No. 15 UC Irvine Hosts San Diego, Gonzaga
March 15, 2010
‘EATERS ENTERTAIN SAN DIEGO, GONZAGA: UC Irvine (9-6 overall), hosts San Diego Tuesday (Mar. 16) for the second consecutive week and then entertains Gonzaga (7-7) in a three games series (Mar. 19-21) at Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark. First pitch against the Toreros is 6:00 p.m. The series opener against the ‘Zags will also be a 6:00 p.m. start with the ensuing games slated to start at 1:00 p.m.
BERGMAN HURLS SECOND CAREER COMPLETE GAME: Preseason All-American Christian Bergman (Altadena/St. Francis HS) pitched his second career complete game to lead UC Irvine to a 5-3 win over Sacramento State Saturday, tying the series for the Anteaters. The right-hander struck out six and did not walk a batter while yielding three runs on seven hits in the outing. Bergman shut out the Hornets through five innings before giving up a three-run sixth. Bergman faced the minimum to finish the game and record his first win. Bergman also hurled a shutout inning against San Diego in a midweek game. He is 1-0 on the season and has struck out 14 in 24.1 innings while walking just three in five appearances.
PETTIS PITCHES LONGEST CAREER OUTING: Senior All-American Eric Pettis (West Hills/El Camino Real HS) pitched a career-high nine innings to improve to 2-0 with a win in the series finale Sunday at Sacramento State. The right-hander retired the first 12 batters he faced before giving up his first hit in the fourth. The Hornets scored three runs (one earned) in the inning. However, Pettis then faced just one over the minimum over the next four innings before facing a one-out, bases-loaded situation in the ninth. He would induce a 5-2-3 double-play grounder to escape the jam. Pettis lowered his ERA to 2.64 and has logged the most number of innings pitched among the Anteater staff with 30.2. He has fanned 19 and walked seven while allowing nine earned runs.
BIBONA RECORDS THIRD DOUBLE-DIGIT STRIKEOUT PERFORMANCE: All-American Daniel Bibona (Lake Forest/Santa Margarita HS) struck out 10 batters in eight innings in the series opener Friday. The southpaw walked just one and limited the Hornets to a run on two hits but came away with a no-decision after Sac State won the game in the ninth on a wild pitch. Bibona, who has reached double-digit strikeouts in three of his four starts, is 2-1 with a 1.98 ERA. He has struck out 33 in 27.1 innings while walking six.
FISHER PUTS ‘EATERS ON TOP IN SERIES WIN: Ryan Fisher (Manteca/East Union HS) blasted his team-leading third home run of the season in the 10th inning Sunday to give UCI the eventual game-winning run. Fisher drove a 2-0 pitch over the right-field wall to lead off the inning and the Anteaters hung on to win the series with a 4-3, 10-inning decision. Last week Fisher batted .300 in three games, going 3 for 10 with two RBI, two walks, two runs scored and a stolen base. On the season the redshirt junior is hitting .385 with 15 hits and nine RBI.
NECKE PICKS UP SAVE IN SERIES WIN: Senior Kyle Necke (Walnut/HS) earned his second save of the season after holding the Hornets scoreless in the bottom of the 10th to seal the series win Sunday. The right-hander retired the first two batters before giving up back-to-back singles but a key defensive play by Brian Hernandez (Sylmar/College of the Canyons) erased a Hornet runner at first to end the game.
Necke also pitched 5.2 strong innings in a start against San Diego, striking out six and scattering seven hits. The right-hander did not give up a walk against the Toreros but he did not factor in the win as UCI would score the go-ahead runs in the seventh.
Necke is 0-2 with a 5.93 ERA and has struck out 12 batters in 13.2 innings. He has walked just two in six appearances while allowing nine earned runs.
LINES EARNS FIRST COLLEGIATE WIN: Redshirt freshman Andy Lines (Palos Verdes Estates/Palos Verdes HS) earned his first collegiate win last Tuesday after holding San Diego hitless in 1.2 innings of relief. Lines entered the game in the seventh with runners on first and second and induced a double-play grounder to end the Toreros’ threat. Lines then retired the next three batters before handing the ball off to the UCI bullpen. Lines tops the team with eight appearances and is 1-0 with six strikeouts in four innings. He has walked two and allowed four earned runs on three hits.
