DAVIS, Calif. --- UC Irvine baseball entered the weekend with a razor-thin margin for error with their postseason chances, and handled business in the series opener at UC Davis and Dobbins Stadium 10-5.
UC Irvine (33-17, 14-11) got on the board in the first inning with
Caden Kendle doubling and coming around on
Anthony Martinez's RBI single. UC Davis (17-32, 7-18) acted fast with a run in the bottom half of the first to even things at 1-1.
Michael Stanford found his groove for a third straight start holding UC Davis back for five innings and scattered their eight hits which included leadoff runners reaching in five hits and hits in four of those.
The offense cooked up a pair of big innings to create separation from the host Aggies starting in the third inning as a dropped fly ball off the bat of
Jo Oyama helped get the lead back, and RBI doubles by Kendle and
Dub Gleed put the 'Eaters up, 4-1.
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In a 4-2 game in the fifth, the Anteaters piled runners onto the bases against the Aggie bullpen, and got the inning started with a
Thomas McCaffrey sacrifice fly. With two outs,
Luke Spillane delivered the big blow with a two-run single the other way, and a bases loaded walk to Oyama gave UCI a four-run frame and 8-2 lead.
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UC Davis battled back with runs in the seventh and eighth innings against the 'Eater bullpen, but
Jacob King shut everything down inducing a double play on his first pitch with the bases loaded in the eighth, and leaving a couple runners on in the ninth for the save and 10-5 victory.
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"It was big for us to win on a Friday," rejoiced head coach
Ben Orloff. "We scored in the first, we were able to add on, and this is a real tough place to score runs. We're happy that we scored 10, not happy we gave up the 15 hits, but still a good start for the weekend."
UC Irvine was back in double digits for the fourth time in six games.
Caden Kendle paced it with three hits, two of them doubles, an RBI, and three runs scored. Martinez also finished with three hits upping his season average to .411 and an RBI.
Luke Spillane finished with a game-high three RBIs. As a team, UCI entered the game as the nation's leader in sacrifice flies and added three more for 43 including two in the seventh inning for some much-needed insurance.
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Stanford won his third straight start taking the team lead in wins at six. He and King had three of the team's four strikeouts as they sit atop the team with 49 each. King also collected his eighth save of the year and 20th of his career making him the fifth 'Eater to reach the mark all-time.
"Huge to be able to get five from him, set us up to not only win today but put us in position for the rest of the weekend. When it's 10-2 in the eighth, you hate to use King, but this is that time of the year right now; all hands on deck, guys are out there multiple days in a row and multiple innings and he knows that, he'll be good for the rest of the weekend."
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The series rolls on with a 1:00 p.m. first pitch Saturday between
Nick Pinto and Kaden Hogan. UCI remains 14-11 in Big West play, a game back of Hawai'i and CSUN who are tied in fourth.
