BAKERSFIELD, Calif. --- UC Irvine baseball earned a series victory with a 7-3 win over Cal State Bakersfield Saturday at Hardt Field.
- Tonight's matchup started the same with a scoreless first inning, but Saturday's starters took the game in a different direction with scoreless second and third innings as well allowing one total hit
- The offense took the lead first starting in the fourth inning
- The first two hitters reached and were put into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt
- Blake Penso stepped up and just the right time shooting a single through the middle to score both and go ahead, 2-0
- UCI built on the lead in the fifth inning all with two outs
- Jacob McCombs got a hold of one for his ninth home run of the year for a 3-0 lead
- The bats restarted with an Alonso Reyes double that would come across on Rowan Felsch's single and a 4-0 advantage
- Cal State Bakersfield woke up in a hurry in the fifth finally cracking 'Eater starter Trevor Hansen
- Three of their first four hitters singled to load the bases before the patient Roadrunner hitters forced in their first two runs on walks, 4-2
- A groundout cut the deficit down to 4-3 before another walk loaded the bases back up
- Hansen dug deep for a big strikeout on his 35th pitch of the inning and 89th pitch of the game to keep the slim, 4-3 lead
- Jack Ross took over for Hansen starting with a six-pitch sixth inning before running into trouble in the seventh
- Max Martin looked to put out the fire with runners on the corners and one out.
- A hit batter to start his outing built the tension, but he found his groove with a strikeout and fielded a popup for the third out to escape the jam
- UCI's bats couldn't get any insurance putting a runner on base over the next three innings, but nothing around, but in the ninth inning they got the breathing room
- A single, groundout, intentional walk, and walk gave them a bases loaded opportunity with one out
- Felsch came through for the first big insurance run on a groundout to make it 5-3
- Penso reared his head once more flipping a double just in front of a diving outfielder to score two more for a three-run frame and lead, 7-3
- Martin closed out the game with two of his five strikeouts in a flawless ninth inning completed by a spectacular play up the middle by Will Bermudez to earn the save and win
- Hansen hung tough for the win despite five walks in five innings, but improved to 8-1
- Ross earned his first hold of the season in 1.1 scoreless innings
- Martin got his 11th save of 2025 from 2.2 innings allowing just one baserunner and retiring the final eight he faced
- The offense ran mostly through a pair of Anteaters led by Blake Penso's two hits and four RBIs giving him 10 through the first two games of the series
- McCombs backed up a four-hit game with two more including the homer, an RBI, and three more runs scored
- Reyes reached three times including a pair of doubles and scored twice
- Felsch had two timely RBIs on the night
- The win lifts UCI to 37-11 on the year and 22-4 in conference play. The series win is UCI's 11th in 13 weekends.
- Coupled with a Cal Poly loss Saturday, UCI has a chance to clinch at least a share of the Big West title Sunday with a win or Cal Poly loss.
The series finale Sunday is set for 1:00 p.m. first pitch between UCI's
Ryder Brooks and CSUB's Jacob Gutierrez.
Postgame Thoughts from head coach Ben Orloff
"It was a good win, this was a tough win. It was huge in the fourth to score, runs were certainly hard to come by. Trevor was good early, we stayed with him with the belief that he would strikeout Perreira with the bases loaded when it was 4-3 was huge. Jack gave us a chance and got four outs, and Max in a gigantic spot. He hits Cloyd, but then bases loaded one out to get Mascaro and Perreira with a strikeout-popup. James makes a great play in the eighth, Will makes a great play to end the game, and we strung six good at-bats together in the ninth to add on, it was a tough, good win."
"Penso has been clutch. We're not having the year we're having without Blake. We've won a three-run game and a four-run game and he's got 10 RBIs. He's playing great defense behind the plate, but he's who you want up in the clutch right now. Lucky for us he keeps being the guy up there. We're not the team we are without him and it's great to see him have the kind of success he's having because he's probably everybody's favorite teammate, too."
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