The UCI Baseball team (11-4,0-1) was defeated by the CSU Fullerton Titans (7-7,1-0), 10-0, opening Big West Conference play at Anteater Ballpark on Friday, March 17.
The Anteaters have been in the national eye as of late after getting off to a hot 11-3 start to the season, and the team looked to carry that momentum into conference play at home versus the Titans. UCI ran with their Friday night ace, redshirt sophomore pitcher David Vizcaino, to start the game. Vizcaino came in with a 2-0 record and the Anteaters have also won all of his four starts.
CSU Fullerton did not buy into the hype and greeted Vizcaino with three straight singles to open the game. A ground ball got Vizcaino an out but allowed a run to cross, leaving runners on first and second. Titans junior outfielder Nate Nankil made sure the runners weren’t left on base for long as he turned on an inside pitch and belted a towering three run home run to left field, giving the Titans a 4-0 lead after the first half inning of baseball.
Senior left handed pitcher Tyler Stultz got the starting nod for the Titans. Stultz notched two early strikeouts, foreshadowing his outing, as he gave the Titan faithful a lot to cheer for throughout the game.
The Titans smelled blood in the top of second inning and continued to pour on their offensive onslaught early as sophomore infielder Maddox Latta drove in a walk with an RBI triple. Latta produced his second quick run of the inning as he tagged up and scored on a sacrifice fly to center. Before most Anteater fans had settled in their seats, UCI was trailing 6-0.
Another run for the Titans in the third inning capped off the night for Vizcaino and marked his first loss of the season.
CSU Fullerton junior infielder/outfielder Caden Connor tried his best to imitate Latta, as he collected an RBI triple and scored a run during the top of the sixth inning. The Titans continued to pile onto their lead with two more runs, putting the score at 9-0.
Stultz was terrific all game, going seven shutout innings and subduing an extremely dangerous UCI lineup. On his way to picking up the win, Stultz collected eight punch outs and avoided throwing himself into any stressful situations.
CSU Fullerton added another run in the top of the eighth inning, capping their scoring for the night with a 10-0 lead.
It required two Titans to finish off the ‘Eaters, as sophomore pitchers Josh Howitt and Andrew Morones combined to preserve the shutout and close the book on UCI, 10-0.
Latta, Connor and junior catcher Cole Urman all had multi-hit days for the Titans, while Connor and Nankil both had multi-RBI days, powering the offensive barrage for CSU Fullerton. Stultz also had a stellar day on the mound, becoming the first pitcher to shut out the potent UCI offense this season.
UCI bounced back with a 12-5 victory on Saturday, March 18 against CSU Fullerton, however, they fell to the Titans 9-5 on Sunday, losing their first Big West series this season. The ‘Eaters will look to bounce back next weekend for a three-game series at Cal Poly.
Zeke Bellino is a Sports Intern for the winter 2023 quarter. He can be reached at zbellino@uci.edu.
