CORVALLIS, Ore. --- The weekend at No. 13 Oregon State ended on a high note as the 'Eaters snuck away with a 3-2 win in 10 innings at Goss Stadium.
OFF AND RUNNING
The Anteaters (6-5) got the start on Oregon State (9-1) scoring the game's first two runs. Two newcomers to the starting lineup got things going in the second inning as
Dub Gleed worked a one-out single, and
Caden Kendle smacked a two-out double to center for a 1-0 UCI lead.
The next inning brought a second run, all with two outs.
Woody Hadeen flipped a ball down the left field line and hustled for a double.
Nathan Church would follow with a single to center to score Hadeen and extend the lead to 2-0 after three innings.
SUAVE SUAREZ
The freshman
Danny Suarez got the call again on Sunday and strutted out his best stuff. The righty put the clamps on the Beavers for six innings scattering four hits without a run score picking up five strikeouts.
He was undone a little as the seventh started allowing a solo home run to Jacob Melton, and exited after allowing an infield single still ahead 2-1.
Gordon Ingebritson entered with his nation-leading 0.11 WHIP and was able to get through the inning and grow his streak of outs to 24 in a row recorded.
A LITTLE EXTRA
Oregon State would not be completely silenced as it knotted things up with another solo home run to start the eighth inning off the bat of pinch-hitter Brady Kasper. A clean ninth inning sent the game to extra innings for the first time this season for UC Irvine.
The Anteaters would counter with some noise of their own.
Thomas McCaffrey would flip the script pounding a solo home run of his own to the opposite field and a 3-2 lead in the 10th.
The bottom of the 10th brought some nerves as a one-out double would bring up the dangerous Jacob Melton again with a chance to win it. He skied a ball deep to right-center, but landed feet from leaving the yard caught at the wall to complete the Anteater victory.
FINAL SCORE: UC IRVINE 3, #13 OREGON STATE 2
The win boosts UCI to 18-15 against the Pac-12 since head coach
Ben Orloff took over. All-time, UCI now has 86 wins over ranked opponents and 24 against ranked Pac-12 schools.
Suarez was not part of the decision despite his and the staff's first quality start of 2022. Ingebritson gathered himself and finished the final four innings for his first win with a walk and a strikeout.
The offense was led by
Nathan Church posting a three-hit day with an RBI. Six different Anteaters had hits for nine on the day including McCaffrey's home run, the second of his career, and
Caden Kendle's second career RBI.
UCI comes back to Southern California to start an eight-game homestand that features five games this upcoming week with two against Arizona State and three against Iowa.
Thoughts from Head Coach Ben Orloff
"I thought we played really well. It wasn't perfect, but really, really well especially on Sunday after losing the first two. Scoring early and playing from ahead, how Suarez pitched, the toughness and courage that Ingebritson has and showed to go four innings. McCaffrey is the big homer with the opposite-field home run in the 10th."
"Suarez doesn't look like a freshman. He handled and navigated a lineup that is really good. The top five hitters in that lineup are as good as I can remember seeing. He mixed, he was poised, he did everything you would like him to do, and he's a kid that just turned 18 years old so that was really encouraging to see."
"We were sticking with Gordon until the end. The courage and toughness he has is really unmatched. That's why he's out there as much as he is. We're really the beneficiaries of it because he does not crack. You have to beat him, and he's the one we want out there."
"I told our guys before the game and postgame that this kind of reminds me of the Stanford series a year ago. We don't win the series, but we're playing against an opponent that, in my opinion, will probably host a regional and probably host a super regional. It shows that we can be good, and as we can continue to improve and minimize the self-inflicted wounds, I think we can be good, too. Definitely some encouraging things from a 1-2 weekend."
