LOS ANGELES, Calif. --- No. 16 UC Irvine dropped its midweek matchup against the top-ranked Bruins, 9-3, Tuesday night in Jackie Robinson Stadium.

Starting Right
UCI (21-6, 5-1) got the motor revving in the first inning using a Jake Palmer walk and Brandon Lewis double to set the table for Adrian Damla who cracked a ball inside the first base bag scoring the runners and putting the 'Eaters up after half an inning, 2-0.

Bruins' Revenge
UCLA (24-6, 9-3) answered with a run in the bottom half on a pair of singles and a sacrifice to cut the lead to 2-1 for the Anteaters. UCLA jumped on the 'Eaters for three runs on just one hit in the second inning knocked UCI starter Jordan Bocko out after 1.2 innings. The Bruins piled on with three more in the third inning capped by a sky-high ground-rule double off the bat of Noah Cardenas to ride a 7-2 advantage into the fourth

Middle Relief
The runs slowed through the middle innings with each offense quieting. Jesse Bergin found his game going five innings for the Bruins in the start leaving with the lead and seven strikeouts. Michael Frias was instrumental in keeping the 'Eaters in the game with 2.1 scoreless innings of his own.

Insurance Runs
The Bruins brought home two more in the seventh on a pinch-hit single from Mikey Perez and the team's third sacrifice fly of the evening stretching its lead to 9-2.

Final Score: No. 1 UCLA 9, No. 16 UC Irvine 3
Brandon Lewis' bat carried UCI for the most part with two doubles scoring a run complimented by Damla's two RBIs. Palmer also reached twice as did Christian Koss on a pair of walks. Konnor Zickefoose produced UCI's fifth and final hit of the night from a pinch-hit ninth-inning double. Gartett Mitchell and Michael Toglia and three-hit nights for the Bruins. Toglia scored three times while Mitchell and Ryan Kreidler each drove in two.

Pitchers of Record
The Anteaters dropped to 1-3 in midweek matchups as Jordan Bocko fell to 3-1 allowing four earned runs in less than two innings. Ryan Johnston was saddled with three runs and John Vergara gave up two while Kaz Akamatsu, Taylor Rashi, and Dylan Riddle threw scoreless relief alongside Frias. Bergin stayed winning nwo at 4-0 on the year in his eighth start.

Next Up
UC Irvine is on to an important series this weekend with three at No. 19 UC Santa Barbara who is 23-5 on the year and just one loss in conference. All three contests will be day games with the latest of the bunch starting things off Friday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. from Caeser Uyesaka Stadium