IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine honored head coach Mike Gillespie Friday night at Anteater Ballpark and then served up a 12-2 victory against UC Riverside.

The Anteaters held a pregame ceremony for the longtime head of UC Irvine Baseball filled with a video compilation of congratulations from friends, former players, and coaches, a visit from Chancellor Gillman who spoke with a special message and presented Gillespie with his jersey and team photos from all 11 of his squads, and topped it all off with a banner on the outfield wall with his number as the No. 19 was permanently retired.
 

Celebrated Skip the right way?? his number has also found a new home on the right field wall #TogetherWeZot pic.twitter.com/IrpGSUmjVU

— UCI Baseball (@UCIbsb) May 19, 2018

Then the game started, and UCI (30-21, 11-8) got started right away with a pair of first inning runs knocked in by Konnor Zickefoose. The 'Eaters added a third run in the second inning before the big blow in the third.

Brendan Brooks came up and belted a pitch over the left field wall for his first career home run, a three-run shot, to double the Anteater lead to 6-0. The 'Eaters kept the rally alive knocking out starter Johnny Breidenthal, and reliever Jared Noonan was unable to do much better loading the bases and giving up a bases-clearing double to Cole Kreuter doubling the inning output for six runs altogether and a 9-0 advantage.

Andre Pallante cruised right along until the sixth inning when the Highlanders (18-29, 6-13) strung a few hits together topped off by a two-run single through Pallante legs by Matt Hardy to break up the shutout.

The 'Eaters continued its steady assault with single runs in each of its final three at-bats running the lead and final score to 12-2 bringing Gillespie home a win on his evening.

For Skip, it marks his 391st win at UC Irvine and 1,154th overall in his 31 years in Division I. The win on the mound went to Pallante now sitting at 9-1 and atop the Big West in wins. His ERA ballooned to 1.43, its highest at any point in the season, while working seven strikeouts. Alonzo Garcia and Brian Marquez came together to shutout the Highlanders for the final three innings.

The offense featured 12 runs on 12 hits before three-RBI nights from Kreuter and Brooks. Konnor Zickefoose led the team with three hits and drove in a pair. Parker Coss and Matt Reitano each scored twice on the evening while Christian Koss worked a hit, RBI, run scored, and walked three times.

Connor Cannon also had a three-hit night for the Highlanders. He and Yeager Taylor brought home the runs driven in by Hardy, and Dylan Orick also posted a two-hit night. Breidenthal picked up the loss going just 2.1 innings allowed seven earned runs out of the eight he surrendered. Jared Noonan pitched well for 3.2 innings allowing just one earned run while striking out five.

UC Irvine's slim postseason hopes remained alive thanks to the win and Thursday night's result with CSUN defeating Cal State Fullerton. The 'Eaters remain three games back of the Titans with five games to go. CSUN, with only two conference games left on the docket, is 2.5 games behind the Titans holding the postseason hopes of themselves and the 'Eaters in their hands throughout the rest of the weekend.

The Anteaters continue on with Saturday's matchup needing to continue to accumulate wins down the stretch. Saturday's game begins at 2:00 p.m. in a matchup between Trenton Denholm and Trenton Toplikar.