The UC Irvine Baseball team (16-10) defeated the Cal State Northridge Matadors (15-11), 6-5, at Anteater Ballpark’s Cicerone Field on April 3.
The Anteaters began the game with characteristic poise both on the mound and in the box. Standout redshirt sophomore pitcher Cameron Wheeler mixed his low 90s fastball and huge breaking slider to generate soft contact. Wheeler retired six batters in only 19 pitches and exited the second inning scoreless.
In the top of the second, Redshirt sophomore outfielder Luke Spillane surprised the Matador pitcher with a first pitch swing, launching a liner into center for a triple. Freshman outfielder Myles Smith turned a twelve pitch at bat into a sac grounder, scoring the Anteaters first run.
Going into the top of the third, Wheeler suddenly lost command of his pitches. As a result, CSUN hitters took the sliders for balls and sat on the fastballs. Wheeler walked two and gave up two doubles, letting two runners score and escaping the inning down 1-2.
Despite the Anteaters putting up another run in the bottom of the 3rd, the game began to fall from their grasp. The Matadors got excellent contact, getting six hits and plating three runs in the fourth and fifth innings to build a 5-2 lead.
The crowd was deflated. Families shuffled out. The game looked to be a mere formality. Yet, there was only one issue: the Anteaters didn’t get the memo.
Irvine’s pitchers played hard, throwing an inning before being swapped out. This gave CSUN no time to figure out the ‘Eater game plan. The Irvine team kept the surging Matadors scoreless for the rest of the game.
The Anteater hitting never slowed, as they consistently left men on base. Just a few bounces and miraculous catches stood between them and outright offensive dominance. They simply kept on plugging away.
After CSUN left three men stranded to end the top of the seventh inning, graduate student shortstop Taishi Nakawake jumped on the first pitch to get a triple. Redshirt sophomore outfielder Nathan Church drove him in to cut the deficit to two, 5-3 CSUN, setting the stage for the true show: the 9th.
Spillane was slated to come up to the plate, but head coach Ben Orloff made a last minute decision to send in sophomore catcher Thomas McCaffrey instead. McCaffrey promptly looked at three pitches and decided to launch the fourth one out of the park.
Suddenly the CSUN lead dwindled to only one, 5-4 CSUN.
Smith stepped into the box for another grueling at bat, forcing 10 pitches before sending it up the middle for a single. The tying run was on base.
A Nakawake groundout advanced Smith to second and brought up redshirt senior designated hitter Ben Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald crushed a pitch to right field, sending Smith home and placing himself at second base.
The lead was gone. The winning run was on second base. 5-5 ballgame.
Nathan Church swaggered up the plate ready to play the hero, but CSUN skipper Dave Serrano had different plans. Serrano called for the intentional walk, and Church was sent to first base.
Redshirt junior second baseman Justin Torres then stepped into the box, the Matadors had gotten the man they wanted, it only took one pitch for them to regret it. Torres ripped the ball into right field as Fitzgerald crossed home plate to seal the game.
The Anteaters exploded from the dugout. Pandemonium took hold of the whole arena as the tension and dread of three hours was suddenly cut loose.
This game was a pleasure to watch and serves as a testament to the quality of the baseball team that played it as well as the men who comprise it.
Benjamin Hendricks is a Sports Staff Writer. He can be reached at bahendr1@uci.edu.