UC Irvine Edges Past Hawaii, 5-4
Feb. 21, 2009
HONOLULU, HI --- Catcher Francis Larson was 3 for 4 with two RBI and two runs scored and fell a single shy of hitting for the cycle as UC Irvine edged Hawaii, 5-4, Saturday in the first game of the double-header. The win lifted UCI to 2-0 while the Rainbows fell to 0-2. First pitch for the second game is at 4:05 p.m. (HT).
Designated hitter Ryan Fisher drove in a pair of runs on 1 for 4 hitting while Dillon Bell was 1 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored.
Starter Christian Bergman (1-0) pitched eight innings, yielding one earned run (four earned) on seven hits while All-American Eric Pettis retired the ninth in order for his first save of the season.
The Anteaters jumped on starter Nate Klein with a four-run first. Sean Madigan and Jeff Cusick drew walks to put runners on first and second for Bell, who put UCI on the board with a single to right. Larson's RBI double plated Cusick and Ryan Fisher delivered a two-run single through the right side 4-0 lead.
Larson drove in the eventual game-winning run in the third with a solo home run over the left-field fence.
Hawaii scored a run in its half of the third on a sacrifice fly by Vinnie Catricala to score Sean Montplaisir and trimmed the lead to three on a sacrifice fly by Landon Hernandez.
In the bottom of the eighth, Hawaii capitalized on a two-out error by shortstop Ben Orloff as Christian Johnson hit a first-pitch offering over the right-field wall to close the gap to 5-4. However, Bergman induced a groundout to third to end the inning.
