IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine's chances of catching the Gauchos in the standings took a hit Friday night in Anteater Ballpark falling 10-3 to No. 20 UC Santa Barbara behind the pitching of Shane Bieber.
The right-hander tossed his fourth complete game of the year throwing 120 pitches to pick up his 10th win striking out 10 UCI batters in the process.
UCSB (34-15-1, 11-8) got the scoring going in the third inning taking advantage of some free passes before JJ Muno singled home the opening tally and Dempsey Grover added to it with two outs.
Grover hit a hot shot up the middle that shortstop John Brontsema looked like he was going to be able to gather for the final out. Instead, the grounder ricocheted off umpire Will Thornewell's ankle and up over Brontsema into center field to bring home two more runs.
UCI (28-23, 8-11) battled back to get on the board in the bottom of the inning as Adam Alcantara singled through the right side to score Evan Cassolato who led off the inning with a single.
UCSB quickly hopped back on the scoring train as Devon Gradford hit the first of his two triples on the night with one out. A sac fly plated him, and after consecutive hit batsmen, Clay Fisher wrapped a single through the left side to make it a 5-1, Gaucho lead.
UC Irvine answered back with a two-spot of their own in the bottom of the inning thanks to a bases loaded single from Keston Hiura chopping the deficit down to 5-3.
The rest of the game belonged to UCSB, however, running away with a sixth run in the sixth, and finally four in the seventh to knock starter Elliot Surrey out after 101 pitches and 6.1 innings.
The Gauchos got a run from every one of their starters along with 13 hits to take the opener, 10-3.
Grover topped the Gaucho attack with three hits and two RBIs. Tevin Mitchell and Andrew Calica joined him with a pair of RBIs each while Devon Gradford also put up three hits including the two triples and scored twice. Calica, who is among the national leaders in hit by pitch, earned two more on the evening along with a run and stolen base.
Surrey surrendered eight of the runs, all earned, off of nine hits and two walks. He did strike out three, but he did earn the distinction of being the only Anteater in program history to hit four batters in a game. Sean Sparling was effective in closing out the game tossing two scoreless innings allowing just one baserunner and striking out one.
The Anteater offense for the second straight game revolved around Evan Cassolato who had four singles and scored twice. Hiura emerged from his mini slump to single, double, and drive home two.
Adam Alcantara provided an RBI single which also upped his streaks to 11 games with a hit and 12 straight on base.
The loss also officially eliminated the team's chance at a Big West title now falling further behind the leader, Cal State Fullerton. UCI will need to win out for a chance to finish conference play with a winning record. It starts Saturday, May 21, at 7:00 p.m. with the second game of the series against UCSB.
Alonzo Garcia toes the rubber with UCSB's starter still to be determined. The game will be broadcasted live on Fox Sports Prime Ticket.
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