The UCI Baseball team (2-0) breezed past the North Dakota State Bisons (0-2) to clinch their opening series, 7-2, at Anteater Ballpark on Saturday, Feb. 17.
After securing a dominant opening day victory, the Anteaters turned the ball over to sophomore pitcher Riley Kelly. The UC Irvine coaching staff have expressed their extreme praise for Kelly, who missed most of his freshman season due to injury. The 6-foot-5-inch right-handed pitcher from just down the road at Tustin High School was drafted in the 20th round of the 2022 MLB draft. Kelly utilizes a low 90s fastball coupled with a devastating 12-6 curveball as a putaway pitch.
Kelly took the mound in the top of the first inning and immediately proved why he is such a highly talented prospect as he retired the side in order while punching out the last two hitters he faced.
The ‘Eaters offense fed off the momentum created by Kelly as redshirt junior infielder Woody Hadeen drew a walk and stole second base, putting him in scoring position. Junior infielder Dub Gleed cashed in the runner in scoring position, sizzling a two-out line drive double over the head of NDSU junior Colten Becker left fielder to put UCI on the board first, 1-0 heading into the second inning.
NDSU clawed out a run of their own in the top of the second thanks to a wild pitch.
However, the story of the game was a dominant UCI bullpen and the scorching hot bat of senior catcher Thomas McCaffrey, who homered two times on the day increasing his total to three home runs over UCI’s first two games.
Kelly was relieved in the top of the fourth inning when the ball was handed over to freshman pitcher Brandon Luu, who made his collegiate and Anteater debut while being credited for the win in his first outing. Kelly finished the day allowing only one run on three hits while striking out an impressive six Bison in his three innings of work.
McCaffrey’s first home run came in the bottom of the fourth inning as he caught a high fastball and launched a moonshot straight into the air, carrying it clear over the left field wall. The two-run shot broke the 1-1 tie, shooting UCI into the lead, 3-1.
NDSU managed to tally another run on a wild pitch in the top of the fifth. However, UCI punched back, scoring two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning, putting the score at 5-2.
UCI made a pitching change in the top of the sixth swapping out Luu for redshirt junior pitcher David Utagawa, who also made his first appearance as an ‘Eater. Utagawa, a transfer from Northwestern, proved to be a force as the 6-foot-4-inch and 230-pound right-hander ran his fastball up to 94 mph and cruised through three innings of work, striking out four while not allowing a hit.
McCaffrey struck again in the bottom of the seventh, connecting with his second two-run home run of the day as the UCI backstop proved to be a thorn in the Bisons’ side over the first two games. McCaffrey’s second home run was almost a mirror image of his first. It was hit a mile high and left the park in almost the same spot. His second homerun put UCI in the lead 7-2 and would wind up being the final nail in the Bisons’ coffin as the Anteaters held on to that lead for the rest of the game.
After the game, in an interview with the New University, McCaffrey remained extremely humble in the face of his monster game, crediting his team and coaching staff for his success.
“I really just want to do everything for the team, we do really good with our scouting reports and building an approach off our scouting reports and seeing all the people get on base in front of me gives me the confidence I can get on base,” McCaffrey said.
McCaffrey may be oozing humility but it’s no secret he was the difference on the day, accounting for four of the Anteaters’ seven runs.
The Anteaters completed their sweep of NDSU on Sunday, Feb. 18
Zeke Bellino is a Sports Staff Writer. He can be reached at zbellino@uci.edu.
Edited by James Huston, Andrea Garcia, and Laiyla Santillan