IRVINE, CALIF. --- UC Irvine baseball earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament thanks to a 10-4 win Friday afternoon over Cal State Fullerton at Anteater Ballpark.
CLASH OF TITANS
The Anteaters (37-16, 29-8) got out of the gate first after
Michael Frias shut the door on a pair of runners in scoring position in the top of the first.
Nathan Church and
Mike Peabody made loud noises in the bottom half each doubling to give an early 1-0 lead. Peabody would later come around on
Justin Torres' groundout to put UCI up 2-0 after one.
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Cal State Fullerton (20-32, 13-20) hung around until the third inning when Jake Harvey and Zach Lew each doubled to cut in the lead. Lew would come home on a two-out hit by Jason Brandow to lock the score back up at 2-2 in the third inning.
RAPID RESPONSE
The offense quickly looked to grab the lead back as
Taishi Nakawake snuck a double fair down the left field line to start the bottom of the third. Now with runners on the corners,
Jacob Castro put down a textbook squeeze bunt to score Nakawake and put the 'Eaters back in front, 3-2.
Justin Torres would then crush a double into the right-center gap, and
Thomas McCaffrey followed him with a double to add to the lead now 5-2 after three.
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The Titans kept on UCI's heels forcing in a run from a bases loaded walk in the fourth and chasing starter
Michael Frias from the game.
Gordon Ingebritson was called upon and got the third out to leave the bases loaded.
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PRESSURE COOKER
The bullpens duked it out for the next three full innings as Ingebritson and Titan reliever, Ryan Hare, kept the game at a 5-3 stalemate.
Josh Ibarra came on in the seventh and matched Ingebritson's effort, and the offense would awake again in the bottom of the seventh.
After the offenses went silent, UCI got things going against Hare as
Nathan Church's laser single over his head ended his afternoon.
Mike Peabody was hit by a pitch to bring up
Jacob Castro who looped a single into left field for the sixth run of the day for UCI.
A third pitcher in the inning entered after Timothy Josten loaded the bases, and
Thomas McCaffrey treated him rudely doubling home everyone to make it a six-run, Anteater lead.
Luke Spillane brought McCaffrey home for his team-leading sixth sacrifice fly and a 10-3 advantage at that point.
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FINAL SCORE: #17 UC IRVINE 10, CAL STATE FULLERTON 4
Ibarra would go the rest of the way, and the final out came with the bases loaded as a chopper to third base was picked up by
Connor McGuire who stepped on third base to clinch it for the 'Eaters.
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The Anteaters claimed a share of their second Big West title, first since 2009, with now any other wins or UC Santa Barbara losses this weekend giving them the outright crown. Via the tiebreaker, the 'Eaters have earned the Big West's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament giving UCI it's ninth trip to the postseason in Division I and first since 2014.
Ingebritson secured the win on the afternoon running his record to 6-1 while striking out four in 2.2 scoreless innings. Frias did not factor in the decision allowing three runs in 3.2 innings walking and striking out four. Tanner Bibee drew the loss for the Titans, now 7-6, after five runs in three innings.
Thomas McCaffrey led the offensive charge for UCI getting three hits, driving in four, and collecting two of UCI's seven doubles on the afternoon.
Nathan Church had one of those, his 19th on the year, part of three hits and two runs scored. Peabody scored three times with his RBI double, and was hit by a pitch twice on the afternoon to set a new program career record hit by pitch 44 times now. Other big days came from
Justin Torres, a double and two RBIs, and
Jacob Castro with two more RBIs.
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Cal State Fullerton got 10 hits with four from leadoff man, Jake Harvey, who scored twice, and Zach Lew had two with two RBIs and a run scored.
PLAYING IT OUT
Still plenty to play for this weekend for UCI who can still reach 40 regular season wins with a sweep, still need a win to secure an outright conference title, and are still chasing their first-ever home series win over Cal State Fullerton. Saturday, the teams will play two starting at 12:00 p.m. with
Nick Pinto and Gavin Kennedy on the mound. Game two will following the conclusion of the first with
Trenton Denholm facing Landon Anderson.
The series finishes Sunday with a 1:00 p.m. start. The Anteaters will recognize their graduates prior to the game with a ceremony on the field.
The Anteaters will find out their postseason fate Monday at 9:00 a.m. with the NCAA Selection Show on ESPN2
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