Anteaters Win Two in Double-Header
March 5, 2010
IRVINE, Calif. --- No. 11 UC Irvine won both games of the double-header today, defeating Saint Mary's 11-9 and 12-8 at Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark. The win lifted UCI to 6-4 overall while SMC dropped to 2-6.
Jeff Cusick led UCI with seven RBI, hitting .714 (5 for 7) in two games with two home runs. Sean Madigan added four runs batted in and went 4 for 8 with a home run and four runs scored.
In the first game of the double-header, Saint Mary's put three runs on the board in the top of the first off starter Christian Bergman. Brendan Kalfus singled in a pair of runs and Patrick Wisdom doubled in Kalfus in the rally.
Madigan put the Anteaters on the board with a solo home run in the third, his first of the season. UCI then took a 6-3 lead in the fourth, scoring five runs in the frame with Cusick belting a three-run home run off starter Brandon Berl.
Saint Mary's answered with a four-run frame in the top of the fifth as Troy Channing hit a three-run home run for a 7-6 Saint Mary's lead.
The see-saw battle continued in the sixth as Cusick delivered another three-run shot to left off reliever Dorsey Ek as UCI took a 10-7 advantage.
After a UCI plated a single run in the seventh, Channing went yard for the second time with a two-run home run, slicing the lead to 11-9. All-American closer Eric Pettis entered the game for the Anteaters and after giving up a walk, retired the next three in order for his first save of the season.
Channing went 2 for 5 with five RBI to lead SMC while Berl fell to 0-1 after giving up eight runs on eight hits in 5.1 innings.
Bergman did not figure in the win, allowing seven runs on 10 hits in four innings. Freshman Evan Brock improved to 2-0 after pitching four innings and striking out two while giving up two runs on three hits. Cusick topped the team with six RBI on 3 for 5 hitting while Madigan drove in three runs with a 3 for 5 performance at the plate.
Game 2
In the night cap, thirteen Anteaters came to plate in the first to score nine runs on seven hits off Saint Mary's starter Kyle Barraclough. Francis Larson put UCI on the board with a two-run single up the middle after UCI loaded the bases to leadoff the frame.
UCI tacked on single runs in the fourth, fifth and eighth innings to build a 12-2 lead but Saint Mary's rallied for six runs in the bottom of the ninth. SMC's Riley Heinzer hit a two-run home run off reliever Ruben Orozco to start the inning and a UCI error would extend the frame. Kalfus drove in two runs with a two-out triple before freshman Andrew Bynum secured the final out.
UCI starter Daniel Bibona recorded a season-high 11 strikeouts in seven innings while allowing an unearned run on four hits to improve to 2-1. Nick Hoover gave UCI an inning of hitless relief before handing the ball off to the UCI bullpen.
Larson, Jordan Leyland and Casey Stevenson each had two RBI for the Anteaters with Leyland topping the trio with three hits.
Barraclough fell to 1-2 after giving up nine runs on six hits.
