IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine baseball nudged out the visiting San Diego Toreros in a pitching duel Tuesday night, 3-2, to hang their sixth win on the end of a nine-game homestand in Anteater Ballpark.
Hits were hard to come by on the night with four each from each team as 14 pitchers between the two squads commanded the show.
The first lead went to San Diego (14-16-1, 7-5) from their power hitter Kevin Sim going the other way for a home run to leadoff the second inning and go up, 1-0.
The Anteaters (19-10, 5-7) would answer in the third inning with
Luke Spillane back after missing the weekend with an illness sparking the offense with a one-out double.
Thomas McCaffrey would continue his tear of late singling him home to make it 1-1.
Â
Another Torero long ball would swing the lead back to the visitors as Angelo Peraza belted a shot to left field to make it 2-1 USD with two outs in the sixth. UCI joined the laser show with a home run in the bottom half of the frame from
Anthony Martinez to deep right-center to knot the score back up at 2-2.
Â
The bullpens continued to joust with scoreless sevenths and a spotless eighth from
Tanner Brooks. Spillane was back in the mix in the bottom half of the inning with a leadoff walk. After getting into scoring position on a wild pitch, the next two Anteaters would get outs leaving it back up to Martinez who shot a ball up and over the second baseman for the game-winning RBI.
Â
Jacob King was lights-out on 10 pitches in the ninth to close things out for the 3-2 Anteater victory.
Â
The six Anteater pitchers came together for a gritty Tuesday night effort. Brooks took home the win, his first of the season, as 1 of 5 'Eaters to strikeout multiple Toreros. King posted the save for his fifth of the year.
Nick Rincover retired all four hitters he faced to help with the three hitless frames to end it, and
Finnegan Wall held things together with three hitless innings and three strikeouts as the most effective arm of the night.
"I felt good and just trying to get used to coming out early in games," Wall said after following starter
Andre Antone who set the tone with a couple strikeouts in two innings. "Games like this are huge, especially against good teams like USD. We're really starting to feel connected and getting going, and I think this is a good addition to that to keep the wheels rolling."
The 'Eaters have won two straight, finish their nine-game homestand 6-3, and also improved to 5-1 in midweek matchups on top of their 14-3 mark against schools outside the Big West.
The offense tonight was timely with four hits that all helped to score or drive in a run in the game. Martinez overtook the team lead in home runs with his sixth and drove in a pair. Spillane's first game back saw him score twice from a double and a walk out of the nine-hole, and McCaffrey knocked in his 10th RBI in the last three games.
"I never got away from my approach, didn't want to change anything and just stick with it," Martinez said of his night rebounding from a hitless Saturday. Even after his home run help jump-start him, the approach was still consistent and effective. "I'm not trying to get too biig, especially after hitting it over the fence. It's hard to lock back in, but I knew that all we needed was a base hit and I got it done perfectly."
The squad enters the second half of their season with a win to put them at 19-10 overall, and looks to change their standing in the Big West with a pivotal series at preseason favorite UC Santa Barbara this weekend and the Anteaters entering the series in in eighth place in one of the top conferences in the nation.
