IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine baseball rallied for a second straight game with a ninth-inning comeback and extra-inning walkoff to drop San Diego State, 7-6, at Anteater Ballpark.
- Just like Saturday night, the 'Eaters entered the ninth inning trailing 6-3 to the Aztecs
- The first three Anteaters reached from a Will Bermudez single, Chase Call RBI double, and a hit by pitch of Abraham Garcia-Pacheco
- Woody Hadeen put down a successful sacrifice bunt, but the Aztecs did not cover first base to load the bases still with nobody out
- UCI drew within one on a groundout by Jo Oyama and then an intentional walk to Caden Kendle loaded the bases back up
- The tying run came home from a deep sacrifice fly to make it a 6-6 game and send it to extra innings
- A 1-2-3 top of the 10th by Ricky Tibbett got the Anteaters back to the plate
- A Thomas McCaffrey leadoff single started things off and he was moved over by a Will Bermudez sacrifice
- Another intentional walk was followed by a flyout to make it two outs
- Woody Hadeen drew a walk to reach for the seventh time on the game bringing up Jo Oyama who launched his first hit of the game up over the center fielder for the winning run
- The 'Eaters complete the improbable sweep with a pair of ninth-inning comebacks to get to 28 wins on the season and secure another winning season, something head coach Ben Orloff has achieved in all six of his seasons now
- Orloff also reached a significant milestone with his 186th career win. He moves to second place in UC Irvine head coaching history surpassing the legend Gary Adams who won 185 games in his five seasons while taking home two Division II national titles
- The visitors again took the early lead with a run in the first inning and held leads of 2-0 and 6-1 into the seventh inning
- The offensive contributors began with Thomas McCaffrey with three hits including a double and two runs.
- Oyama and Call each drove in two runs and added a hit.
- Myles Smith and Will Bermudez had two hits, a run, and an RBI each
- Hadeen became the second Anteater to reach seven times in a game with a hit, three walks, two hit by pitch, and the fielder's choice on his sacrifice
- Anteater pitching held things together down the stretch with Nick Rincover picking up two strikeouts. Max Martin patched things for the eighth and ninth innings shutting out the Aztecs with three strikeouts
- Ricky Tibbett came on for a scoreless 10th and registered the win, his second of the year, to go along with two saves in the three games against his former program
- The defense made some huge plays to keep more runs from coming across. A first inning outfield assist at home plate cut down an SDSU rally from Chase Call. Myles Smith denied extra bases with a juggling catch while crashing into the left field wall with a runner on base in the third inning
The Anteaters finish the week with a 28-8 overall record while remaining in a tie for first in the Big West at 11-4. The week ahead sees four road games for UC Irvine starting Tuesday night at UCLA before a three-game series at UC Riverside.
Postgame Thoughts
Head coach Ben Orloff - "Today was something. To get those zeroes in the eighth and ninth to give us a chance and keep it at three is huge. Then that ninth inning to get the first three guys to reach, Woody gets down a two-strike sacrifice, and just like last night it takes seven or eight guys to do that in the ninth inning so that's fun."
"I hope that this highlights Gary Adams and what he started with this program; they won two Division II national championships, then he went to UCLA for 30 years and so to be associated with Gary Adams and coaching in anything is a really cool thing."
Jo Oyama - "That was awesome. The guys before me kept having good at-bats so I just try to do my job and try and put the ball anywhere and hopefully something happened and I get that walk-off, it felt good."
"That was my first time ever in my life doing that. I was so excited, I don't remember anything from that moment, but it's so great."
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