IRVINE, Calif. --- The Anteater offense took a little to get going, but found its groove in the seventh inning shelling out five runs to come back from a second deficit and finish of visiting UTSA, 7-3, Friday night in Anteater Ballpark.
John Brontsema held the key after returning from an ailment through the first part of the year collecting three hits in key situations to help along the 'Eaters.
He slid a liner under a drawn-in first baseman in the fifth to plate UCI's second run and give it its first lead of the evening, 2-1. He came in clutch once again in the seventh with an infield single up the middle that brought home another run tying the game at 3-3 and spurning on four more in the inning.
Cole Kreuter followed with a single to score Brontsema, and Mitchell Holland walked with the bases loaded setting up Jonathan Munoz to deliver the crushing blow with a 2-run single up the middle with two outs to extend the lead to 7-3.
Ben Ritchey came on to clean up closing out the final two innings with shutout baseball to get UC Irvine (7-3) across the finish line.
Picking up the win was Alonzo Garcia, his first of the year, after her entered with two runners on and two outs in the sixth and shut down UTSA (6-3) that inning and in the seventh.
"I came in in a key situation. I felt good, and my main focus was to pick up my teammates out of the jam. I expect that out of myself, and the coaches expect that."
He and a slew of relievers managed the sixth inning, despite giving up a pair of runs and the lead, they held the damage to a minimum and keep the Anteaters within reach.
Starter Elliot Surrey threw nearly 100 pitches in his five innings of work, but again allowed just an unearned run with a pair of strikeouts.
The offense got contributions from numerous areas including timely sacrifice bunts from Grant Palmer and Alex Guenette, three walks to leadoff innings from Parker Coss, and Keston Hiura playing a role despite snapping his 11-game hitting streak.
Hiura did reach on a hit by pitch and later scored upping his streak to 26 straight games reaching base, and he provided the team's first run on a sacrifice fly in the fourth adding to his RBI streak now at nine games.
UTSA was no slouch banging out nine hits including three and an RBI from leadoff hitter Tyler Straub. Three Roadrunners knocked doubles and another six walked.
Andre Shewcraft drew the loss and now stands at 2-1. He was brilliant cleaning up the fifth for starter Chance Kirby, and striking out the side in the sixth, but lost his command in the seventh allow all five earned runs. Kirby allowed just two hits, but also a pair of runs and three walks.
The big win to open the series sets the squads up for a Saturday doubleheader in an attempt to sidestep the rain approaching Sunday. Shaun Vetrovec carries his shutout streak into the opener at 12:00 p.m. against right-hander Karan Patel, and Cameron Bishop looks to build off his impressive Tuesday showing starting the backend of the day.
Garcia and the rest of the crew knows that any and everybody could be a factor in a long yet pivotal day on Sunday.
"If my number gets called, I'll be ready to go. Last time it was a rough doubleheader. We've got to be ready to play tomorrow. It's going to be a long day."
Both games will be broadcasted over the internet at KUCI.org with a break at 2:00 p.m. to switch to the UC Irvine women's basketball game. Following the conclusion, listeners will rejoin Mark Roberts and Tim Becwar to finish up the doubleheader.
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