IRVINE, Calif. --- Anteater baseball roared to an early lead and never looked back sinking No. 8 UCLA, 7-3, Saturday afternoon in Anteater Ballpark to even the weekend series at a win apiece.
BATTING BERGIN
UCI (4-1) hitters had a tall task going against UCLA's Saturday stud whom had never lost in his Bruin career. They got a little help in the first inning as second baseman Mikey Perez dropped a sharp line drive right at him allowing
Nathan Church to reach and runners to get to first and second. A big walk from
Jake Cosgrove loaded the bases up, and then JC transfer
Justin Torres delivered a huge double into right field to score two runners and make it 2-0. Following him was
Jacob Castro, and he laced a shot into the gap scoring two more runs and making it a 4-0 UCI lead in the first inning.
The 'Eaters were back to business in the third inning getting a pair of runners on base with Castro returning to the plate with two outs. He slipped a single into the outfield tp score one of the runners and take second on the throw.
Connor McGuire followed with an opposite-field single of his own to score two more and push the Anteater lead to 7-0 through three innings.
FRIASÂ TAKES OVER
Anteater starter
Peter Van Loon was good but not great Saturday holding the Bruins back with double play balls and six strikeouts, but could not escape the fifth inning leaving the bases loaded and the score now 7-2.
Michael Frias was called upon again and induced a groundout on the first pitch to stop the threat. He proceeded to run the show for 2.2 innings not allowing a hit and adding five strikeouts to his day and shutting down UCLA (3-3)
FINAL: UC IRVINE 7, #8 UCLA 3
Frias would take the win after finishing the fifth inning, the win his second in his career.
John Vergara cleaned up the final 1.2 innings allowing a run.
UCI's offensive titans were
Justin Torres, with a double, single, two RBIs, and two runs, and
Jacob Castro, driving home three and scoring once with two singles. Castro on the year has four hits, all coming with two outs and two strikes, and all have driven in a run plating seven total.
Adrian Damla continued to hit with two singles on the day and scoring a run.
Connor McGuire added a pair of RBIs.
The 'Eaters put up season highs of seven runs and 11 hits. The final two hits were perfectly executed bunt singles.
Taishi Nakawake dragged the first one that rolled and hit the third base bag.
Woody Hadeen followed the next inning pushing one toward first base and no one could get to.
UCLA starter Jesse Bergin dropped his first ever decision lasting just three innings allowing seven hits and all seven runs, just three of which were earned. Six other Bruins pitched and halted the Anteater offense making it 10.2 scoreless bullpen innings from the eighth-ranked Bruins this series.
UCLA plated single runs in the fourth, fifth, and ninth in the loss. Kevin Kendall shone with two hits, two runs, and a stolen base. RBIs came from Michael Curialle's fourth-inning double, a bases loaded walk to Josh Hahn in the fifth, and Matt McLain's single in the ninth.
The win for UCI marks its first over a ranked program since 2018 when they dropped the Bruins then as the No. 13 team. UCI has 83 ranked wins since 2002 and 22 against Pac-12 opponents.
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"It's good to score a crooked number early and play from ahead. Frias and Vergara threw the ball well, there were a couple big double plays, it was good."
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"When you face good pitching, you're going to get to two strikes. A lot of these games are won with those two-out hits. We were happy with a lot of the at-bats today with runners in scoring position and two outs, something we haven't been good at the last four games."
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"Frias has done great, that's the second time in a row he's come into a big spot there and gives us 2+ innings. Did it again last week. He's experienced, he's confident, he throws multiple pitches for strikes, he's done a great job so far."
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"It's been contagious this weekend, we've struggled to throw the ball over the plate. It's not characteristic for us, something I hope we don't happen again tomorrow."
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"We don't read any of the newspaper articles. They're out there, we see them, it's about us playing well and trying to get better. We're five games into this thing. We won today, but we need to keep playing better, that needs to be our focus and not where we're ranked or where someone else is. We have a chance tomorrow to win another series, and that's a good thing to do especially on the road against a Pac-12 team."
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"Two of the unsung heroes in the first inning are Peabody and Cosgrove. Both of those guys with full count walks, those were critical at-bats in that series. They're not the RBI base hits so they get less acclaim, but that sequence was a big reason why we score and the reason the pitch count was just that."
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SERIES FINALE
The programs finish the series back at UCLA Sunday, February 28, with a 2:00 p.m. first pitch. Left-hander Nick Pinto goes for UCI against junior righty Nick Nastrini for the Bruins.
