LOS ANGELES, Calif. --- UC Irvine baseball embarked on their first road game of 2023 at a drizzly Dedeaux Field and went back-and-forth with the host USC Trojans before edging them in the end for an 8-7 Tuesday night.

PRIZE FIGHT
The two sides jockeyed with the lead throughout most of the game with either team landing a few haymakers in the process. USC (3-1) jumped out quickly with a solo home run off the bat of Carson Wells in the first for a 1-0 lead.

The Anteater (4-0) bats countered with three runs in the third inning kicked off by Caden Kendle's two-run triple off the center field wall. He would complete the inning with a run on Tony Martinez's double.

UCI added a run in the fourth to go up 4-1, but USC wasn't out of it. The Trojans took advantage of UCI's first reliever Nick Rincover by loading the bases and tied things right back up with a Bryce Martin Grudzielanek bases-clearing double. USC sewed up the four-run frame with a base hit by Nick Lopez to drive in Grudzielanek and go up, 5-4.

TROJAN HORSE
UCI pulled even in the sixth, 5-5, but were quickly down again as USC slipped home a run in the bottom of the inning to lead 6-5. The bullpens locked up the seventh inning and were nearly through the eighth as Chase Call stepped up with two outs.

Call turned around the third pitch from new arm Toby Spach and mashed a home run to straightaway center field to tie things back up at 6-6. UCI kept rolling with the two-out magic loading the bases from a pair of walks and a hit by pitch to bring in USC closer, Kyle Wisch. Back to the plate in another big spot was Caden Kendle who laced a double the other way to drive in two and snatch the lead right back, 8-6.

FINAL SCORE: UC IRVINE 8, USC 7
The Trojans put up a fight in the ninth scoring a seventh run on a groundout thanks to a leadoff double, but that was all as UCI freshman Max Martin was called upon in the save situation and held up his end of the bargain for his first career save.

The Anteater pitching staff again came to play starting with a quality Tuesday showing from Andre Antone allowing a run and two hits in four innings while piling up five strikeouts. Another freshman, Elliot Joslin, made his collegiate debut allowing a run in 1.1 innings to bridge the gap to Finnegan Wall with a stellar bounce-back performance adding two shutouts innings to collect his first career win.

"A bunch of different heroes tonight," praised head coach Ben Orloff. "Antone to give us four innings and give up one on two days rest was really good and critical to us winning. Joslin came in in a big spot and minimized damage. Wall on two days rest was really good, and then Martin, a freshman in his second career appearance, going for it there in the ninth and was impressive. We've got a lot of really good players. We've got more than nine good position players and we're getting to see that right now. It was really good to see them contribute."

Some of those good players on the offensive end were Kendle who dialed up four RBIs from a double and triple. The top three hitters in the order all had two-hit games while Will Bermudez in the nine-hole did his part with two runs, two hits, and an RBI on a double.

Chase Call was one of the key hitters with his first career home run in a pivotal spot in the eighth inning with two outs. He reached two other times on walks and scored a second run coming back from a tough series over the weekend. 

STAT BREAKDOWN
- A fourth save in four games for the 'Eaters now at 4-0 while handing USC their first loss of 2023.
- The 'Eaters were active on the basepaths with four steals in four attempts. UCI is now 7-for-8 on steals this year with the only caught stealing coming on a pickoff attempt
- Wall picks up his first career win in appearance No. 7 as an Anteater
- Martin is the third different 'Eater to earn a save
- UCI remains on top in the all-time series with USC at 37-34 with three straight wins
- Tuesday marked the first time UCI trailed all season along with the team's first come-from-behind victory
- Caden Kendle improved his on-base streak to 31 games
- Head Coach Ben Orloff improves to 23-15 against Pac-12 schools
- Tuesday was UCI broadcaster Mark Roberts' birthday

LOOKING AHEAD
The weekend is set for now with UCI playing in the Tony Gwynn Legacy in San Diego. It starts Friday at 1:00 p.m. on the campus of San Diego State against another Pac-12 squad, Washington State. Saturday, UCI will play San Diego at their home field at 6:00 p.m. with the weekend ending at UC San Diego's Triton Ballpark against UNLV at 10:00 a.m.

Weather could play a factor with fans encouraged to stay tuned in to ucirvinesports.com and all UCI baseball social media channels for any chances or updates throughout the weekend.