IRVINE, Calif. --- In front of one of the biggest crowds in recent history, UC Irvine dropped its midweek matchup to No. 1 UCLA, 7-0, Tuesday night at Anteater Ballpark.

Fan Frenzy
UC Irvine (31-16, 12-6) welcomed 1,575 fans to Cicerone Field Tuesday night, its largest crowd for a baseball game over the last four years. The 'Eaters celebrated service men and women at the game in a Salute to Heroes Night along with Girl Scout Night. UC Irvine women's volleyball player Idara Akpakpa sang the National Anthem pregame as well.

Costly Mistakes
The sides were even through an inning with Anteater starter Taylor Rashi on the mound. He got the first two outs in the second before allowing a pair of soft singles. Matt McLain lifted a flyball to right field for what should have been the third out, but Konnor Zickefoose struggled with the sun and could not come up with the ball near the warning track allowing two runners to score and put the 'Eaters behind, 2-0.

Piling On
The Bruins (42-8, 19-5) put up another run in the third inning with a towering home run to left field by Ryan Kreidler. He added to the scoring again in the fifth walking after a single by Will McInerny. Chase Strumpf would single McInerny home and knock out Rashi from the game, and then Michael Toglia hit the first pitch from John Vergara for a double plate each of them en route to a four-run inning and 7-0 lead for the Bruins.

Final Score: No. 1 UCLA 7, UC Irvine 0
UCI was shutout for just the second time this season, both coming in the month of May. The 'Eaters musterd six hits, but left 14 runners on base. Christian Koss had a two-hit night for UCI with a double and a walk. Four other Anteaters reached twice. Jeremy Ydens had three hits scoring once for UCLA. Kreidler scored twice and Toglia had two RBI to lead UCLA

Pitchers of Record
Rashi took the loss for UCI, his first of 2019, after 4.2 innings. He was stung for six of the seven runs, but two were unearned and two more came in after he left the contest. Anteater pitching together struck out 12 Bruins as Michael Frias, Alonzo Garcia, and Ryan Johnston had two each over the final four innings of scoreless ball. Felix Rubi won his first game as a Bruin going five three-hit frames.

Next Up
UCI is on to the weekend and its final home series taking on UC Davis starting Friday, May 17 at 6:00 p.m. Andre Pallante and Brett Erwin duke it out with the contest as well as Saturday's game being broadcasted on ESPN3