SAN DIEGO, Calif. --- UC Irvine fell in a battle of bullpens that turned on one swing in a 4-1 loss Tuesday night in Fowler Park to the San Diego Toreros.

First Impression
The Anteaters (29-14, 10-5) made some good things happen in the first inning getting a Mike Peabody double and Adrian Damla infield single, but could not finish it off with a run stranding both as Konnor Zickefoose's line drive was snagged on a nice play up the middle by USD shortstop Cody Jefferis. The Toreros (29-20, 12-12) would also get a pair of runners on and able to get one homer thanks to a Jeff Houghtby groundball to put USD up after one, 1-0.

Crushing Blow
Michael Frias had settled in keep it a 1-0 game until the third inning. An HBP and a four-pitch walk brought pitching coach Daniel Bibona out, but the next pitch was turned on by Houghtby just clearing the wall in right field for what turned out to be the decisive blow for a three-run home run making it 4-0 San Diego in the fourth.

Just Not Enough
The 'Eaters got the baserunners on early with five hits against starter Louie Crow, but leaving all on base. UCI found a run in the fourth inning getting a two-out hits from Christian Koss and Mikey Filia to put runners on the corners. Sam Ireland stepped up with another two-out single to score Koss and draw it back to a 4-1 game. UC Irvine's offense could not find any more scoring managing two more hits down the final five innings to come up short in the midweek matchup

Final Score: San Diego 4, UC Irvine 1
UCI outhit USD 9-5 with two-hit nights from four players. Each of Peabody's hits went for doubles while Mikey Filia reached base three times. Anteater hitters also struck out 11 times, grounded into three double plays, and were picked off third base. Houghtby brought in all four Toreros runs driving in Ripken Reyes twice.

Pitchers of Record
Frias allowed all four runs on three hits in his first ever start to fall to 0-1. Dylan Riddle and John Vergara cleaned up nicely in relief. Riddle went 3.2 innings, a career-best, allowing a single hit with two strikeouts. Vergara retired five of his seven hitters adding a strikeout and double play into the mix. USD starter Louie Crow shutout UCI for three innings striking out three and scattering five hits to go to 2-1. Travis Kuhn earned the save with a pair of strikeouts in the ninth.

Next Up
UCI's sights now turn to a pivotal Big West weekend hosting Cal Poly at Anteater Ballpark May 10-12. The weekend starts Friday night at 6:00 p.m. with Andre Pallante squaring off with LHP Chase Watkins. Cal Poly enters tied atop the Big West with a 12-3 conference record. Friday and Saturday night's games will be broadcasted online on ESPN3 and live streaming on the ESPN app.