DAVIS, Calif. --- UC Irvine baseball picked up where it left off on Saturday with another stellar offensive day behind a powerful pitching performance to win the first end of their doubleheader at Swimley Field at Dobbins Stadium dropping UC Davis, 8-0.
FRESH START
UCI (8-7, 2-0) got a kick start from a leadoff triple by
Nathan Church sparking a three-run first inning. RBI singles later in the inning by
Adrian Damla and
Justin Torres made it a 2-0 lead. A third run came home on a successful squeeze play by
Thomas McCaffrey for the 3-0 first inning advantage.
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ONGOING OFFENSE
The Anteaters continued to grow its lead with runs in the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth innings.
Taishi Nakawake made it 4-0 in the third inning on a two-out RBI single. UC Davis (5-11, 0-2) gifted runs in the next two innings with errors bringing home unearned Anteater runs for a 6-0 lead.
UCI manufactured a pair of runs in the seventh inning after starting the frame with a pair of walks. McCaffrey put down another sacrifice bunt reaching on a fielder's choice, and then two more sacrifices from
Jake Cosgrove and
Taishi Nakawake scored the runs without a hit in the inning to make it 8-0.
PINTO POWER
The second-year Anteater was all-the-while mowing down Aggies for a career high eight innings. The lefty surrender single hits in the third and sixth innings, but wriggled through helped by a pair of timely double plays and seven strikeouts helping the 'Eaters post its first shutout of the season.
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FINAL: UC IRVINE 8, UC DAVIS 0
The first shutout comes on the heels of allowing one run in Friday's win. UCI posted two shutouts in its 15-game season in 2020. Pinto led the way with his second straight quality start combining with
Michael Stanford for a two-hitter.
The offense only needed six hits to score its eight runs.
Justin Torres posted the only multi-hit effort while Nakawake led the charge with two RBIs. The 'Eaters worked 11 walks on the afternoon with Peabody, Torres, and
Luke Spillane each earning three of them. Peabody and Spillane each scored twice.
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GAME TWO
The doubleheader continues following Game 1 with
Michael Frias bringing his no-hit and shutout streaks to the mound against Nolan Meredith.