HERNANDEZ HELPS UCI WIN 3-1 WEEK: Infielder Brian Hernandez hit .412 with seven hits and two RBI to lead UC Irvine to a 3-1 week with wins against San Diego and Sacramento State.
Against San Diego, Hernandez singled to put UCI on the board in the first and then drove in the eventual game-winning run with an RBI double in the seventh, finishing the day 2 for 5 with a run scored.
At Sac State, Hernandez went 1 for 3 in the Anteaters’ lone loss. In the second game of the double-header, Hernandez’s one-out single in the ninth put a UCI runner on third which eventually led to an insurance run in a 5-3 victory. In the series finale, Hernandez scored the team’s first run after doubling in the second. He was one of three Anteaters to come up with a clutch two-out hit to help the team tie the score in the ninth. Hernandez was also instrumental defensively, kicking off a 5-2-3 double play in Hornet ninth. Then in the Sac State 10th, Hernandez snuffed out the Hornets’ rally, firing a bullet to first, following a single, to catch the runner off first base for the game-ending play. Hernandez went 3 for 5 with a double and a run scored.
Hernandez is hitting .360 with a team-high 18 hits. He is tied for second with four doubles and fifth with eight RBI.
LEYLAND TOPS ‘EATERS IN AVG: Jordan Leyland (Sam Dimas/HS) continues to the top the Anteaters with a .448 average after hitting .400 in three games last week. The sophomore went 2 for 2 with two RBI, including a triple in the win against San Diego and then added two hits and an RBI in the double-header against the Hornets.
Leyland has 13 hits on the season with three doubles, a triple and five RBI.
SHAEFFER HAS SOLID WEEK: Sophomore Ronnie Shaeffer (Garden Grove/Pacifica HS) hit .428 in four games last week, going 6 for 14 with three RBI and a run scored.
Against San Diego, Shaeffer gave UCI an insurance run in the ninth with an RBI single and went 2 for 4 on the day.
After recording a hit in the first game against Sac State, Shaeffer doubled in a run in the second game of the double-header to give the team a 3-0 lead. The designated hitter then gave the team a two-run lead with a sacrifice fly in the ninth. Sunday Shaeffer capped the weekend with a 2 for 4 performance, driving in the tying run in the ninth.
‘EATERS WIN FIRST EXTRA-INNING GAME: UCI climbed to 1-2 in extra-inning affairs after defeating Sac State Sunday. The Anteaters, who had lost two previous 10-inning contests, secured the win on a head-ups defensive play by third baseman Brian Hernandez.
CUSICK LEADS TEAM IN RBI, TIED FOR FIRST IN HITS: First baseman Jeff Cusick (Mission Viejo/Santa Margarita HS), who leads the team with 13 RBI, had a hit in all four games last week to move into a tie for first with 18 hits on the season. Cusick is also the team’s doubles leader with five and is second with two home runs. He leads the team in base on balls with eight and has struck out just four times in 50 at-bats. Cusick, batting .360 to sit third on the team, has reached base safely in 10 consecutive games and has hit in six straight.
ABOUT SAN DIEGO: San Diego climbed to 9-8 overall after going 3-1 last week. The Toreros handed losses to San Francisco, UAB and Fresno State and suffered a narrow 4-2 loss to Cal State Fullerton.
USD has won five of its last seven games and is led by James Meador, who is hitting .313 with a team-best 17 RBI and 20 hits. He also shares the lead with four doubles and two home runs. Steven Chatwood sits just behind Meador in average at .308 and RBI with 11.
Right-hander Mike Dedrick is expected to take the mound tomorrow. Dedrick has not registered a decision in seven appearances and will be making his first start of the season Tuesday. He has logged nine innings and struck out 10 while walking three.
