No. 15 UC Irvine Wins Series Against San Diego
March 16, 2010
IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine defeated San Diego for the second consecutive week as the Anteaters handed the Toreros a 9-1 loss Tuesday at Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark. The win lifted UCI to 10-6 on the season while San Diego dropped to 9-9 overall.
Ryan Fisher, who drove in the eventual game-winning run Sunday at Sacramento State, delivered again with what would be the game-winner in a two-run fourth for the Anteaters. Jeff Cusick hit his third home run of the season to drive in three while Brian Hernandez came up with a two-run single in the sixth.
UCI jumped on the board in the second inning on Tommy Reyes' RBI single to score Fisher for the 1-0 edge.
San Diego knotted the score in the third on a sacrifice fly to score Kevin Muno, who had doubled to lead off the inning.
The Anteaters responded in the fourth. Francis Larson singled and then scored on Fisher's double for the 2-1 lead. Fisher was then doubled in by Jordan Fox, who finished the day with a pair of RBI.
San Diego reliever Ben Burmeister ran into trouble in the UCI sixth. After hitting Fisher with the pitch, Jonathan Hurst grounded to short but Muno's throw pulled first baseman Victor Sanchez off the bag for an error. Reyes drew a walk to load the bases for Fox who flied out to center for the run-scoring sacrifice. The Toreros went to their fifth pitcher but Andrew Walter hit Casey Stevenson with the pitch and Hernandez capitalized with a two-out single to center to drive in two. Cusick followed with a three-run home run to cap the scoring at 9-1.
UCI starter Matt Summers pitched 2.2 innings and held San Diego to a run on four hits while striking out one and walking one. Senior Kyle Necke collected the win (1-2) after pitching 3.2 innings of shutout relief. Necke fanned four and scattered four hits. Crosby Slaught made his first appearance for the Anteaters this season and tossed 1.2 hitless innings before handing the ball off to Kyle Hooper who blanked the Toreros in the ninth.
Cusick led the offense with three RBI while Fisher and Reyes each went 2 for 2 with a run batted in. Hernandez and Fox combined for four RBI.
San Diego starter Mike Dedrick pitched two innings, yielding a run on two hits while Paul Sewald fell to 0-1 after giving up two runs on two hits in 1.2 innings. Tony Strazzara went 3 for 4 at the plate to pace USD.
UCI hosts Gonzaga in a three-game series this weekend at Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark.
