IRVINE, Calif. --- No. 19 UC Irvine matched its Saturday performance with a complete game shutout from the arm of Trenton Denholm to sweep rival Long Beach State, 4-0, Sunday afternoon in Anteater Ballpark.

Infield Fireworks
The Anteaters (21-5, 5-1) got on the board first scoring twice in the second inning with just one hit. Adrian Damla reached on an error and Mike Peabody followed him with an infield single to start the frame. Christian Koss sacrificed them into scoring position leading to Matt Reitano. He chopped a ball to shortstop with the throw a little low and unable to get scooped by catcher Chris Jimenez allowing Damla to slide in and make it 1-0. Ryan Johnston followed with a sac bunt that Jacob Hughey flipped home not in time to get Peabody who slid in safely. The return throw to first cut down Johnston as he was called for running out of the runner's lane. The 'Eaters finished with a 2-0 lead after the second inning.

More Zeroes
The middle innings were battle between Trenton Denholm and Zak Baayoun holding each side to two total hits for the next four innings and a drought of baserunners. The 'Eaters got a runner to second in the fourth and loaded the bases in the sixth, but couldn't find a way. The Dirtbags (4-26, 0-3) got a pair of runners to second via a hit and a sacrifice in the fourth and then a HBP and balk in the fifth.

Power Spike
The bats came alive for all of two minutes the rest of the game with two outs in the Anteater seventh. Mikey Filia pelted a shot off the left field scoreboard for a solo homer, his third of the year, and then Brandon Lewis got into the act two pitches later wrapping a ball around the foul pole for his 11th and quickly doubled the lead to 4-0, UCI. The back-to-back homers were the first for the program since Connor Spencer and Taylor Sparks did it against Bakersfield in 2014.

Final Score: No. 19 UC Irvine 4, Long Beach State 0
Lewis had the only two-hit game for any hitter joining Filia as the only players with a run scored and RBI. Seven total hits between the teams along with three walks and three HBP. The shutout for Anteater pitching was its sixth of the year.

Pitchers of Record
Denholm dazzled with his first career complete game to go to 6-0 and drop his ERA to 1.53, his WHIP to 0.68, and his opponent's batting average to .139. He joins Tanner Brubaker in tossing consecutive complete games, the program's first since 2014 when Elliot Surrey and Andrew Morales each had complete game shutouts against Grand Canyon. Elliot Surrey was also the last complete game shutout until Denholm today, throwing his against Hawai'i in 2015. Denholm's only real blemish was a walk in the eighth inning breaking a streak of 109 consecutive batters that UCI pitching went without issuing a walk. The 'Eaters hadn't allowed one all weekend with the last coming in the sixth inning last Sunday against Hawai'i. Baayoun dropped to 1-6 for the Dirtbags with both runs he surrendered being unearned along with two walks, two strikeouts, and two hits in his six innings.

Next Up
The Anteaters enter one of their toughest weeks of 2019 with four road games starting Tuesday, April 9 at No. 1 UCLA with a 6:00 p.m. first pitch. The week continues with a mammoth Big West series at 22-5 UC Santa Barbara April 12-14 with each squad sporting just a single Big West loss. The three-game series has start times of 3:00 p.m. (Friday), 2:00 p.m. (Saturday), and 1:00 p.m. (Sunday) at UCSB