SACRAMENTO, Calif. --- UC Irvine baseball played a doubleheader Saturday on Valentine's Day winning 7-3 and 6-2 to finish the series sweep over Sacramento State at John Smith Field.
Game 1: UC Irvine 7, Sacramento State 3
- The sides put up a similar game to Friday night's that was scoreless through six innings.
- Ricky Ojeda followed yesterday's 16-strikeout performance from Trevor Hansen and Ryder Brooks by striking out eight of his own in his first career weekend start.
- Two of those were crucial in the first inning getting through the frame after putting two on base from a double and hit by pitch
- He allowed one baserunner and issued one strikeout in each of the second, third, fourth, and fifth innings, and he finished it off with a 1-2-3 sixth inning striking out two more
- Kurt Marton on the other side was shutting down the Anteater bats allowing two hits with six strikeouts before he was relieved
- UC Irvine got on the scoreboard in the seventh against the bullpen from an RBI groundout by Noah Alvarez
- The eighth inning separated things with six runs for the Anteaters
- After an out on the first hitter, the 'Eaters got two hits and two hit by pitches highlighted by an Alonso Reyes RBI single to make it 2-0
- Rowan Felsch's sac fly pushing things to 3-0
- Now with two outs, UCI continued to string things together with RBI singles by Tommy Farmer and Efren Ortega for their first UCI RBIs and bases loaded walks by Landon Gaz and Zach Doyle to make it to 7-0
- Tim Grack was cruising along in his first appearance since 2024 returning the first eight hitters he faced striking out three
- The Hornets got on the board for the first time on the weekend with a double and three walks to make it 7-1
- Hunter Manning was called upon in his collegiate debut and allowed two more unearned runs on an error, but collected the final out for the 7-3 win
- Ojeda picked up his first career quality start along with a career high eight strikeouts in his first weekend start
- The win he picked up was the 20th of his career
- Seven different Anteaters had the seven RBIs on the day. Alonso Reyes was the only 'Eater to score multiple runs, and he and Frankie Carney each had the only two-hit games
- Two more Anteaters made their collegiate debuts in Hunter Manning picking up the final out and Zach Doyle who pinch-ran and later hit in the eighth inning picking up his first career RBI
Game 2: UC Irvine 6, Sacramento State 2
- The second half of the doubleheader featured two 'Eaters making their first career starts and one of those starters among the two 'Eaters that made their collegiate debuts and two others making Anteater debuts
- Cade Castles was on the mound for UCI as a freshman striking out one in a scoreless first inning
- Sac State jumped on him for two runs in the second inning gaining their first lead of the weekend, 2-0
- UCI got back into it in the third inning loading the bases on walks and getting two runs in on a two-out error on a Frankie Carney grounder to tie it at 2-2
- The bullpens came in with Dane Grant making his collegiate debut in the third and put up 1.1 innings of scoreless ball with two strikeouts
- Finnegan Wall made an appearance in the fourth inning and held things down for 2.2 scoreless innings while the offense took over
- UCI gained the first lead of the game in the sixth
- Zach Fjelstad led off with a double later scoring after a Frankie Carney sacrifice and Alonso Reyes RBI single to lead, 3-2
- The lead doubled in the eighth inning as Tommy Farmer drove in a run on a sac fly, 4-2
- UCI put things out of reach in the ninth after the first two hitters reached on free passes and later came around on a wild pitch and then Zach Doyle's first career hit for a 6-2 lead
- Peyton Rodgers came in for Wall in the seventh in his Anteater debut and put together a gritty save
- He got fantastic defense from Farmer with a diving catch stranding a runner to finish out the seventh
- With the tying runners in scoring position in the eighth, Rodgers got his first Anteater strikeout looking to end the frame
- Rodgers got the Hornets in order in the ninth for the save and a 6-2 win
- Finnegan Wall claimed the win for the third of his career and first since 2023
- Rodgers collected his first Anteater save after four in his freshman season at San Diego State
- Anteater debuts including two freshmen, Cade Castles (2.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, BB, K) in his first career start, and Dane Grant (1.1 IP, BB, 2 K).
- Auggie Gutierrez got the start reaching twice and scoring a run in his first appearance since 2024 after missing 2025 with an injury
- Connor Dietsch made his UCI and Division I debut off the bench. The catcher walked and scored a run in his only plate appearance
UCI finishes its opening weekend 3-0 as they head back home for the next six games. Home opener is scheduled for Tuesday night, February 17, taking on San Diego State at 6:00 p.m.
Postgame Thoughts from head coach Ben Orloff
Overall thoughts on Game 1 win: "Game one was really similar to last night where you get really good pitching, zero margin for error, you get to the bullpen and get a big inning, and pitched it good late in that game. Tim Grack was really good, first time in a game since May 2024 and for 2+ he was really, really good. Hunter Manning making his first ever appearance bases loaded facing their top two guys and he was able to get those two allowed us to have Peyton Rodgers for eight outs in game two. I don't know if we win game two if Manning doesn't do what he does in game one."
Overall thoughts on Game 2 win: "It's hard to win and Sac State is a good team and there's a reason they've won 30 games 12 of the last 13 years. Win on the road, sweep the series and doubleheader, there's a lot for us to feel good about. The hits might not reflect it but I thought we did a lot better offensively. The discipline showed up just with the free base, generating some traffic on the bases without getting a hit, and then we were so fresh out of the bullpen because of the starting pitching the first two. It was cool to see Doyle get his first college hit to drive in a run, Dane Grant in his first college appearance in a big spot, Finnegan Wall was really good, and then Peyton Rodgers, Tommy Farmer's defense, he made three or four really good plays. Overall, really happy with how we played in week one, to go on the road and win three at Sac State, really good."
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