The UCI Men’s Baseball team (2-0) secured an opening series victory with an 11-4 win over the Tulane University Green Wave (0-2) at Anteater Ballpark on Saturday, Feb. 18.
UCI sophomore pitcher Finnegan Wall got the starting nod for the Anteaters on the sunny Saturday afternoon. Wall dominated his first two innings of work, striking out four of the first six Green Waves he faced.
The UCI bats came alive and got to Tulane sophomore starting pitcher Cristian Sanchez in the bottom of the second as they scored four runs on five hits.
UCI redshirt sophomore infielder Will Bermudez proceeded to score UCI junior outfielder Jacob Stinson with a sacrifice fly to left field to put the score at 1-0 UCI. Junior outfielder Caden Kendle kept the line moving as he singled to right center to score the second run of the inning for the ‘Eaters. Freshman standout first baseman Tony Martinez then stepped to the plate with runners on first and third and stroked a double down the right field line, clearing the bases and putting UCI up 4-0.
Tulane answered UCI’s big inning with two runs of their own in the top of the third. They scored their first two runs of the weekend without recording a hit. After sitting in the dugout for the long bottom of the second, Wall came out and struggled with his command, walking the bases loaded and then walking in Tulane’s first run of the game putting the score at 4-1 UCI.
Wall was pulled after two and a third innings, making way for UCI graduate pitcher Andre Antone, who gave up a sacrifice fly to Tulane sophomore infielder Brady Marget for the second Tulane run of the inning. Antone bounced back, striking out the next batter he faced and ending the Green Wave threat in the third.
Stinson and UCI junior infielder Jo Oyama teamed up in the bottom of the sixth to scratch across another UCI run. Oyama smacked a one out triple to the left center field gap, his second in as many days. Stinson came up next and wasted no time in scoring Oyama with a sac fly to center field, putting the score at 6-3 in favor of UCI.
The top of the seventh proved to be the last offense Tulane could muster in the game. UCI redshirt senior Tanner Brooks came on in relief of freshman pitcher Max Martin, who entered the game in the top of the fifth. Brooks hit a batter to load the bases and followed it up by walking in Tulane’s fourth and final run. Brooks struck out the next batter to end the frame, leaving the score at 6-4 in favor of the Anteaters.
After the seventh inning stretch, preseason all Big West selection and Golden Spikes Award watch list member, Kendle gave the home fans at Anteater Ballpark something to cheer for when he smoked a low line drive over the left center field fence and into the scoreboards netting the first UCI homerun of the 2023 season and putting UCI up 7-4.
The Anteaters exploded again in the bottom of the eighth inning for another four runs. UCI sophomore infielder Dub Gleed led off the inning with a single followed by a walk by sophomore outfielder Myles Smith. The table was set with two on and no outs for the speedy Oyama. Oyama answered the call, sending a screaming line drive down the right field line and legging out his second triple of the day, notching two RBI’s in the process.
In familiar fashion, Oyama scored on a sacrifice fly to center, this time off the bat of UCI sophomore catcher Blake Penso. Redshirt junior outfielder Luke Spillane made his way to first base, as he was hit by his second pitch of the day. Spillane stole second and forced an errant throw allowing him to advance to third. Bermudez clutched up and singled to score Spillane. Before Tulane knew what hit them, they were down 11-4.
UCI pitchers combined for a monstrous 16 total strikeouts on the day. UCI finished the game with an 11-4 victory.
UCI was led by excellent offensive performances from multiple parties. Oyama and Kendle both went 2-4, Kendel grabbed three RBI’s while Oyama provided two RBI’s of his own. Stinson went 1-3 with an RBI and Martinez had two hits in his six at bats knocking in two RBI’s.
The UCI Men’s Baseball team also swept the Tulane Green Wave with a 1-0 victory on Sunday, Feb. 19 at Anteater Ballpark, read about it here.
Zeke Bellino is a Sports Intern for the winter 2023 quarter. He can be reached at zbellino@uci.edu.