IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine baseball came out on top in a tight battle with CSUN Thursday night in Anteater Ballpark coming from behind and holding on late to win, 5-2.
- The teams were fairly, evenly-matched through the first half of the ballgame getting there in different ways
- The visiting Matadors got hits in each of the first five innings and multiple baserunners for many of them, but managed just two runs with a second-inning single and fifth-inning double while leaving a runner on base in each frame against UCI starter, Nick Pinto
- The Anteaters managed one total hit in the first five innings which came on their first hitter of the night, and managed a run in the second to tie things up, 1-1, from a walk, hit batsman, sac bunt, and sac fly
- In 2-1 ballgame in the sixth, the game would turn on one swing
- The 'Eaters were trailing and CSUN starter Kenji Pallares had sat down 14 consecutive hitters getting the first two outs of the inning
- Caden Kendle turned on a 2-0 pitch and launching it well over the left field wall to suddenly tie the game, 2-2, and breathe life back into the Anteaters
- A walk followed by a Dub Gleed double kept the rally going before a balk from Pallares forced home the go-ahead run and UCI's first lead of the game, 3-2
- Ricky Ojeda, who came on in the top half of the sixth, was lights-out extending his scoreless inning streak to 17.2 innings with three more Thursday
- Ojeda struck out five of the 11 hitters he faced, and even struck out the first two hitters he faced to extend a streak of 10 consecutive hitters he struck out dating back to the Cal State Fullerton series
- Ojeda was rewarded with the win to improve to 5-1, and Ricky Tibbett followed that with a 1-2-3 ninth inning to pick up his ninth save of the season
- The 'Eaters offense found a way with just six hits on the night and only two of them scoring runs
- Kendle's home run was his first at home this season and 16th of his career
- Gleed had the only two-hit night for UCI with a double and a two-run single with two outs in the eighth to extend the team's lead. It came one batter after a brilliant 3-2-3 double play for CSUN in a bases loaded, 0-out situation
- Notably on the defensive side, Luke Spillane came in to play center field in the eighth inning; his first action since an ACL injury in late March at Hawai'i and 190th career game for the fifth-year Anteater
- The win was notable for head coach Ben Orloff as No. 200 in his career. He won his 100th game in his 149th career game coaching, and it took just 145 more games to reach the next milestone
The series continues Friday with a 6:00 p.m. start and a pair of freshmen squaring off - UCI's
Trevor Hansen and CSUN's Ryan Halamicek.
Postgame Thoughts
Caden Kendle - "Going into that at-bat, I was just thinking be aggressive, get a good pitch, try and start something. We always find a way to win. I feel like we're never out of any game. We're never out of it, we always know and have the belief and confidence in the team."
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