IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine baseball began their pivotal series with No. 23 UC Santa Barbara with a decisive 9-3 victory Friday night in Anteater Ballpark.
- Pitching got out to the hot start with three scoreless innings between starters Nick Pinto and Ryan Gallagher scattering a handful of hits
- UCSB struck first with a two-out rally in the fourth inning. Jessada Brown shot a two-out hit through the right side and was followed by a hit, a walk, and finally by Justin Trimble's RBI single to go ahead, 1-0.
- The 'Eaters answered in the bottom of the inning also with two outs. Anthony Martinez got things started with an infield single, and Abraham Garcia-Pacheco made it count placing a double perfectly into the right-center gap to tie the game, 1-1.
- The Gauchos got the lead back in the top of the fifth. An infield single and bunt single to start the inning set things in motion. A pair of force plays eventually got one of the runners around to make it a 2-1 UCSB edge.
- UC Irvine answered in the big way in the bottom of the inning starting with one out
- Woody Hadeen ripped one of his three hits of the night to start the rally
- Jo Oyama's doubled into the corner to bring him in and tie the game, 2-2
- Caden Kendle shot a single on the first pitch following a mound visit through the left side to take the 3-2 lead
- Two walks would load the bases before Will Bermudez made it a 4-2 lead by beating out a double play ball
- A wild pitch helped get Anthony Martinez across home for a four-run inning and a 5-2 lead
- Oyama was back at it in the sixth sending a two-out double into the left field corner this time to score Hadeen and increase the lead to 6-2. He later came home after a passed ball and throwing error on Kendle's grounder to make it a 7-2 score.
- UCSB got a gift unearned run in the seventh to close it to 7-3, but UCI erased any doubts and added two insurance runs in the eighth with Oyama behind it all again tripling home Frankie Carney as UCI put away the 9-3 victory
- Pitching held up its end of the bargain with Nick Pinto at the helm allowing two earned runs in seven innings. He improved to 6-1 on the year scattering seven hits and one walk while striking out six
- The bullpen didn't leave any drama as Nick Rincover and Ricky Tibbett got all six hitters they faced with help from the defense to secure the win
- Oyama paced the offense with three extra-base hits, three RBIs, and three runs scored. He drove in Hadeen twice who had three hits, and Kendle had a hit, a run, and drove in two in a very balanced night for the lineup
The series rages on with the eyes of the nation on it Saturday night as ESPN2 broadcasts the game and first pitch at 5:30 p.m.
Trevor Hansen gets the call for UCI with Mike Gutierrez opposing him for the Gauchos.
Postgame Thoughts
Jo Oyama - "We're just trying to find a way to win with all the guys we have hurting. Just want to go out there and compete. Tonight with the wind, we're trying to communicate well to have our pitchers' backs and I think we did that well."
Nick Rincover - "It feels great to be one of those guys that coach trusts. We're trying to control what we can control, stick to our plan, have good height, be able to come up with the pitches, and trust our defense. Woody really helped us out tonight. And we're just taking it one game at a time. With our struggles last year on the mound, we're trying to do the exact opposite and shorten the game."
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