LONG BEACH, Calif. --- UC Irvine rode the coattails of sophomore Alonzo Garcia Sunday afternoon at Blair Field to snatch a 7-2 in the series finale against No. 18 Long Beach State and avoid a sweep.
Garcia, making his sixth start of the season, fell behind early giving up a home run to Daniel Jackson in the second inning that wrapped around the foul pole for a 1-0 LBSU (21-13, 5-4) lead.
The righty would settle down for the next six innings posting a career-high eight innings, and allowed just one more hit on the afternoon to shut down the Dirtbags. Garcia picked up his third win of the season throwing 98 pitches despite an uncharacteristic four walks on the afternoon, but his defense came through helping him strand the rest of the baserunners.
His offense answered the call beginning in the fifth inning. Alex Guenette tied the game with a well-placed triple into the right-center gap. He would come home to take the lead as John Brontsema followed with a groundout that scored Guenette and make it 2-1 after five.
The bats wouldn't quit for UCI (20-12, 4-5) putting up three more the next inning knocking out starter Tanner Brown after 5.1 innings and getting to reliever-extraordinaires Austin McGeorge and Josh Advocate.
Wyatt Castro earned a rare start and put it to use singling and scoring in the fifth, and busting the game open in the sixth with a two-run double over the center fielder's head to stretch the lead to 5-1.
A Keston Hiura sac fly in the seventh and Grant Palmer RBI single in the ninth completed the scoring for the 'Eaters, and LBSU added an unearned run off Calvin Faucher in the bottom half of the ninth to finish the game, 7-2.
The eight innings by Garcia are a career-high and matches a season-high for an Anteater starter to go along with Elliot Surrey's eight-inning performance against UC Riverside.
LBSU starter Tanner Brown allowed four runs in 5.1 innings off of seven hits to suffer his third loss of the season. The normally-reliable bullpen saw all three relievers allow a run over the remaining 3.2 innings.
UCI saw a hit from every starter and six different 'Eaters had an RBI lead by two from Castro. Brontsema was the only Anteater to score twice while Castro was joined by Mitchell Holland and Adam Alcantara as the multi-hit 'Eaters on the day.
Hiura finally extended his on-base streak to 48 games, but it took a little extra. With two outs in the ninth, singles from Brontsema and Palmer put Hiura at the dish, and he connected for a double to keep the streak alive.
The Dirtbag offense really didn't get going past Daniel Jackson's home run. Garrett Hampson had the only other hit with a sixth-inning single. Alex Muzzi and Luke Rasmussen each walked twice with Rasmussen coming around to score. Muzzi made a pair of fine defensive plays once robbing Castro of a run-scoring hit with a shoe-top grab, and later dove into the gap for the third out that stripped Alcantara of extra bases and the 'Eaters of more runs.
The win marks an important swing in momentum giving UCI life in the Big West race avoiding the sweep on the weekend and putting it at 4-5 in conference play. It also marked the 20th win of the year, and improves the 'Eaters' mark to 6-0 on Sundays while maintaining a team ERA of 2.00 as well.
The next stop for the Anteaters is back on the non-conference trail with a Tuesday night trip to San Diego State on April 19. The game gets going at 6:00 p.m. with the starters yet to be named on both ends.
________________________________________________________
For UC Irvine Athletics ticket information, please call (949) 824-5000 or e-mail athletics.tickets@uci.edu. For more information click here.
For information on how you can help support UC Irvine Athletics, please call (949) 824-6933 or e-mail aaf@uci.edu. For additional information, click here.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and by downloading the UCI Front Row app, available free to all Anteater fans through iTunes and Google Play, to view schedules, results, and up-to-the-minute news.
