RIVERSIDE, Calif. --- UC Irvine baseball had another big offensive day in a 15-7 victory over UC Riverside, but the defense up the middle stole the show at Riverside Sports Complex Saturday night.
- UC Irvine tied a program record turning five double plays Saturday night with all five started up the middle with Woody Hadeen and Will Bermudez
- The first came with two on and nobody out in the third inning of a 2-0 ballgame as Bermudez fed Hadeen for the first two outs of the frame
- After the offense opened it up to a 9-0 lead, UC Riverside answered with a two-run home run in the fourth, and after putting another runner on base, Bermudez again fed Hadeen to end the inning leading by seven
- A third straight inning saw Bermudez feed Hadeen for the first two outs, and despite the next two reaching, Trevor Hansen closed out the fifth inning with UCI now up 13-2
- UCR got a run in the eighth to cut it to 15-5, but after a walk Hadeen started the spectacular twin killing to end the threat and the inning
- The game ended on the fifth double play, another web gem started on a dive up the middle by Hadeen after the Highlanders had driven a couple in, but Anthony Martinez squeezed it for the final out as he did for all five double plays and sew up the 15-7 win
- The feat had only happened once prior in program history back on March 26, 1983 when the 'Eaters turned five in a game they won, 10-9, over San Diego
- With all the sparkling defense in the game, the offense put up 15 runs on 13 hits for a second straight game
- All nine Anteaters scored a run and seven added a hit and an RBI including each of the first six hitters in the order
- Myles Smith had just one hit, but he left the building for the third time in the series accounting for three RBIs as part of UCI's 7-run fourth inning
- Caden Kendle scored three runs to lead all players and added a double of his two hits
- Dub Gleed returned to form with a double among his three hits and three RBIs
- Bermudez also had three hits including a triple that plated his two RBIs
- Among all the baserunners were seven hit batsmen, just the fourth instance of that in program history and one off the record that was set earlier this year of eight at Tulane
- Abraham Garcia-Pacheco tied a record with three of those HBPs and scored twice. He's the fifth Anteater to register that in a single game
- The pitching side saw Trevor Hansen get through five innings for his fifth win of the year helped by three of the double plays
The final game of the weekend series will start at 1:00 p.m. Sunday, April 28, with a freshman matchup on the mound between
Brandon Luu and Noah Andrunas
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