LOS ANGELES, Calif. --- UC Irvine baseball improved to 7-0 against the Pac-12 while landing its first win over a ranked opponent this season with a 12-4 victory Tuesday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium over No. 22 UCLA.
David Vizcaino was back on the mound and looking like his old self setting the tone with 3.2 shutout innings out of the gate.
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The offense found a way to support him with a pair of early runs.
Myles Smith's infield single got the second inning started, and he would then swipe second and third base before
Luke Spillane knocked him in with a sacrifice fly for the 1-0 lead.
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In the fourth inning, again an infield single led the way as
Thomas McCaffrey reached. A pair of hit batters allowed
Caden Kendle to drive him home with a bases loaded walk to make it 2-0 Anteaters through four.
The game swung in the fifth inning as the Anteaters busted the game open with an eight-run frame. UCI (22-11, 7-8) got help from three more infield singles that all drove in runs off the bats of Spillane, Kendle, and
Dub Gleed.
Jo Oyama had the crushing blow with an extra-base hit down the left field line to clear the bases and put UCI up nine.
Anthony Martinez capped the inning with an RBI single to center, one of the five two-strike hits in the inning.
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"Really good offense to get 12 runs on 13 hits and a little bit of everything," praised head coach
Ben Orloff. "Stolen bases, a lot of two-strike production which was key in the eight-run inning, but to score eight you've got to string a lot of good at-bats together."
UCLA (21-11-1, 8-5-1) put up a response with a pair of runs in the sixth inning, but
Cameron Wheeler helped minimize the damage as part of his three shutout innings, and the offense responded getting those runs back in the eighth for the eventual 12-4 win.
Every Anteater starter scored a run on the night with eight producing hits and seven registering RBIs.
Anthony Martinez led all with three hits and scored twice with McCaffrey and Smith. Smith stole two of the team's four bases in the game. Oyama had the big three-RBI hit to lead all players in runs batted in and the only extra-base hit in the 13-hit performance.
Pitching again was led by Vizcaino with 3.2 shutout innings and his fourth win of the year. Wheeler allowed one baserunner in three pivotal middle innings as five arms held the 22nd-ranked Bruins to four runs.
"We had two many three-ball counts today and flirted with danger that we were able to avoid, but on a Tuesday night, you throw five guys, give up four runs, that gave us more than a chance to win, and we played some really good defense behind them as well."
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The win is another feather in the cap for the 'Eaters who improve to 15-3 in non-conference matchups this year highlighted by a 7-0 mark against the Pac-12. The win over No. 22 UCLA is the first against a ranked opponent in 2023, and UCI is now 5-5 against UCLA over the last 10, all with the Bruins ranked, including three in a row.
"Good win for us and an important one to go on the road and play UCLA who is ranked, has a good RPI, is going to be a postseason team; so it's good for us to win and a lot of good performances by a bunch of different guys."
The win starts a big non-conference week as the 'Eaters go from Pac-12 on Tuesday to welcoming in Big 12 school, Kansas State, to Cicerone Field for the final non-conference series of the regular season. The Anteaters look to exact a measure of revenge after losing two of three at the Wildcats' yard a year ago. The series gets going Friday night at 6:00 p.m. with starters yet to be named for either side.
