UC Irvine
2-2
USC
4-0
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USC | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 1 |
| UC Irvine | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
No. 21 'Eaters Drop Tuesday Game to USC
February 18, 2025 | Baseball
- Finnegan Wall returned to the mound after missing the 2024 season with Tommy John surgery. He settled in after a walk, bloop single, and wild pitch allowed a first-inning run to retire the last five hitters he faced including striking out the side in the second inning for three of his four strikeouts on the night.
- The bats picked him up in the bottom of the first tying things up on a Chase Call double play ball, 1-1
- UCI struggled to capitalize on opportunities leaving the bases loaded in the first and third innings to keep it a 1-1 ballgame
- Colin Yeaman broke the tie in the fourth inning sitting back on a two-strike breaking pitch and doubling it off the left field wall to score Rowan Felsch for a 2-1 Anteater lead
- Both offenses stayed in neutral until the sixth inning when the Trojans were handed a bases-loaded opportunity and did not let it go
- Ryder Brooks came in to start the inning and struck out one hitter, but loaded the bases before being lifted for David Utagawa
- On the first pitch of Utagawa's evening, Trojan Ethan Hedges hit it out for a grand slam to swing the lead back to USC, 5-2.
- The Anteaters offense was unable to respond as USC's freshman arm Grant Govel took over tossing five hitless innings of relief to earn the win and close it out, 5-2.
- Along with Wall, UC Irvine's pitching had bright spots
- Ryan Kysar made his Anteater debut following Wall and tossed three scoreless innings with two strikeouts
- David Butler came on after Utagawa and retired all five hitters he went against striking out a pair
- Brandon Luu made his season debut throwing a 1-2-3 ninth inning
- UCI out-hit USC, 5-4, with two-hit games for Yeaman and James Castagnola. Rowan Felsch made his Division I debut reached twice on walks and scoring a run
- The 'Eaters did draw 1,239 fans Tuesday night, second-largest crowd for a home opener behind only the return to baseball in 2002
Finnegan ?? Wall, he's bacKKKK #EatersGottaEat pic.twitter.com/Oe5h2IV47s
— UCI Baseball (@UCIbsb) February 19, 2025
Kysar wins the battle!! #RipEm pic.twitter.com/zD90WZsaeQ
— UCI Baseball (@UCIbsb) February 19, 2025
Yeaman puts the 'Eaters on top!! #BaseballGold pic.twitter.com/CIw5RKm3ha
— UCI Baseball (@UCIbsb) February 19, 2025
Butler Ks both his guys in the 7th #RipEm pic.twitter.com/ObhlUGPN0P
— UCI Baseball (@UCIbsb) February 19, 2025
McCOOOOMMMMBBBBSSS!! #WebGem @NCAABaseball #EatersGottaEat pic.twitter.com/suKa2Oter1
— UCI Baseball (@UCIbsb) February 19, 2025
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Govel, Grant (1-0)
L: Brooks, Ryder (0-1)
Batting:
HR: Hedges, Ethan 1
RBI: Hedges, Ethan 4
Base Running:
RUNS: Dowd, Brayden 2 ; Lopez, Adrian 1 ; Higgins, Kade 1 ; Hedges, Ethan 1
HBP: Higgins, Kade 1
Batting:
2B: Yeaman, Colin 1
RBI: Yeaman, Colin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bermudez, Will 1 ; Felsch, Rowan 1
SB: Felsch, Rowan 1
HBP: Bermudez, Will 1 ; McCombs, Jacob 1 ; Reyes, Alonso 1
