SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. --- UC Irvine rallied after a tumultuous start tying things up, but were undone by Cal Poly's bullpen losing 4-3 Saturday night at Baggett Stadium.

Cal Poly's (23-26, 9-8) Taylor Dollard stopped the Anteater (28-20, 9-8) comeback ideas tossing the final 4.2 innings of relief allowing just two baserunners and swiping his second win of the season. He came on for starter Darren Nelson in the fifth after he had loaded the bases, and the first hitter to face Dollard, Parker Coss, singled off the glove of shortstop Nick DiCarlo into left field. Ryan Fitzpatrick tried to get to third base, but was thrown out by left fielder Cole Cabrera for the final out of the inning, however, Konnor Zickefoose would cross the plate just ahead of the out to bring home the tying run to make it 3-3.

The Mustangs had staked Nelson to a three-run lead in the first inning. Alex McKenna and Kyle Marinconz started the frame off with back-to-back hits for an early, 1-0, Mustang lead. CP managed a couple more runs on some subpar defense putting the 'Eaters down 3-0 after an inning.

The Anteaters clawed back into it with a run on a funky play in the fourth inning. Mikey Filia came up with the bases loaded and laced a shot up the middle careening off Nelson and right to the third baseman, Tate Samuelson. He would miss the tag on Parker Coss running by, but Coss was called out of the baseline, all the while Ryan Fitzpatrick would score the first Anteater run. UCI would answer with two more the next inning, the first of which from Nick Anderson's eighth sacrifice fly of the season, tying a program record, and then the Coss single to tie things up.

All that would be undone in the sixth as Elijah Skipps led off the frame with a booming solo home run to right center to give Cal Poly the lead, 4-3, and eventually the final total.

Anteater starter Trenton Denholm pitched very well after his first-inning trouble finishing with seven innings under his belt, tying a career high, on 97 pitches. He allowed four runs, three earned, on 10 hits, the most allowed by an 'Eater starter since Louis Raymond allowed 10 last April. The Skipps HR was the first allowed by Denholm this season and in his career, 62.1 innings of work. Nelson for Cal Poly allowed three runs lasting just 4.1 innings issuing four walks and striking out four along the way.

The 'Eaters could not stop Alex McKenna who finished 4-four-4 with a run scored. Skipps finished with two RBIs on the night while he and Marinconz each had a pair of hits. The Anteater offense was a team effort with all three runs scored by different players driven in by three different 'Eaters. Seven Anteaters accounted for the eight hits with Christian Koss busting out two of them to keep his average at .500 for the month of May.

The series evens on the heels of UCI's loss, and the squads return to even standing in the Big West at 9-8. UCI is now staring up at first place Cal State Fullerton and second place CSUN while tied alongside the Mustangs and Long Beach State in third place. The programs go at it on Sunday, May 13, for the series win starting at 1:00 p.m. between junior right-handers Taylor Rashi and Michael Clark