SANTA BARBARA, Calif. --- UC Irvine baseball took the lead in the much-anticipated weekend series vs. No. 21 UC Santa Barbara with a 10-0 win Friday night at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.
- The premier pitching matchup that was advertised went that way for four innings as Riley Kelly and top draft prospect Tyler Bremner stymied the offenses scattering baserunners including Kelly who didn't allow his first hit until the fourth
- Kelly kept on his game pitching into the sixth inning for the first time in his career and carrying a shutout with him while striking out six and scattering three hits and two walks
- He was relieved with one on and one out in the sixth for Ricky Ojeda who took his lead. After putting a runner on, he skipped out of trouble in the sixth and put up zeroes the next two innings while striking out six of the eight outs he recorded
- David Butler put the cherry on top with a 1-2-3 ninth inning and a strikeout to end it for the 10-0 victory
- The bats were held up until the fifth when Blake Penso reached base and Colin Yeaman dug in with two outs. He deposited a two-strike changeup out to left-center field to make it 2-0 'Eaters
- UCI found its footing putting together a small rally after the home run to plate a third run in the inning and lead 3-0 from a Chase Call single
- Anthony Martinez had a three-RBI night with a big two-run single in the seventh off of Donovann Jackson who entered with a 0.79 ERA
- The 'Eaters put up five runs in the final two innings to put things out of reach
- Frankie Carney had a pair of opposite-field run-scoring hits, one in each inning, as he returned to the starting lineup
- Blake Penso's RBI single to start the scoring in the ninth completed the lineup giving every starter a hit on the night
- Bermudez added the final run beating out a double play ball to plate Penso
- Yeaman finished with the team-high three hits along with his two runs and two RBIs.
- UCI earned its first shutout of the year and are almost a year to the day from their last shutout, a 1-0, walk-off win over UC Davis on March 15, 2024 - the only shutout UCI posted in 2024
The series turns to Saturday with a 3:05 p.m. first pitch.
Trevor Hansen takes the mound in a sophomore battle with UCSB's Jackson Flora
Postgame Thoughts with head coach Ben Orloff
"We pitched it great. To win on a Friday night against Santa Barbara against a guy like Bremner, you've got to get good pitching. Riley just keeps getting better every week. Ojeda does what we see every week, virtually. Butler is another guy who every time out it feels like he keeps getting better."
"I thought we took pretty good at-bats the whole game against Bremner; that guy's is going to get millions of dollars when all is said and done. Big hit by Yeaman, two-strike changeup home run to open it up a little bit, and to be able to add on, it was a good night for the offense."
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