CBB News Sources
(April 6, 2008) – UC Riverside used a complete game from Paul Bargas to pick up a 7-1 victory over 9th ranked Long Beach State at the Riverside Sports Complex Sunday afternoon. Carl Uhl and Drew Garcia each recorded three hits for the Highlanders (9-16, 3-3 Big West) who took two of the three games from the Big West Conference pre-season favorites.
UCR used a five-run third inning to support Bargas (1-3) who earned his first win as a Highlander after allowing just one earned run and scattering five hits over his nine-inning effort. Garcia picked up his fourth three-hit game of the season and extended his hitting-streak to eight games while also driving in two.
Garcia gave UCR an early 1-0 lead with one-out RBI double to right center to bring Uhl across with one out in the first.
The Highlanders then erupted for five runs in the third, highlighted by a two-run triple from Wible and three RBI singles to open up a 6-0 lead. Garcia singled with out and Ryan Goetz then walked to set up first and second for Wible. Wible drove a 1-0 pitch off the top of the wall in left center, allowing both runners to score easily and he then slid in ahead of the throw at third base for his first triple of the season. Brandon Schnebly followed with an RBI-double down the left field line to bring home Wible and he came home one batter late on a Jordan Opdyke base-hit through the left side. Uhl capped the scoring with a run-scoring single to center, bringing home Opdyke for the 6-0 advantage.
That was more than enough for Bargas who made only one mistake on the day, allowing a solo homer to Shane Peterson in the fifth. He settled back in and continued to deal, picking up five of his six strikeouts over the final five innings. After walking the lead off batter to start the ninth, Bargas buckled down to get the final three outs, the last coming on a strikeout to pick up the victory.
Uhl finished the weekend with nine hits after picking up three hits from his leadoff spot in each of the three games. Wible drove in six runs in the series and hit his team-leading third homerun of season on Friday.
UCR returns to action on Tuesday with a home game against San Diego at 6:00 p.m.
