IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine baseball dug deep after trailing by eight runs in the fourth inning to come all the way back for a 9-8 win Friday afternoon at Anteater Ballpark against UC Riverside.
RIVERSIDE RUNS RAMPANT
The series-opener started out all UC Riverside (14-26, 12-21) jumping on UCI starter
Trenton Denholm for three first-inning runs starting off with a Dylan Orick triple to the opposite field to score the first run. Two more runs came home on two-out singles by Anthony Mata and Jacob Shanks for a 3-0 deficit for the 'Eaters (30-15, 22-7).
In the third inning, the Highlanders kept pushing the offense as Nathan Webb doubled home a run and came around on another Mata single. Then a hit-and-run by Jacob Shanks went the other way for a run-scoring triple to make it 6-0 and chase Denholm from the game with one out. Reliever
Michael Stanford allowing Shanks to come home on a single for a 7-0 UCR lead after three.
The Highlanders tacked on an eighth run in the fourth as Orick and Mata each doubled putting the 'Eaters behind 8-0 coming up to bat in the fourth.
CHIPPING AWAY
The 24th-ranked 'Eaters would get a gift to get on the board in the fourth as
Justin Torres came up with two outs and
Mike Peabody on first. Torres shot a single to right field right at right fielder Shanks, but the ball went under his glove and to the wall scoring Peabody and bringing Torres all the way around for a two-run play and making it an 8-2 deficit.
Â
The fifth inning saw the 'Eaters get a single and a walk from the two table-setters,
Jake Palmer and
Mike Peabody, and now with two outs
Jacob Castro came up. He shot a ball into the gap doubling home both runs to cut the once-eight-run margin in half, 8-4.
Â
The sixth inning saw two more runs for the Anteaters as
Dillon Tatum started things off with a sky-high ball to left field that dropped in for a double.
Connor McGuire floated a single to center field to score Tatum and eventually knock out starter, Zach Jacobs. Another walk to Palmer put two on, and Peabody again found a way to score a run dribbling a single up the middle and draw even closer, now 8-6.
Â
COMEBACK COMPLETE
The Anteaters were still trailing by a pair of runs after reliever Shamus Lyons kept the Highlanders' two-run lead. UCI quickly got two runners on in the eighth as
Thomas McCaffrey entered as a pinch-hitter and walked, and then
Jake Palmer smashed a single to right field allowing pinch-runner
Woody Hadeen to advance to third base and Palmer taking second on the throw.
Lyons gave way to former Anteater pitcher
Jake Lachemann to preserve the lead, but after an RBI groundball from Nathan Chuch to make it 8-7. Then Peabody came through again with a booming double off the right-center wall to tie things up at 8-8.
With Peabody on third and two outs,
Luke Spillane came up without a hit or run of any kind. He battled with two strikes until finally shooting a ball at the first baseman whose backhand couldn't handle the hard grounder letting it into right field to score Peabody for the go-ahead run, 9-8.
Â
FINAL SCORE: #24 UC IRVINE 9, UC RIVERSIDE 8
The win for UC Irvine is the 14th this year in which they were trailing at one point of the game. The eight-run comeback is the largest of 2021 and maybe the largest since 2002.
The starters did not figure into the decision. The Anteater bullpen, after allowing the eighth run, set down the final 17 hitters of the game including perfect, two-inning outings each from
Andre Antone and
Gordon Ingebritson, and
Jacob King retired all three hitters he saw to earn his fifth save. Ingebritson scored the win, his fourth of the season, as he's now scored the team's last two wins. The bullpen accounted for eight of the staff's 10 strikeouts on the day while Anteater pitching did not issue a walk.
Peabody was the star at the plate reaching all five times he batted with a double in his three hits, two walks, two RBIs, and three runs scored. Torres, Tatum, and Palmer each had two-hit days with Palmer scoring twice while reaching three times, and Castro had two RBIs for the squad that saw only six of their nine runs batted in.
Anthony Mata led the offensive charge for UCR through their four innings with three hits, a double, three RBIs, and two runs. Ely Stuart and Dylan Orick each had two hits and two runs while Jacob Shanks added two hits driving in two.
Denholm was roughed up at home for the first time since his freshman season allowing seven earned runs in 2.1 innings. Jacobs for UCR went 6.1 innings allowing six runs, five earned, while walking three among five strikeouts.
Thoughts from Head Coach Ben Orloff
Â
DOUBLING UP
The sides match up twice on Saturday beginning at 12:00 p.m. first pitch for game one.
Nick Pinto and Tyler Frazier get the first game going while
Michael Frias and Tucker Juline match up in game two.
