IRVINE, Calif. --- The 'Eaters weathered the midweek oddity holding off the Terrapins, 9-5, in a Wednesday night win in Anteater Ballpark.
UC Irvine (11-6) got the scoring going with a Keston Hiura RBI single in the third for the 1-0 lead. Maryland (7-9) tied it up the next inning.
The 'Eaters responded with a three-spot helped along by an error to put UCI up 4-1 on four unearned runs. The Terps fought back with three of their own highlighted by a two-run triple from Madison Nickens.
The 'Eaters grabbed the lead for good from a 2-out, 2-run single from Jake Hazard and an RBI single for the 6-4 advantage. UMD got a 2-out RBI single the next inning, but could not duplicate its previous innings and remained behind 6-5.
UCI continued to roll adding two runs in the sixth and a ninth in the eighth while the staff of Miles Glazier, Ben Ritchey, and Calvin Faucher shut the Terrapins down to lock up a third straight midweek victory, 9-5.
Mitchell Miller was the recipient of his first career win after going 1.1 innings and stranding the two runners her inherited. Alonzo Garcia laid the groundwork allowing just two earned and striking out seven before leaving two batters into the fifth.
The hitting lines were numerous from a 13-hit effort. Cole Kreuter had three hits from the leadoff spot driving home two and scoring once. Adam Alcantara and Jake Hazard had two-RBI nights of their own while Hiura and John Brontsema each scored twice and reached base four out of five times.
Hiura extended streaks of 33 straight on base and seven straight with a hit. Glazier's inning lifted his shutout streak to 7.2 innings to start his season and career. Faucher also has a 6.2 IP scoreless streak intact, while Ritchey locked up his team-leading fourth hold on the year.
Maryland got a hit from eight of nine starters which included two RBIs and two walks from Nickens. Tayler Stiles was the unfortunate loser going 4.2 innings allowing six runs, but only two earned.
The Anteaters have a fairly quick turnaround with a weekend series at Cicerone Field against Seattle, one of the top pitching programs in the country. Friday, March 18 is the opener with a 6:30 p.m. start time.
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