SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. --- UC Irvine baseball spotted Cal Poly five runs Saturday at Baggett Stadium, but chipped away with nine straight runs to come back and tie the series up with a 9-7 win.

Following a tough defeat last night, UCI (13-6, 2-3) was staring at another rough game Saturday trailing 5-0 after two innings. Starter Nick Pinto was walking the tightrope with two outs and the bases loaded before walking in a run and going down, 1-0. The next batter, Jake Steels, really made it hurt by hooking a grand slam around the foul pole for a 5-0 Cal Poly (5-14, 2-3) lead.

The Anteater offense was up to the task this day getting on the board with a Will Bermudez RBI single in the third to trail 5-1. Bermudez was back in the fifth with a sac fly to draw another run closer. Caden Kendle kept the momentum going with an RBI on an infield single to put the Anteaters down 5-3 now, and Anthony Martinez provided the big blow with a two-run shot out to right field to tie things up, 5-5, in the fifth.

UCI's bats were still in motion in the sixth getting runners on for Jacob Stinson to arrive as a pinch-hitter and knock a sacrifice fly for the first Anteater lead of the game, 6-5. The seventh with proceed in a similar manner with hits to load the bases only for Chase Call to force in the seventh run on a walk, Thomas McCaffrey to pinch-hit another sacrifice fly, and Stinson again manufacturing the ninth run on a bases loaded walk to make it nine runs in a row plated by the Anteaters.

FINAL SCORE: UC IRVINE 9, CAL POLY 7
The Mustangs were frisky scoring twice in the bottom of the seventh to close the gap, and brought the tying run to the plate in each of the final three frames but were denied as UCI completed the victory, 9-7.

"To be down 5-0 and come back and win, it showed the fight and resiliency, and I'm really proud of that," lauded Anteater head coach Ben Orloff after the game. "When you lose how you do yesterday and go down five in the second, it's easy to quit and not come back."

A bunch of different players were responsible for the 'Eaters biggest comeback win of the season. The 'Eaters had four runs with two outs and five runs scoring without a hit including a second straight Saturday game with three sacrifice flies. Anthony Martinez tied the team high with his fifth home run while scoring and driving in a pair. Caden Kendle joined him with a two-hit game and scoring twice. Other two-RBI days came from Bermudez and Jacob Stinson who did it without a hit. Freshman Auggie Gutierrez first his first appearance in the starting lineup and was productive with a hit, a run, a sac bunt, and reaching on a hit by pitch.

"Gutierrez has been really good since school started. Injuries gave him a lot of opportunities and he's played well; he's consistent, he's smart, he keeps getting better and I felt like we needed a little bit of a spark. We saw it today, made some good plays, got down a sac bunt, hit by a pitch, good two-strike at-bats. He's a very steady, good player especially for a freshman."

The pitching should not be left out of the effort with Nick Pinto earning a hard-fought victory lasting five innings to go to 3-0. Despite the bad inning, he limited Cal Poly to three hits and struck out a pair to give UCI some length, and behind him, Danny Suarez got four outs with Max Martin and Sean Higgins bridging the gap to Jacob King for the four-out save and his fourth save of the season.

"Pinto battled through again while pitching without his best stuff. He went five and gave us a chance to win, Suarez was really good in the sixth, Higgins came in and limited the damage, and King closed it out and was really good."

UCI is back in the win column and will look to keep the trend going Sunday with a series victory on the line. Andre Antone will get the ball for the start with the Mustang pitcher yet to be determined.