SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. --- UC Irvine baseball got another big-time performance from their sophomore righty in a 4-0 win over Cal Poly Saturday afternoon at Baggett Stadium to sew up another Big West series win.
- Trevor Hansen was marvelous once again putting up zeroes into the eighth inning for his third straight quality start and sixth of the season
- The Mustangs put the pressure on early with runners on base in each of the first five innings, but Hansen was able to sidestep them each inning
- Cal Poly got two into scoring position with one out in the second inning, but a strikeout followed by a groundout negated the threat
- They had a runner on third again in the third inning, but again he left the inning with a zero helped by a diving play up the line by third baseman James Castagnola
- Hansen needed just six strikeouts on the afternoon punching out two in the fifth and adding single strikeouts in the sixth and seventh
- He got the first two out in the eighth before a walk on his 111th pitch before David Butler came on to get the final out and finish off the ninth to win, 4-0
- UC Irvine's offense put it all together when it counted as they were up against a tough customer in Josh Volmerding who struck out 11 without issuing a walk
- The 'Eaters got runners on in each of the first two innings including the leadoff man both times, but were unable to build off of it
- The fourth inning made all the difference on Saturday starting with a hit by pitch
- A pair of strikeouts put Cal Poly back in control, but a second hit by pitch set the table
- With two outs, Blake Penso peppered a shot through the middle to score a run and break the tie, 1-0
- Landon Gaz had his biggest hit of the season following with a double into the alley to score two more and complete the big inning to lead, 3-0
- UC Irvine was stymied most the rest of the way with hits scattered through the next three innings
- A one-out walk from Chase Call in the eighth eventually led to UCI's fourth run on a James Castaganola sacrifice fly
- Anthony Martinez kept things moving with a three-hit day, and Jacob McCombs had two of UCI's eight hits and scored a run
- Trevor Hansen improved to 7-0 on the season and has shutout opponents over his last 21.1 innings
- After recording the first shutout of the season on March 21, UCI has added four more in the month of April and have three in its last five games
- The win puts three games between UCI and Cal Poly at the top of the Big West standings as the 'Eaters go to 18-2. Overall, UCI stands at 31-9 and have won 10 of 11 weekends on the year
The series concludes Sunday at 1:00 p.m. between the teams at Baggett Stadium with Big West ground at stake.
Ryder Brooks takes the mound for the 'Eaters against Cal Poly's Ethan Marmie.
Postgame Thoughts from head coach Ben Orloff on his birthday
"Hansen was great; he takes a shutout through 7.2 innings really without his best stuff especially early in the game. That's really the competitor that he is, he's always going to give us a chance to win even without his "A" stuff. He goes 7.2 IP shutout, and we played really good defense again - big ball in dirt by Penso, James the diving play, outs on bunts, good performance by Trevor."
"I thought Volmerding was tough, he threw the ball really well. We did a good job in that third inning when we scored three runs on two hits - two hit by pitches and he had given up 12 coming into the game so we thought it could play a role. Penso with a two-out, two-strike hit, and then Gaz doesn't have a lot of at-bats, but we trust him and that's why he's in there on a Saturday against Cal Poly, and the big double for that three-run inning was huge."
"We're playing well, we know that Cal Poly is good and it's been a competitive series to this point; two really good games. We just want to come out and keep putting up good performances."
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