IOWA CITY, Iowa --- No. 19 Anteaters were slow out of the gate falling behind early and unable to make up the difference in a 6-3 loss to open the series at Iowa and Duane Banks Field.

Quick Strike
The Hawkeyes (28-16, 11-7) wasted little time getting a double and single from their first two batters. A groundout would score the leadoff hitter putting Iowa on top after one inning, 1-0. The Anteaters (28-12, 10-5) stumbled off the starting line not getting a baserunner until a two-out third inning walk.

Izaya for Mayor
The Iowa first baseman put on a laser show carrying the offense through the middle innings. He timed up a two-strike, two-out breaking ball and deposited it out to left field for a solo HR to make it 2-0 Iowa after three. He found it again in the fifth inning bashing another two-strike, two-out pitch down the left field line for a two-run homer increasing the Hawkeye lead to 4-0 through five innings.

Opportunity Cost
UCI finally found their bats in the fourth getting a pair of two-out hits from Adrian Damla and Konnor Zickefoose, and after a walk to Griffin Mazur loaded the bases for Jacob Castro, but his sharp grounder was rolled up for a double play to stunt UCI's chance. Christian Koss again got an Anteater in scoring position in the fifth inning with a one-out double, but he was left on base, and the Anteaters continued to struggle scoring a run

Late Charge
The 'Eaters made their move in the seventh getting another runner to second from Mazur's leadoff double, and he would find home plate from some smart baserunning to score on Koss' fielder's choice. Mikey Filia came through with two outs shooting a grounder through the middle cutting the lead to 4-2 as the stretch hit. Iowa punched back the next inning from an Austin Martin double and a bases loaded back to regain their four-run lead riding that into a victory

Final Score: Iowa 6, No. 19 UC Irvine 3
Koss led the offense with two hits, a double and triple, driving home his second run of the night in the ninth. Filia and Mazur would each reach twice on the night. Fullard finished with a 3-for-3 night singling along with his two HRs registering three RBIs and three runs scored. Brandon Lewis was kept off base from some fine defense to snap his on-base streak at 36 games

Pitchers of Record
Andre Pallante took the loss, now 7-4, allowing four runs over six innings with two walks and three strikeouts. Darius Garcia shut the door after entering with the bases loaded for the second straight game. Cole McDonald improved to 5-3 allowing just one earned run over seven innings. Trace Hoffman picked up his second save finishing off the last two innings

Next Up
The series continues Saturday, May 4 with a 2:05 p.m. CT start, 12:05 p.m. PT and Trenton Denholm and Cam Baumann going toe-to-toe. The game along with all three games over the weekend will be shown on Big Ten Network Plus