The UC Irvine baseball team (21-13, 9-6) suffered a tough 4-3 loss against the Cal Poly Mustangs (22-13, 9-3) after giving up all four runs in the final inning at Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark on April 15.
UCI’s offense was relatively quiet until the bottom of the third inning when sophomore second baseman Woody Hadeen led off with a spectacular double. Off the bat, it seemed as though the fly ball down the right field line would be a relatively routine out for Cal Poly graduate right fielder John Lagattuta. Yet, due to what remained of the glaring setting sun directly in Lagattuta’s face, Hadeen’s fly ball dropped and rolled along the right field chalk. This allowed Hadeen to use his speed and lead UCI off with a double. Senior first baseman Ben Fitzgerald was able to drive Hadeen in with his own double that he cranked down the right field line. Finally, sophomore right fielder Nathan Church concluded the third inning rally with a base hit of his own that he muscled up the middle and through the infield. By the end of the third inning, the score read 2-0 in favor of the Anteaters.
The ‘Eaters were able to add on one more run in the bottom of the sixth inning when sophomore left fielder Caden Kendle hit his first home run of the season. With two outs, Kendle strolled to the plate cool and collected. He belted a laser line drive to center field just out of reach for Cal Poly graduate center fielder Brett Borgogno as the ball slipped past him and rolled to the center field fence. As the ball rolled and the Cal Poly outfielders scrambled to recover it, Kendle was able to round all three bases and dive headfirst safely into home for an elusive inside the park home run.
Starting redshirt senior pitcher Michael Frias had an effective outing for the Anteaters, recording four strikeouts over five innings and keeping the Mustang offense off the scoreboard. He was relieved in the top of the sixth inning by graduate student pitcher Gordon Ingebritson. Both Ingebritson and junior pitcher Tanner Brooks, who relieved Ingebritson in the top of the seventh, got through their appearances successfully, holding Cal Poly from earning a run. The score through the bottom of the eighth remained 3-0 in favor of the ‘Eaters.
The top of the ninth, unfortunately, didn’t go quite as smoothly as UCI had hoped. The final reliever of the night was sophomore pitcher Troy Taylor. Despite his impressive pitch velocity topping out at around 93 miles per hour, the Mustangs were able to tack on four runs via a few base hits, and a bases-clearing-triple after what looked like a missed strike three call forced Taylor to extend his outing. Thiseventually led to UCI giving up the lead.
After being unable to answer back in the bottom of the ninth, the Anteaters suffered a 4-3 loss in front of a stunned and silenced home crowd. Despite the tough loss, the ‘Eaters maintained a third place position in an extremely competitive Big West Conference.
Kira Dort is a Sports Intern for the spring 2022 quarter. She can be reached at kdort@uci.edu.