IRVINE, Calif. --- No. 19 UC Irvine rallied late behind a squeeze play and the arm of Tanner Brubaker to drop Long Beach State, 4-1, and take the series Saturday night in Anteater Ballpark.

Big Fly
Long Beach State (4-25, 0-2) threw the first punch on the very first pitch of the second inning. Calvin Estrada lifted a high fastball inside the left field foul pole and out for the 1-0 LBSU lead

Lots of Zeroes
Starters Tanner Brubaker and Nick Avila were the show the rest of the time dishing out zeroes through six innings. Avila faced just one over the minimum through five innings while Brubaker scattered five hits to that point keeping the pitch count low.

Tying It Up
Mike Peabody started things with a one-out single in the seventh followed by a pair of walks to load things up for Brendan Brooks. He did the job grounding a ball in the 5-6 hole, enough for shortstop Kaden Hogan to shovel to third base for one out, but nothing more and Peabody came across to tie the game at 1-1.

The Turning Point
Avila reached his limit at 97 pitches as the game entered the eighth, and Tyler Gums came on to relieve to the relief of the Anteaters. Mikey Filia walked and got to third on a perfectly-timed hit-and-run by Brandon Lewis. Adrian Damla would follow with an eight-foot safety squeeze bunt bringing home Filia ahead of the flip from Gums to put UCI (20-5, 4-1) on top for the first time in the game, 2-1. Christian Koss helped with some insurance on a two-run single under the glove of Laine Huffman giving Brubaker a 4-1 cushion as he came back out for the ninth.

Final Score: No. 19 UC Irvine 4, Long Beach State 1
12 hits total between the sides with LBSU's Dominic Campeau scoring the only multi-hit effort. Estrada's home run was his first of the season, and the Anteaters registered singles for all six of their hits. Koss had a two-RBI night with Damla and Brooks supplying the other RBIs. Four different 'Eaters scored runs and four were also hit by a pitch.

Pitchers of Record
Tanner Brubaker had his most impressive outing as an Anteater going all nine innings on 104 pitches. It's the team's first complete game since the Saturday contest at Long Beach State nearly one year ago to the day when Taylor Rashi went eight innings in a 1-0 loss to the Dirtbags. Brubaker finishing strong with three of his UCI-high eight strikeouts coming in the final two innings as he improves to 4-1 and continues to lead the squad in innings now at 53. He also extended the Anteater streak of two straight games without issuing a walk. Tyler Gums drew the loss allowing three runs in his 0.2 innings now at 0-2

#BlackAndBlue Rivalry Series
The yearly contest between UC Irvine and Long Beach State sponsored by Duke's entered the weekend with a 17-14 advantage to the Anteaters. UC Irvine's home series win over the Dirtbags adds four points to the school in the series making it a 21-14 UCI lead with tennis, women's water polo, track and field, and golf remaining.

Next Up
The series wraps up Sunday, April 7 at 1:00 p.m.with Trenton Denholm and Sagun Gainey toeing the mound. UCI has now won the last two series in the matchup and avenged the series loss in the last meeting between the programs in 2017. UCI has also won all eight weekend series on the season, and will try for the fifth sweep of the year Sunday. The 'Eaters at 4-1 are among the Big West leaders in the standings alongside one-loss Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara