IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine baseball could not get anything going offensively Sunday afternoon dropping the series finale, 8-0, to Sacramento State at Anteater Ballpark.
 
SLOW DEMISE
Following an uneventful first inning, UC Irvine (8-7) starter Michael Frias got into trouble early in the second allowing the first three Hornet batters to reach on singles to load the bases. A Sacramento State (9-6) sac fly would get them on the board first and knock Frias out of the game. The 'Eaters called on lefty Nick Pinto to work out of the inning, and despite issuing a walk, he finished the inning unscathed. The Hornets kept the pressure on Pinto moving into the third, adding another run to push the score to 2-0 after three innings.
 
Sacramento State was not done plating three runs in the fifth inning off of Gordon Ingebritson and extending their lead to 5-0. The Hornets would go on to add a single run in the eighth and two more in the ninth pushing the advantage to 8-0.
 
BATTED AROUND
The Anteaters' bats were stymied by Sac State starter Travis Adams who spun seven shutout innings while allowing just two hits and striking out seven. UC Irvine did have some hard contact off of Adams in the early innings, but were not able to get much to fall in. The 'Eaters' best chance of scoring came in the sixth inning when Jacob Castro hit a high fly ball to center that landed for a double. He would move to third on a ground ball by John Jensen, but Taishi Nakawake was unable to get the two-out to hit to bring in the run. Castro turned out to be the only Anteater to so much as reach third base the entire afternoon off of Hornet pitching.
 
Final Score: Sacramento State 8, UC Irvine 0
The Anteaters utilized a bullpen day Sunday, using six total pitchers on the afternoon. Frias got the start, the second of his career, going 1.1 innings allowing one run and taking the loss. He was followed by Pinto (1.1 IP, ER) and Ingebritson (1.2 IP, 2 ER). John Vergara (1.2 IP, 0 ER), Troy Wentworth (2 IP, ER), and Cole van den Helder (1 IP, 2 UER) combined to toss the 4.2 innings, holding the Hornets to just one earned run, but the damage had already been done.
 
UC Irvine had just three hits on the afternoon, one each from Castro, Nakawake, and Jake Palmer. 

On the Sacramento State side, five Hornets had multiple hits including Dylan McPhillips and Jorge Bojorquez who recorded three hits apiece. Steven Moretto launched a solo HR and drove in three accompanied by Keith Torres' two RBI.

Sac State pitching made it through the entire weekend without issuing a walk to keep their year-long total to 16. Adams improved to 2-1 on the year with scoreless frames by Brady Rodriguez and Stone Churby as they each added a strikeout.
 
UP NEXT
The Anteaters welcome Missouri State to Anteater Ballpark for a weekend series beginning Friday, March 13 at 6:00 p.m. The Anteaters will have Trenton Denholm (2-2, 2.28) on the mound to start against the Bears as UCI goes through their first of two straight weeks without a midweek matchup.