MANHATTAN, Kans. --- UC Irvine and Kansas State belted nine home runs between them Saturday, and the 'Eaters got the better of it evening the series with a 16-7 victory at Tointon Family Stadium.
LAUNCHING PAD
With the homer-friendly confines at Kansas State coupled with some aggressive wind blowing out, the two clubs took aim beyond the outfield fence from the get-go.
UC Irvine (22-14, 9-6) got the first chance and left the yard on
Thomas McCaffrey's two-out blast with two on for a 3-0 lead in the first.
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Kansas State (20-18, 3-9) wasted no time responding getting their first runner on and homering on the second to close the gap to 3-2 after an inning. The Anteaters made a note to not let off the gas with a second three-run home run the very next inning this time off the bat of
Ben Fitzgerald. UCI added two more runs, again with two outs, as McCaffrey's shot was kept in the yard for a two-run double and 8-3 lead. K-State staying in UCI's rear-view with a solo home run in the bottom of the inning to now trail, 8-3.
McCaffrey and Fitzgerald turned on the afterburners first from the sophomore catcher starting the fourth inning off with a solo blast, his second of the game giving him six RBIs. Fitzgerald caught up to him later in the inning going deep for a second time and another three-run job to match McCaffrey with six RBIs. All this came in the fourth inning to increase UCI's lead to 13-3.
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NAVIGATING THE STORM
Among all the offense on the day,
Michael Frias went about his way on the mound weathering the long balls. The Wildcats hit three of their own against the Anteater fifth-year, but only produced four runs off them while the Anteater hitters clubbing three of their five home runs with runners on base.
Frias matched his teammates from Friday without a walk in the game, and added seven strikeouts with one of them looking, and made them count including freezing the bases loaded in a pivotal moment in the fourth against leadoff hitter Dom Johnson who had homered twice the night before. Despite 11 hits allowed and six earned runs, Frias did enough to claim his fifth victory of the season.
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FINAL SCORE: UC IRVINE 16, KANSAS STATE 7
The Anteaters made it crystal clear there would be no massive, late-inning comeback for a second straight day putting up a season-best 16 runs. The five home runs tied a program record for a single game that's happened just once before thanks to
Myles Smith adding the final blow in the fifth for the first of his career.
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The offense revolved around Fitzgerald and McCaffrey each with four-hit games and career highs with their two home runs and six RBIs each. Every Anteater starter scored a run with six scoring multiple times as UCI knocked 16 hits and had 12 players reach from a walk or hit by pitch.
The finale starts bright and early at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time Sunday with
Cameron Wheeler and Griffin Hassall squaring off for a series victory.
Postgame Thoughts from Head Coach Ben Orloff
"It was a great team win. All phases of the game we played really well. Obviously offensively, we score 16 runs and a bunch of big performances by guys, but we pitched it really, really good. This place is really offensive and we went 17 innings with now walks. So yes, we were really good in all three phases."
"We don't walk anybody and give up only solo home runs and a two-run, and the way this field is playing, solos aren't going to get you beat. The statline doesn't show how good of a game that Frias pitched."
"Our guys were just trying to hit the ball on the barrel and put good swings on it. Playing at our field helps and balls that don't go over the fence there do on the road. Fitzgerald and McCaffrey had some good count leverage taking some offspeed pitches to get to the fastball, and Smith was two strikes fastball the other way. Good job by all those guys."
