Applebee Strikes Out 10 in Stellar Effort on the Mound

(May 23, 2008) - UC Riverside starting pitcher Paul Applebee picked up his first complete-game victory for the Highlanders who beat Cal Poly 4-1 in the series opener Friday night at the Riverside Sports Complex. Applebee allowed just one unearned run and struck out a career-high 10 hitters to pick up the victory for UCR (20-32, 13-9 Big West).

     The sophomore left-hander didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning, striking out six of the first 11 batters he faced before allowing a two-out double in fourth. He then retired seven of the next eight before hitting a bump in the road in the seventh.

     UCR backed Applebee’s effort with single runs in the second and fifth innings and later added two more in the sixth. Ryan Goetz led the offense with a 3-for-4 night with one RBI and two runs scored.

     A Brandon Schnebly two-out RBI single in the second inning gave UCR a 1-0 lead. Goetz had doubled to left center earlier in the inning and then came home one batter later on Schnebly’s base-hit to right center.

     UCR added another run in the fifth on a Carl Uhl sacrifice fly, scoring Ben Price to open up a 2-0 lead. Price had reached on a bloop double to left and later moved to third on a Trevor Hairgrove single. Uhl then drove a ball to center to bring home Price.

     The Highlanders added two more runs an inning later using back-to-back hits from Goetz and Jordan Opdyke to open their lead up to 4-0. An opposite field bloop single to left from Goetz scored Aaron Wible from second who had reached on a dropped fly ball. One batter later, Opdyke’s double down the left field line brought home Goetz all the way from first for the second run of the inning.

     Applebee continued to cruise, striking out nine and allowing just two hits in six innings, before he ran into trouble in the seventh. Four Mustang hits in the inning led to one run, cutting the Highlander lead to 4-1. He settled down after that, limiting the Mustangs (23-31, 7-15 Big West) to just two hits over the final two innings.

     He improved his record to 3-5 on season after allowing eight hits and striking out the team’s season high. Wible picked up two hits to extend his hitting-streak to 11 games.

     The Highlanders continue their series with Cal Poly tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. and will celebrating the 50th year of Highlander baseball. A BBQ is set to begin with all alumni beginning at 12:00 p.m.