IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine baseball closed out a tight Friday night win over San Diego State to open the weekend in Anteater Ballpark, 4-3.
- Pitching reigned supreme on the evening as the pair of starters each threw over 110 pitches going deep into the game
- Nick Pinto struck 11 batters over 7.2 innings to guide the Anteaters. It's his fourth game with 10+ strikeouts in his career and one off a career high
- SDSU starter Jacob Riordan bent but did not break going six innings letting in just four runs despite five walks and four hit batsmen
- Ricky Tibbett was called upon to face his former team. He entered with two on and a one-run lead in the eighth and proceeded to get the game's final four outs on just five pitches for his seventh save of the season
- The Anteater bats gave Pinto and the arms some cushion early with two runs in the second inning on a Chase Call RBI double and James Castagnola sac fly
- Two more runs came home in the fourth as the Anteaters got three straight two-out hits with runs coming home on Caden Kendle's and Myles Smith's to make it a 4-0 lead
- A key moment in the game came in the eighth inning as Pinto was sailing along and seemed to have the final out of the frame on a spectacular diving play by Will Bermudez and tag at first by Anthony Martinez
- With both teams in the dugout, the umpires conversed and decided to reverse the call and the runner safe as the teams returned to the field. Pinto's night ended after that giving way to Nick Rincover
- The Aztecs took advantage with three straight hits and putting two runs across the plate to close it to a 4-3 ballgame
The win gets the 'Eaters back in the right direction after having lost two straight and five of their last seven. The series continues at San Diego State's place on Saturday with a 6:00 p.m. first pitch and
Trevor Hansen on the mound against SDSU's Omar Serrano.
Postgame Thoughts from Nick Pinto
"I felt good tonight. Just constant mix; I was throwing the whole kitchen sink at them tonight. I've just been throwing everything for strikes."
"Towards the end, I'm definitely thinking about the strikeouts. At the beginning I'm just trying to get outs."
"I've been here for a while now, I think the coaches trust me. I'm honest with them. If they asked me if I'm good, I'm good. 99% of the time I'm going to fight for another inning."
"It was great to see the guys on defense laying it all out there for me. It's really cool."
"Ricky is ice cold. We're not worried about Ricky when he goe sout there. We know he's going to throw his best and get us out of there."
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