IRVINE, Calif. --- No. 19 UC Irvine escaped with a 9-4 victory Friday night over rival Long Beach State in Anteater Ballpark.

Setting The Tone
UC Irvine (19-5, 3-1) got the scoring going putting together a Mikey Filia double and Brandon Lewis bloop single for a 1-0 UCI lead after one inning. The 'Eaters added on in the second inning with a bases loaded walk from Jake Palmer, and then Filia came through again plating two with an opposite-field single to give the Anteaters a 4-0 lead.

Quick Answer
Long Beach State (4-24, 0-1) made the most of their swings getting on the board in the fourth inning thanks to a Brooks Stotler single, stolen base that sent him to third base on an errant throw, and a wild pitch. The Dirtbags closed the gap the next inning with consecutive doubles to leadoff the frame and then a two-out dribbler up the middle that Calvin Estrada beat out to score a third run. Andre Pallante shut the door with two runners in scoring position for LBSU to preserve the 4-3 lead in the 5th inning

The 6th Inning
The Anteaters let LBSU creep back into the game, but regained control after Dirtbag starter Adam Seminaris was finally lifted after 109 pitches. Griffin Mazur smacked a single on the first pitch against reliever Jonathan Carlos leading to a five-run frame punctuated by a Brandon Lewis two-run double slicing over the right field and off the wall. UCI added on with RBI singles by Adrian Damla and Christian Koss along with a run-scoring groundout from Mike Peabody to make it a 9-3 Anteater lead.

Defense Optional
Both teams usually proud on the defensive end ran into some issues fielding Friday night with seven errors between the squads. The 'Eaters had the first two on a dropped liner and errant throw on a steal attempt. LBSU missed a tough hop at third in the fourth, but Pallante misfired after hanging up a Dirtbag between second and third for UCI's third error of the evening. LBSU got another error in the fifth on a wild backhand flip at first base, and kicked the ball twice in the sixth, once on a throw that hit a runner trying to start a double play, and then a ball under the left fielder's glove to give Christian Koss an extra base. Altogether, only two runs out of the 13 on the night were unearned.

Final Score: No. 19 UC Irvine 9, Long Beach State 4
The 'Eaters got multi-hit nights from Filia, Lewis, and Peabody. Lewis led all players with three RBIs. Filia scored twice and drove in two. Peabody reached four times, Palmer had another two-walk game, and Griffin Mazur crossed home twice. LBSU busted out nine hits including two doubles from Kaden Hogan. Brooks Stotler scored and drove in a run on top of his hit and two stolen bases

Pitchers of Record
Pallante did enough to toss another quality start and win his fifth game of the year scattering nine hits over seven innings with four strikeouts and no walks issued. John Vergara and Ryan Johnston each pitched scoreless innings with a strikeout, and Johnston even made all three outs defensively. Adam Seminaris battled through five innings in a losing effort allowing four runs on five hits with four walks and three strikeouts. Carlos was tagged with four earned runs in a five-run sixth inning

Next Up
The teams are back at it Saturday, April 6 for another 6:00 p.m. matchup. ESPN3 will return to broadcast the contest once again with Tanner Brubaker (3-1, 2.25) squaring off with Nick Avila (0-0, 6.43)