IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine baseball was finally bested by a Pac-12 Conference foe in the ninth attempt as Arizona came back to beat the 'Eaters, 4-3, Monday night in Anteater Ballpark.
The visiting Wildcats (28-22, 10-17) got things going with the first batter of the game popping a home run over the center field fence for a 1-0 lead. Pitching took center stage for the next four innings as
Andre Antone settled in to strikeout four over three innings and Wildcat lefty Jackson Kent sat down UCI allowing just one hit, a walk, and a hit batter through four.
Luke Spillane got the fifth inning going with a double to start it off, but Arizona's defense cut him down at the plate trying to score on
Will Bermudez's base hit. The Anteaters kept fighting through the inning and got help from a Wildcat error to extend it to
Caden Kendle who turned the game around with a three-run home run around the left field foul pole and put UCI ahead, 3-1.
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UCI's pitching was on top then scattering Arizona hits and shutting them out for a six-inning stretch. The Wildcats clutched up with three consecutive hits in the seventh inning to tie it at 3-3, and then took advantage of a couple soft singles through the infield and aggressive baserunning to find a run and take the lead back, 4-3, in the eighth.
UCI's bats had no answer with just one infield single through the final four frames and coming up short in the 4-3 loss.
The 'Eaters entered the game with an 8-0 record against the Pac-12 that Arizona spoiled Monday night, and also dropped the 'Eaters to 9-2 in midweek matchups this year.
Anteater pitchers struck out 14 Wildcats with the hard-luck loss falling to
Tanner Brooks. UCI's defense made some gems including a wonderful caught stealing to erase the one Anteater error earlier in the sixth inning.
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Kendle's home run highlighted the six-hit effort for UCI as he reached 50 RBIs on the season. "I don't think we did the things that we needed to to be able to win, that really tells the story," Kendle said following the disheartening result for the 'Eaters. "What matters now is playing our best, doing things right, and playing hard in these final six games."
Six games remain on the Anteater slate, all Big West matchups as it heads on the road to UC Davis for three starting May 19. The regular season concludes at home May 25-27 with three against UC Riverside and the 'Eaters still with postseason aspirations in the hunt and on the bubble for an at-large berth and clinging to Big West title life four games back of first place and with five teams to overtake and six games to do it.
