IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine baseball fell in an early hole Sunday against No. 25 UC Santa Barbara and could never recover falling, 17-7, at Anteater Ballpark dropping the series in the process.

UNKIND START
The Anteaters (26-19, 11-10) turned to Cameron Wheeler coming off a fantastic start last weekend at Long Beach State. The Gauchos (33-11, 21-3) jumped on Wheeler with two hits in the first three batters. Control issues saw consecutive hit by pitches and a walk to force in the game's first two runs. UCSB took advantage of the bases loaded situation further with a pair of singles to push the lead to 5-0, and with two outs, it was back to the top of the order for Bryce Willits as he lashed a triple into the alley for a seven-run, first-inning head-start for UCSB.

The Anteaters had their chances getting right to things in the bottom of the first inning putting a pair of runners on from singles, but were unable to score even with a line drive from Abraham Garcia-Pacheco that was snagged on a diving play from center fielder Nick Vogt to keep UCI off the board. The second inning brought more opportunity with three consecutive one-out singles to load the bases, but again the offense was denied from the scoreboard.

UC Santa Barbara would step on the gas and extend their lead to 11-0 by the fourth inning from a pair of home runs in the third and fourth innings, and grew their lead to 12-0 with another run in the fifth inning before the Anteaters were able to muster any offense.

FINAL SCORE: #25 UC SANTA BARBARA 17, UC IRVINE 7
UC Irvine got the offense going in the sixth inning bringing home a leadoff walk on Justin Torres' second double, and he would come around on Luke Spillane's single cutting the deficit to 10 runs. Four runs in the seventh inning made it a seven-run deficit, but in both innings the Anteaters left runners on base leaving a total of 12 along with a pair of inning-ending double plays to keep the furious comeback from gaining all the steam necessary.

The Gauchos added four ninth-inning runs to cement their victory finishing with 17 runs, the most allowed by the Anteater pitching staff on the season. Aside from Wheeler, the other six Anteater pitchers were taxed in their longest outings of the year. Finnegan Wall led the charge with three innings pitched followed by Nick Rincover allowing the first run of his Anteater career in a career-high 1.1 innings pitched.

Sunday's staff outing feature some returns to action and one debut. Jake Spillane stepped on the mound for the first time in two months for 1.2 innings followed by Troy Wentworth's first outing in almost as long. Roger Thomas entered in the ninth inning making his collegiate debut in his second season with the program facing three hitters.

The Anteater offense did manage seven runs on the afternoon behind 13 hits. Nine of those hits came from the last four hitters in the order including a three-hit day by Taishi Nakawake and two-RBI afternoons from Torres and Connor McGuire.

The loss drops UC Irvine to 26-19 overall and 11-10 in the Big West; tied for fifth and officially out of reach of UC Santa Barbara for a conference title. The upcoming week sends the Anteaters on the road once again to LMU Tuesday night before traveling to UC Riverside for a weekend series starting Friday, May 13.