UC Riverside, Sacramento State Baseball Teams Begin Season With Bench-Clearing Brawl

SACRAMENTO (CBSLA.com) — The college baseball season got off to a wild start Friday when a bench-clearing brawl erupted between UC Riverside and Sacramento State.

The fight started in the third inning when UC Riverside's Eddie Young was tagged out in a rundown between second and third base by Sacramento State's second baseman Andrew Ayers.

Fists started flying. Players from both dugouts started exchanging punches. Several mini skirmishes broke out.

After a brief meeting, umpires decided to eject two players from UC Riverside (namely Young and Drake Zarate) and Sacramento State's Ayers, incidentally, last season's Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year.

After Ayers pushed Young out of the baseline, Young retaliated with two punches, one landing squarely on Ayers' jaw.

NCAA rules mandate the three players will be suspended for four games each.

UC Riverside ended up winning the close contest, 2-1.