IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine baseball battled Saturday in a tight contest with UC Riverside while celebrating their graduating seniors at Anteater Ballpark to come away with a 7-5 victory.
Prior to the game, eight Anteater graduating seniors were recognized on the field for their Anteater careers -
Jacob King,
Tanner Brooks,
Sean Higgins,
Luke Spillane,
Nick Rincover, NIck Pinto,
Michael Stanford, and
Cameron Wheeler in addition to student managers Austin Carradine and Jake Hamlin.
Caden Kendle took charge of the game in the third inning mashing a home run out to right-center for a 2-0 lead. UCI (38-17, 19-11) would manufacture two more in the fourth after loading the bases to jump out to the 4-0 lead after four.
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UC Riverside (11-41, 5-25) sprang to life in the fifth inning after UCI's first pitching change and greeted
Cooper Robinson rudely with a solo home run. A single and double made it a 4-2 ballgame a couple batters later, and then in the sixth inning they would tie it up at 4-4 after single. double, and groundout started the inning off.
Senior and closer
Jacob King came on in the seventh to try and restore some order, but the Highlanders took him deep to start the frame off the bat of Jacob Badawi to put UCR on top, 5-4, for the first time in the series.
The Anteaters bats responded in the bottom of the seventh getting the first two hitters on base and
Dub Gleed shot a single through the middle plating both of them with help from an error to snag the lead back 6-5. A two-out insurance RBI single in the eighth by
Anthony Martinez pushed the lead to 7-5, and meanwhile
Jacob King found his footing with a little help from the Anteater defense before ending the game on a huge strikeout to strand the tying runs in scoring position for a 7-5 win.
King's senior day efforts earned him his second win of the year and sixth of his career with his three strikeouts over the final three innings. Sixth-year pitcher
Andre Antone threw four important innings as the starter not allowing a hit and picking up four strikeouts along with some solid defense from himself and the fielders behind him to help UCI grab the early lead.
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UCI's team effort with the bats was led by
Dub Gleed's two-hit day knocking home two while credited with one RBI.
Caden Kendle smashed his eighth home run of the season now with one in consecutive games. His two runs gave him 69 on the year which ties the program single-season record held by Taylor Holiday from the 2007 season. Other notable marks was Martinez's 60th RBI making him one of seven Anteaters to record that in a season on his 91st hit of the year.
Chase Call drew his 50th walk of the year which not only leads the Big West but makes him just the fourth Anteater to reach that mark.
"That was a tough one. We haven't played very close games in the last two weeks and really over the whole season, and this one was tough. I think everyone knew the stakes and were playing a little tight and not their best, but we stayed tough with some clutch performances like King and found a way to win."
Head Coach
Ben Orloff's thoughts on the game lead into his UC Irvine's 2023 season which now falls into the hands of the selection committee and the NCAA with the tournament beginning next week and the Selection Show Monday, May 29, at 9:00 a.m. PT on ESPN2. UCI has built a strong resume as it looks for one of the 34 at-large berths.
Overall, the team is 38-17 including the second-best road record in the country at 19-6 to go with 18 home wins. The 'Eaters at 19-11 in the Big West finish in fourth place. With one day remaining in the college baseball regular season and tournament still being played, UC Irvine's RPI is within the top 50 that includes an 8-1 record against Pac-12 foes, 10 wins over Power 5 programs, and 18 wins against the nation's top 100 RPI. Among west coast teams, the 'Eaters are near the top as well with the second-most wins at 38 behind only Oregon State and the second-best winning percentage behind Stanford.
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