THE SERIES: The Anteaters hold a 45-44-1 series lead against San Diego. UCI captured an 8-4 win against USD last Tuesday.
ABOUT GONZAGA: Gonzaga is 7-7 overall and plays its first two home games Monday and Tuesday before traveling to UC Irvine. The Bulldogs posted a 2-2 mark last week, losing to Pacific and Notre Dame and winning twice against Bradley.
The team is led Drew Heid, who is hitting .403 with 25 hits. Heid has four doubles, two triple and four home runs on the season and is tied for first with 16 runs scored.
Andy Hunter tops the ‘Zags with 20 RBI, six doubles and five home runs. He is hitting .397 and is second with 23 hits.
POSSIBLE ROTATION: Southpaw Ryan Carpenter made the start for Gonzaga last Friday against Bradley and pitched five innings. Carpenter struck out five and walked three while yielding three earned runs on eight hits but did not collect the win. Carpenter, 1-1 on the season, has made four starts and fanned 19 in 23.1 innings.
Lefty Reedy Berg was handed the ball Saturday against Notre Dame and fell to 1-1 after giving up six runs in eight innings. Berg struck out four and walked just one while scattering 11 hits.
Jacob Brown made the start Sunday and held Bradley to two runs on eight hits in 4.2 innings before giving way to the Bulldog staff. Brown is 0-1 with a 5.62 ERA and has struck out three in eight innings.
THE SERIES: The Anteaters are 7-2 against Gonzaga. The two teams last met in 2004 with UCI sweeping the series.
BIBONA IN THE BOOKS: With 10 strikeouts last week, Bibona has increased his career strikeout total to 263 and is 13 strikeouts from tying Anteater alum Brett Smith, who posted 270 from 2002-04.
CRUMLICH, SLAUGHT SIGHTINGS POSSIBLE THIS WEEK: Sophomore D.J. Crumlich (Irvine/HS) and junior Crosby Slaught (Santa Barbara/HS) could be back in the lineup this week.
Crumlich, who suffered a concussion nearly two weeks ago, may see action in the lineup against the series against Gonzaga.
The same can be said of pitcher Crosby Slaught, who suffered an early-season elbow injury and has not made an appearance for the Anteaters this season. Slaught was expected to pitch in relief last weekend against Saint Mary’s but a spider bite caused his forearm to become inflamed, forcing the right-hander to sit out the series.
WEEKLY WRAPUP: The Anteaters put together a winning week, going 3-1. The team defeated San Diego prior to capturing a series victory at Sacramento State.
Against the Toreros, UCI used a three-run third, highlighted by Jordan Leyland’s two-run triple for an early 4-0 lead. USD tied the game in the sixth with four unearned runs but the ‘Eaters took the lead in the seventh on an RBI double by Hernandez and went on to win 8-4. Lines picked up the win after 1.2 hitless innings.
Five Anteaters led the team with two hits apiece with Hernandez, Leyland and Casey Stevenson (Saugus/College of the Canyons) combining for six of UCI eight RBI.
After getting rained out Friday, the Anteaters took on the Sacramento State Hornets in a double-header Saturday.
Bibona faced one over the minimum, shutting out Sac State through seven innings before the Hornets would tie the game in the eighth. A bases-loaded wild pitch by the Anteater bullpen would yield the game-winning run for Sacramento in the bottom of the ninth for the 2-1 loss.
Bergman’s complete-game effort highlighted a 5-3 win to tie the series. Bergman struck out six and limited the Hornets to three runs on seven hits to collect his first win of the season. Jordan Fox’s (Hacienda Heights/Bishop Amat HS) RBI hit in the fourth to drive in Fisher would prove to be the eventual game-winning run.
Sunday, Pettis gave the team a career-high nine-inning effort and the Anteaters used a two-out rally in the ninth to knot the score at 3-3. Fisher homered in the top of the 10th for the eventual game-winning run and the Anteater defense delivered in the bottom of the frame to seal the win. Hernandez led the team, batting 3 for 5 while Stevenson, Shaeffer and Fisher each posted two hits and an RBI.
