RIVERSIDE, Calif. — The Seahawks are heading west for their only series outside the eastern time zone this weekend, taking on UC Riverside in the second of three nonconference series before NEC play begins in March.

Wagner is coming off three losses on the road to Atlantic Coast Conference member Virginia, while the Highlanders are currently 0-4 after a four-game weekend against Utah Tech that featured a Saturday doubleheader.

Weekend Starters
With both teams opting to keep Sunday's starters under wraps, the Seahawks will again go to senior Colin Trizuto for Friday's game. Trizuto is currently at 3.2 innings pitched through his one appearance, striking out three and allowing five hits on the way to a 7.36 ERA. Virginia batted .313 against the right.

The Highlanders start their rotation with senior lefty Matthew O'Brien, who was on the same 2024 Hawaii-Hilo roster as Wagner's Braden Lowe. Out of Simi Valley Colorado, O'Brien went 6.0 innings in his first appearance this season, allowing seven hits and striking out four.

On Saturday, Wagner goes back to freshman Gavin Townsend, sliding him up a day from his Sunday appearance on opening weekend. Townsend with 2.2 innings in his collegiate debut, allowing just one walk compared to eight hits.

He'll match up against UC Riverside's Jayden Aviña, a freshman right-hander out of Pomona, California. In his first start of the season, the righty went 5.2 innings, allowing six hits, striking out two and walking two.

Heavy Hitters
The Highlanders have four players who have started each of their four games this season — junior infielder Manoah Chapman, senior outfielder Robert Pitts, junior utility player Jarren Sanderson and junior third baseman Lucas Bonham.

Chapman has logged six hits and three RBIs across 14 at-bats, with Pitts adding four hits and getting hit by two pitches, two of just three instances Highlanders were hit in their first four games.

Sanderson is a power hitter, with both a double and a triple in his four hits at this point in the season. His five strikeouts are the most by any on the team — the next closest is three. Rounding out their main starters is Bonham, who has three hits and a walk in 15 at-bats in 2026.

For Wagner, graduate Lukas Torres, junior Diego Tavarez, junior Evan McRae, senior Nicholas Mazzotta and junior Joseph Mennella are the five Seahawks to have started each of the three games this season.

NEC Recognition
Three Seahawks — junior Dylan Immel, graduate Lukas Torres and junior Leo Doyle — were named Prime Perfomers by the NEC for their weekend against the Cavaliers. Immel — In Immel's Wagner debut, he appeared in all three games at Virginia and started two, logging four hits (two doubles), three RBIs and worked a pair of walks while spending his defensive time at both second and third. Torres was steady as always, putting up four hits, an RBI and three walks. Doyle put up three runs and three hits in three games, hitting his first career home run that later become a pair of homers in back-to-back at-bats.

The Call
The Highlanders are unable to broadcast this weekend's series, but a radio broadcast will be available for the first and third games due to a conflicting event on Saturday. As always, UC Riverside will have live stats available to keep fans updated.