IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine reversed USC's early momentum to score seven unanswered and defeat the Trojans, 7-4, Tuesday night in the final regular season home game at Anteater Ballpark.

Quick Hitters
USC (23-28-1, 11-14-1) got things going right away in the first inning. After the first two Trojans struck out, the next three pummeled extra-base hits to quickly put a pair of runs on the board for a 2-0 first inning lead. The Trojans got right back to work in the second loading the bases for Matthew Acosta whose two-out smash through Christian Koss brought home two runners before he was thrown out at second, but USC held the early 4-0 lead

Momentum Shift
After USC's top of the first inning, home plate umpire Ramon Armendariz went to their dugout to warn them about something before resuming play. With two outs in the top of the second, Armendariz stopped play once again and made his way over to USC's dugout. He proceeded to remove one of USC's players from the game prompting USC head coach Dan Hubbs to come out and question his decision. The discussion grew until Armendariz also ejected Hubbs from the game

Unshackled
UC Irvine (35-16, 15-6) hitters had been handcuffed through four innings by Trojan starter Isaac Esqueda who tossed one-hit ball striking out five Anteaters. The bullpen was summonned to start the fifth, and UCI got to work starting with a triple by Mike Peabody that he would later scamper home on a wild pitch. With two outs, Sam Ireland wrapped a double into the corner to cut the deficit to 4-2. UCI put a pair of runners on base before Austin Manning was relieved for Carson Lambert, but he served up another triple, this time to Christian Koss into the right field corner scoring the tying runs for a four-run frame and making it 4-4

Griffey Power
The 'Eaters' rode the momentum into the sixth inning as Peabody once again found a gap doubling. Griffin Mazur stepped up with two outs and hammered the first pitch he saw out to left field giving the Anteaters a 6-4 lead. The rally continued after a pair of walks and Jake Palmer's single completed a three-run frame putting UCI out in front 7-4

Out Getters
UCI's bullpen came up big when called upon starting with Ryan Johnston who shut down USC for two innings. He would leave in the bottom of the fifth putting a pair of runners on base, but John Vergara relieved for the strikeout to end the inning and strand two. Vergara coasted for another inning-plus before giving up two two-out singles giving way to Jordan Bocko in the eighth. Bocko battled through an 11-pitch at-bat before striking out the last out and also leaving two on to thwart the USC attack

Final Score: UC Irvine 7, USC 4
Peabody broke the game open twice with his extra-base hits scoring each time. Christian Koss extended his hit streak to a personal best of 12 games with his team-leading fifth triple that plated two RBI. Ireland and Palmer each had a hit, run, and RBI of their own in addition to Konnor Zickefoose's two-hit night. Mazur finished with a pair of runs and RBI, and his home run was the first of his career. USC got two-hit nights from four players as they out-hit UCI, 10-8. Acosta finished with two RBI while Clay Owens doubled for each of his two hits

Pitchers of Record
John Vergara claimed the win on the evening, the first of his career, going two innings with two strikeouts. Johnston completed 2.2 IP allowing one hit, one walk, and striking out two. Jordan Bocko earned his first save of the season and the 10th of his career. UCI starter Dylan Riddle was responsible for the four runs along with seven hits as he struck out three in three innings. Lambert drew the loss for USC, his third, while Manning was tagged with four runs in 0.2 IP

Next Up
The Anteaters' postseason hopes continued to stay alive as they improved to 35-16 overall, 21-5 at home, and finish with a 7-3 record against the Pac-12, the fourth-toughest conference in the country. UCI has three games left on its regular season slate as it travels to UC Riverside for games Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Andre Pallante will start Thursday with a 6:00 p.m. start time as the Anteaters enter the weekend in a tie for second place with Cal Poly who plays a three-game series with UC Santa Barbara who holds a three-game edge over both teams for first in the standings