RIVERSIDE – An exciting home opener for all of Riverside is on deck this week, as California Baptist University and UC Riverside will play its first three games of a four-game season series Friday through Sunday.

The Lancers will host the series opener and finale at Totman Stadium on Friday and Sunday at 6 p.m. and 5 p.m., respectively. Friday's game will be broadcasted live on ESPN+, with a fireworks show presented by Altura Credit Union following shortly after the game's conclusion.  Kids will also have the opportunity to run the bases before the fireworks show begins.  All fans in attendance at Friday's contest will receive a CBU rally towel.  Sunday's game is presented by Magnolia Heating and Cooling.

CBU has won more than 66 percent of its home games all time (562-283-3), including a 23-7 mark at home in 2019, and have won six of its last seven openers at Totman Stadium. The Lancers will have something to prove this weekend after a series loss at Pacific in the first week of the season, and after the Highlanders won all three games in the matchup last season. The Lancers will get a chance to work on things in an exhibition against Keio University, a private university in Japan, on Thursday at 6 p.m. at Totman Stadium.  

Four games into 2020, offense has been CBU's strength so far. The Lancers are hitting .284 and slugging .418 as a team and averaging six runs a game.

Russell Stevenson leads the offense with a .571 batting average and .714 slugging percentage, while Nick Plaia (.429, .643) and John Glenn (.412, .647) are also hitting above .400 and slugging beyond .640. Jeff Bruyntjens is the fourth Lancer with a batting average above .300 at .313.

SERIES INFORMATION
Opponent: UC Riverside
Dates/Times: Friday, Feb. 21 (6 p.m.); Saturday, Feb. 22 (6 p.m.); Sunday, Feb. 23 (5 p.m.) 
Location: Totman Stadium on Friday and Sunday and Riverside Sports Complex on Saturday (Riverside, Calif.)
Watch: ESPN+ (Friday), WAC Digital Network (Sunday)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast (Friday and Sunday), Sidearm (Saturday)
Radio: CBULancers.com/radio (Saturday only)

UC Riverside holds a 20-5 lead in the series all-time after it swept all three games against CBU last season. It was a close series overall, with an average margin of victory of three runs.

The Highlanders are off to an 0-3 start in 2020, but opened the year on the road at UCLA and even pushed the Bruins to a 4-2 loss on Opening Day. UCR will make its home debut versus Seattle U on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

UCR was picked to finish eighth in the nine-team Big West Conference in the league's 2020 preseason poll after going 20-36 overall and 8-16 in conference in 2019.

Notables:

• UC Riverside is coached by Major League Baseball star closer Troy Percival, who also won a World Series with the Angels in 2002.
• Projected Friday starter Cole Percival, Troy's son, figures to be a hot commodity in the 2020 MLB Draft. He was drafted in the 31st round out of high school, and is listed as "one of the top college arms in So Cal for the 2020 draft" by Perfect Game. He threw six innings and gave up just two runs in his season-opening start at UCLA.
• UCR returns two All-Big West Conference honorees in junior utility player Nathan Webb senior outfielder Travis Bohall. Webb, a shortstop/third baseman, earned second-team accolades with 57 hits, 38 runs, 12 doubles and five homers to his credit in 2019. Bohall earned honorable mention in the Big West after he logged a .331 batting average and 16 steals.
• Offensively, the Highlanders are being led in batting average by Joey Nicolai (.333) and Travis Bohall (.273) and in slugging percentage by Cole Pofek (.556), who has the team's lone home run this season.
• The Lancers and Highlanders will play a fourth game this season at UCR on April 28th.