By Marissa Scott
San Jose State baseball will face Big West’s UC Riverside for the first time since 2002 for a three-game series starting Friday.
The Spartans (14-21, 6-11 MW) have only played three games with the Highlanders (14-17, 4-5 BW) and have only beaten them once.
On Friday’s game, senior right hander Josh Goldberg (2-4) will take the mound for his seventh start of the season. In his last five starts, he has pitched two complete games.
In the Spartan’s last six games, they are 4-2 and have scored 63 runs in their last eight games.
Senior first baseman Shane Timmons has contributed to many of those runs over the six-game stretch.
He has gone 13-for-25 at the plate with 15 RBIs and two home runs. Timmons currently leads the team with 39 RBIs, good for fourth in the conference.
SJSU has struggled against Big West teams this season going 1-4 against UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly and UC Davis.
On a brighter note, double plays have been a starting point on defense for the Spartans. The team is No. 3 in the nation with 42 double plays in 35 game.
The Highlanders are 1-6 in their last seven games and have only scored 19 runs throughout that span.
Although they haven’t been on a hot streak, they have a 9-8 record at the Riverside Sports Complex while the Spartans have been inconsistent on the road with a 5-11 record.
The first pitch of the series is slated at 6 p.m. Friday night. The second game is Saturday at the same time and the series finale is Sunday at 1 p.m.