peyton-rodgers-uci-bsb-2026-sdsu
Samantha Tran
2
San Diego State SDSU 3-1
5
Winner UC Irvine UCI 4-0
San Diego State SDSU
3-1
2
Final
5
UC Irvine UCI
4-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
San Diego State SDSU 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 6 0
UC Irvine UCI 0 0 0 4 0 0 1 0 X 5 10 0

W: Ross, Jack (1-0) L: Alec Belardes (0-1)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Alex Roberts-Croteau

Anteaters Take Home Opener, 5-2, Over SDSU

IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine baseball used a team effort Wednesday night in Anteater Ballpark to score a 5-2 win over San Diego State in the first home game of 2026.
  • Jack Ross took the mound for the midweek start and started strong with two scoreless picking up a strikeout and allowed one baserunner
    • A towering flyball couldn't get hauled in at the right field wall to start the third inning for a triple that later came home on a groundball to put the Aztecs ahead, 1-0
  • The Anteaters struggled to solve SDSU starter Alec Belardes who retired the first seven he faced and got through three innings allowing just two baserunners and racking up four strikeouts
  • The UC Irvine bats came back with a vengeance in the fourth inning
    • UCI got a leadoff triple of their own on a Tommy Farmer shot into the left-center gap one-hopping the wall to start the rally
    • Rowan Felsch tied the game up with a hit to right field, 1-1, and UCI snagged the lead, 2-1, on a passed ball
    • Kai Smith tripled by a diving center fielder to make it a 3-1 game, and he would score on a Noah Alvarez sacrifice fly for a four-run frame
  • Ross ran with that lead pitching into the fifth inning before giving way to Dane Grant
    • Grant tossed a scoreless inning striking out two, and a fellow freshman Hunter Manning followed with three strikeouts over an inning pitched
    • Ryder Brooks added 1.2 inning striking out two and sending UCI to the ninth with a lead
  • The bats added an insurance run with three consecutive singles in the seventh capped by Alonso Reyes shooting one up the middle for an RBI and a 5-1 lead
  • Peyton Rodgers entered in the ninth inning facing his former school
    • He loaded the bases from two singles and a walk with one out before getting a key comebacker that scored a run to make it 5-2
    • With the tying run at the plate, he came through with a strikeouts closing the door on the victory.
UC Irvine 5, San Diego State 2
  • Ross snagged the win in his 2026 debut, his fourth in his Anteater career
    • Pitching totaled 11 strikeouts on the night with one from each pitcher as Grant, Manning, and Brooks each collected a hold
  • UCI's season high 10 hits came from two-hit games by Farmer, Reyes, and Efren Ortega
    • Five different 'Eaters scored a run and four different players drove one in with Felsch and Smith doing both
    • Smith's triple and RBI were both the first of his collegiate career. He was joined by Farmer, Ortega, Alvarez, Manning, Grant, and Rodgers all making their Anteater Ballpark debuts
    • Farmer stole third base making him 3-for-3 this season, and Alonso Reyes stole his first UCI base
  • The Anteaters have now won seven straight in the series with SDSU dating back to 2020
  • UCI has won despite giving up the first runs of the game for each of the last two contests
  • For the first time, Anteater Ballpark featured video replay reviews and two challenges were issued, both in the seventh inning
    • Efren Ortega appeared to back-pick Jabin Trosky for the first out of the top of the seventh, but the play was challenged by SDSU and reversed to safe leaving Trosky on base
    • The final out of the inning was a grounder to Alonso Reyes flipped to Ryder Brooks for the bang-bang out. SDSU also challenged the call, but it was confirmed an out
    • A total of 5:03 was used total for the two reviews
UCI begins their season-long six-game homestand with a win as they prepare for the weekend series against California starting Friday, February 20 at 6:00 p.m.

 
 
 
 
 
 


 

 
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