
the first UCR teammates to be selected as All-Americans since
Tim Moran and George Wise in 1996.
Highlanders
Hire Nathan Choate as Assistant Baseball Coach
Former UC Irvine assistant Nathan Choate was hired as the
new pitching coach at UC Riverside on September 19th. Choate
spent the 2007 season as pitching coach for the Anteaters
under then-Head Coach Dave Serrano. The Anteaters finished
the 2007 season ranked fourth in the nation and reached the
College World Series in Omaha, NE. Choate had previously served
one year as the Anteaters’ director of baseball operations.
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