DAVIS, Calif. --- Anteater baseball caved to UC Davis starter Jared Sasaki on Friday managing a single run at Dobbins Stadium in a 4-1 loss
The 'Eaters (32-23, 13-10) got the scoring started early with a run in the top of the first.
Mikey Filia reached on an infield single and scored after stealing second and forcing an errant throw on a wild pitch getting a run on his own to put UCI up 1-0.
The Aggies (17-35, 8-15) answered in the bottom of the inning on Joseph Myers' long two-out double to tie things, 1-1, and Jared Sasaki took care of the rest for UC Davis.
The freshman right-hander rolled right along for eight innings needing just 88 pitches to solve UC Irvine. His defense came through for him as well particularly in the seventh as the Anteaters created its biggest threat of the afternoon. With runners on third and one out,
Nick Anderson shot a ball into the hole at shortstop.
Konnor Zickefoose, who led off the inning with a double, broke for home after the ball got by third baseman Brad Pluschkell. Shortstop Tanner Murray made a heads up play to throw home just ahead of the sliding Zickefoose to cut down the run and keep the Aggie lead at 4-1.
Connor Loar came in to clean up with a 1-2-3 ninth inning to preserve the 4-1 win and even the series.
Eight of nine UC Davis starter recorded a hit with Murray and Ryan Hooper each recording a pair. Murray scored once and added a pair of stolen bases while Hooper added a triple, scored twice, and drove in a run.
Sasaki's win was his fourth of the season scattering UCI's seven hits while not walking a man.
Trenton Denholm drew the loss for the 'Eaters allowing all four runs, three earned, walking one, and striking out four. He battled with his brother, UC Davis catcher Logan Denholm, on three occasions on Friday. Trenton got his brother once on a grounder and once on a lineout back to Trenton. Logan reached on an error once as well, but was caught stealing to end the inning.
The 'Eaters now need help UC Riverside hoping they win one of the final two games with Cal Poly for UCI to have a chance at second place in the conference. UCI is now 13-10 in Big West play and 32-23 overall. Saturday will wrap up the regular season as well as Hall of Fame head coach
Mike Gillespie's career as he will enter the game with 1.156 career wins and a UC Irvine record 393 victories. The game will begin at 12:00 p.m. with
Taylor Rashi squaring off with Chris Brown
