IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine baseball had it clicking in all facets to open the 2024 season Friday night in Anteater Ballpark to the tune of a 14-2 win over North Dakota State.
- Every Anteater in the lineup had a hit and a run scored in a balanced offensive output
- Caden Kendle's two-strike, two-out RBI single punctuated a two-run first inning; he would go on to reach in all five plate appearances
- The 'Eaters built up a 6-0 lead after three innings scoring runs on a balk, a wild pitch, and scoring four times with two outs
- The Bison scored twice stringing together three bloop singles and two walks in the fourth inning to draw within 6-2
- Nick Pinto picked up two of his six strikeouts with the bases loaded in the fourth inning to stifle the NDSU rally
- Myles Smith pounded a booming double off the right-center field wall to score two and push the lead back to six runs
- Thomas McCaffrey put a stamp on the night with a grand slam in the eighth inning finishing with a game-high five RBIs
- The Anteaters are 5-1 on Opening Day under head coach Ben Orloff
- Pinto picked up his 18th career win in his 47th career start, most among active DI players; his six strikeouts moved him from 10th to a tie for seventh in UCI history with 241 in his career, level with Justin Cassel
- Kendle extended streaks of 12 straight home games with a hit, 17 straight games with a run scored, and 44 consecutive games on base
- NDSU pitcher Parker Puetz left the game in the second inning with an injury
- Three Anteaters made their collegiate debuts Friday - second-year pitcher Ryder Brooks recorded 0.2 innings, second-year infielder James Castagnola was a defensive replacement in the ninth, and freshman Ricky Ojeda pitched a perfect ninth inning including his first two career strikeouts
- Woody Hadeen returned from an injury that caused him to miss the entire 2023 season singling in his first at-bat and finishing 2-for-4 with an RBI, two runs, and a stolen base
The teams are back Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. first pitch in game two of the three-game series. Sophomore
Riley Kelly takes the mound against first-year Bison Logan Knight. Action can be seen on ESPN+ and on radio at KUCI 88.9 FM.
Postgame Thoughts from Caden Kendle
"Definitely a complete game, firing on all cylinders. Pinto right out of the gate does really good, got in a little jam but kept his head up and kept going. Our offense had no let-up at all, one through nine had a bunch of good at-bats, a bunch of big-time performances. It sealed the deal with McCaffrey hit that grand slam, but everyone one through nine did really good."
"Opening night, the emotions are high, the pitcher balks in a run, he gets me down 0-2, I just did a good job with two strikes to go the other way, and I was pumped to drive in a run and pumped for the team."
Â
Â
