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Baseball:
No. 1 UC Irvine Beats Ducks to Win Series
April 21, 2009 IRVINE, Calif. --- Anteater DJ Crumlich delivered the clutch hit in the bottom of the eighth with a single up the middle to break a 4-4 tie as top-ranked UC Irvine went on to hand Oregon (13-25) a 7-4 loss Tuesday at Anteater Ballpark. The win was UCI's fifth straight as the Anteaters improved to 28-10 overall. Crumlich's one-out single plated Monday's hero Casey Stevenson, who was hit by the pitch to lead off the frame. A fielding error by the Ducks allowed Tommy Reyes to score from second and Crumlich would plate the final run. Eric Deragisch led the team with three RBI, batting 2 for 5 while Crumlich drove in two on 2 for 3 hitting. UCI starter Crosby Slaught pitched 5.1 innings, striking out four and allowing four runs on six hits in the no-decision. Southpaw Noel Avison earned the win after 2.2 innings of scoreless relief. Avison struck out two and walked one while yielding two hits to improve to 3-1. Eric Pettis set the Ducks down in order in the ninth to take over as the national leader with his 13th save. Deragisch broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the third on a bases-loaded double to center but Oregon trimmed the lead to one with two runs in the fourth. UCI reclaimed a two-run advantage on Crumlich's sacrifice in the fourth to score Stevenson. Oregon evened the score at 4-4 on Mitch Karraker's two-run single to right. Karraker led the team with three RBI and two hits. Duck reliever Bennett Whitmore fell to 1-6 after allowing the eventual game-winning run.
UC Irvine continues non-conference action with a three-game series at Utah this Thursday through Saturday (Apr. 23-25).
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