No. 4 UC Irvine Falls Twice to No. 12 Coastal Carolina
Feb. 27, 2010
No. 4 UC Irvine Defeated by No. 12 Coastal Carolina - Game 1
MYRTLE BEACH, SC --- UC Irvine suffered its second loss in as many days as 12th-ranked Coastal Carolina handed the Anteaters a 7-3 defeat Saturday at BB&T Coastal Field. The loss dropped UCI to 3-2 overall while the Chanticleers climbed to 5-1.
Coastal Carolina got on the board with single runs in the first and third to take a 2-0 lead. UCI put runners on first and third with no outs in the fourth and eked out a run on Ronnie Shaeffer's double-play grounder to third to cut the lead to one.
Chanticleer centerfielder Rico Noel doubled in a pair of the runs in the fourth to stake the home team to a 4-2 lead and the Chants offense continued with a run in the fifth and two in the sixth.
UCI trimmed the lead on Francis Larson's RBI double to score Brian Hernandez but Chanticleer reliever Ryan Connolly retired the final four batters to end the game.
Daniel Bibona suffered the loss after giving up six runs on eight hits in 5.1 innings. Freshman Ruben Orozco pitched 2.1 innings of three-hit, no-run relief and Andrew Bynum retired the final batter of the Coastal Carolina eighth.
Jeff Cusick was 3 for 4 to lead the Anteaters while Larson topped the team with two RBI on 2 for 4 hitting. Hernandez was 2 for 3 with two runs scored and an RBI while Ryan Fisher also had a pair of hits.
Noel, went 2 for 3 with two RBI and two runs while rightfielder Daniel Bowman drove in three on 1 for 4 hitting. Starter Cody Wheeler held UCI to three runs in 7.2 innings while scattering 10 hits to improve to 2-0.
No. 12 COASTAL CAROLINA TOPS No. 4 UC IRVINE - Game 2
MYRTLE BEACH, SC --- No. 4 UC Irvine dropped to 3-3 on the season after losing to No. 12 Coastal Carolina (6-1) 13-6 Saturday in the second game of a double-header Saturday at BB&T Coastal Field.
The Anteaters were clinging to a 6-4 lead in the eighth but watched as the Chanticleers scored nine runs in the bottom half of the inning. Sophomore Matt Summers looked to be out of the inning in the eighth, working with a runner on second with two outs but his third strike bounced in the dirt and skipped away from catcher Francis Larson, putting runners on first and third. Consecutive walks allowed a run to score to cut the lead to one and outfielder Daniel Bowman singled up the middle to score two runs to give CCU the eventual game-winning run.
Coastal Carolina scored three runs in the first off starter Eric Pettis but UCI responded with two runs in the fourth on an RBI walk by Sean Madigan and a run-scoring hit by Brian Hernandez. The Anteaters then took a 6-3 lead in the third, scoring four runs, highlighted by a two-run single by D.J. Crumlich.
The Chanticleers added a run in the third but were held at bay by Pettis and Summers until the eighth. The CCU bullpen limited the Anteaters to just two hits in the final six innings.
Pettis pitched 6.2 innings, allowing four runs on 10 hits while striking out four and walking two in the no-decision.
Crumlich led the team with two RBI while Stevenson had two hits and a run scored.
Chanticleer starter Matt Laney lasted two innings, giving up four runs on six hits while Matt Rein collected the win after giving up two runs on four hits in six innings. Jose Iglesias led the team with four RBI on four hits.
