LOS ANGELES, Calif. --- UC Irvine baseball stumbled in their opener for the NCAA Regional dropping a 4-2 game to Arizona State Friday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
- A tightly-contested game started with pitching setting the tone between Trevor Hansen and Arizona State's Ben Jacobs with shutdown first innings
- The Sun Devils came back with a bang in the second inning getting a leadoff home run by Jacob Tobias and followed that up two batters later with another by Isaiah Jackson to go up early, 2-0
- The Anteaters made a solid response in the bottom half waiting until there was two outs to get going
- James Castagnola drew a walk to bring up Alonso Reyes
- The designated hitter belted a shot to straightaway center field hitting the fence for a double and driving home Castagnola for a 2-1 game
- Frankie Carney followed with a high-hopper reaching first on a low throw, and the ball skipped away from the first baseman allowing Reyes to score and tie the game, 2-2
- The story of the game was the missed opportunities as the 'Eaters would later that inning load the bases, but could not find the big hit as Anthony Martinez hit a ball to the warning track for the third out
- ASU got the lead back in the fourth inning slipped a pair of opposite-field doubles inside the third base line to up 3-2. Trevor Hansen found his rhythm keeping that baserunner on the basepaths with help from a couple strikeouts
- The 'Eater bats were stymied the rest of the way. UCI got the first two runners on base in the fifth using a sacrifice to put both in scoring position, but a strikeout and flyout left them on base. The same happened in the seventh inning, and after a stolen base loaded the bases, this time a groundball double play thwarted the chance with the 'Eaters trailing 4-2 now
- The last gasp in the ninth inning began with a Will Bermudez double inside the third base line bringing the tying run to the plate. A strikeout and flyout would end the game, 4-2, and send the Anteaters to the loser's bracket and elimination game Saturday.
- Trevor Hansen on the mound struck out eight as he threw his ninth quality start of the season, but in the end his record drops to 9-3 on the year.
- Five different Anteater hitters reached twice in the game with Castagnola and Reyes each coming around to score
- Will Bermudez had the lone two-hit game for the Anteaters out of the team's five hits
The season hangs on Saturday's elimination matchup at 12:00 p.m. taking on 4-seed Fresno State.
Riley Kelly takes the mound for the 'Eaters against the Bulldogs' Aidan Cremarosa. A win sends the Anteaters to Sunday for a 3:00 p.m. matchup and extending their 2025 season.
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