IRVINE, Calif. --- Anything and everything happened Tuesday night in Anteater Ballpark as UC Irvine used every ounce of their power to outlast USC, 8-7.
The night started off easily enough with a smooth top of the first inning, but then the Anteaters (11-8) came to bat in the bottom half and got the first four hitters to reach base all being hit by pitch to score the opening run, 1-0. USC (11-6) starter Mason Perryman was lifted after just those four batters for John Beller who gave up a hit to
Jacob Castro on the first pitch he saw, and it got through center fielder Lars Nootbaar to score all three runners before Castro was thrown out at third base.
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The 'Eaters took their 4-0 lead after one inning, but USC would chip away with a pair of two-out runs in the second and third inning to make it 4-2. UCI countered with a two-out RBI single from
Cole Kreuter in the third to make it a 5-2 ballgame.
The middle innings belonged to the pitching has
Cole Spear and
Sean Sparling threw zeroes for the Anteaters and Trojan Isaac Esqueda followed suit as the game entered the seventh inning.
USC charged hard in the top half finally getting to Sparling and ending his scoreless streak at 13.1 innings cutting the deficit to 5-3. Reliever
Evan McMillin couldn't hold the lead allowing a pair of two-out RBI double to tie things up, 5-5, heading to the stretch.
The Anteaters struck back with a massive home run from
Ryan Fitzpatrick to quickly bounce UCI back ahead, 7-5. USC returned fire with a similar monstrous two-run home run from Lars Nootbaar atoning for his earlier error to knot things back up at 7-7 in the eighth.
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The bottom half of the inning started with pinch-hitter
Nick Anderson hobbling his way to the plate and reaching out for a bloop single to center field and exiting for pinch-runner,
Jake Hazard.
Cole Kreuter then shot a single up the middle, and
Mikey Filia's sacrifice bunt was thrown high to load the bases with nobody out as USC would go to the bullpen for a sixth time. Reliever Brian Gursky got his first hitter swinging on strikes, and then again the second hitter,
Christian Koss, but the ball bounced away from the catcher allowing Hazard to score the go-ahead run on a dropped third strike and make it 8-7, 'Eaters.
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USC would do well to keep the deficit at one, but for the first time was set down in order in the ninth as
Jordan Bocko cleaned up his own mess to score his first victory of the season.
Both pitching staffs were taxed using 11 pitchers between them with nine of those pitchers allowing a run on the night. Austin Manning was dealt the loss for USC allowing a run and all three of his hitters to reach. Anteater starter
Taylor Rashi making his first Division I start lasted just 1.2 innings walking three while just giving up one hit and one run.
Fitzpatrick led the offense for UCI with three RBI and his second HR of the season, the team's first in the Anteater Ballpark. Fitzpatrick also upped his on-base streak to 27 games reaching twice on the evening. Castro also had a pair of RBI, and he and
Cole Kreuter each had a pair of hits.
USC's two errors committed on the evening were an anomaly after only committing four through its first 16 games.
The 'Eaters improve to 3-0 in midweek games on the season, and head back on the road for this weekend's series traveling to Southern Illinois to take on the Salukis starting Friday, March 23 at 3:00 p.m. Pacific Time.
