Editor’s Note: This article was edited for clarity on Feb. 23.
The UC Irvine Baseball team (2-2) continued their early non-conference schedule, falling to No. 16 Vanderbilt (4-1) 9-8 at the MLB Play Ball Desert Invitational at Sloan Park in Mesa, Ariz. on Feb. 16.
Irvine, the de facto home team, trotted out sophomore right-handed pitcher Trevor Hansen to open the game’s first frame. After Hansen retired the first two hitters, Vanderbilt junior infielder Jayden Davis took a 3-2 fastball deep to left-center field for a two-out home run to give the Commodores an early 1-0 lead. However, Hansen rebounded and induced a flyout to center from Vanderbilt sophomore designated hitter Colin Barczi to end the inning.
The Commodores countered Hansen with their own righty junior pitcher Cody Bowker, a transfer from Georgetown. Immediately, Bowker — who throws from a low three-quarters release point — recorded his first Vanderbilt strikeout with a front door sinker to retire Irvine redshirt senior infielder Will Bermudez. Following an ambush single roped to right field by junior infielder Colin Yeaman, Bowker got back on track with two strikeouts.
Hansen righted the ship after the first-inning homer, stranding Commodores sophomore infielder Braden Holcomb at second after Irvine sophomore outfielder Jacob McCombs made a running catch in center field to rob Vandy of an RBI opportunity.
Following the zero put up by Hansen, Irvine got a gift to begin their half of the second inning, courtesy of a throwing error by Commodores freshman infielder Rustan Rigdon at third base. However, they could not capitalize as Bowker collected his fourth strikeout of the game and induced an inning-ending double play with a 3-2 sinker one batter later.
Hansen and the Anteaters found themselves in trouble in the third, giving up two runs — both unearned — after a walk, single and error led to Commodore runs. Battling early adversity after an error by Irvine sophomore infielder Zach Fjelstad, Hansen buckled Davis with a curveball and got a groundout from Holcomb to end the inning.
Bowker received help from his infield to start the bottom half of the third as Davis made a nice play to his right from second base, ranging behind the bag for the infield assist. Irvine continued their early offensive struggles, going down in order.
Irvine turned to a new arm after Hansen gave up a leadoff walk and induced a flyout to right field. Redshirt sophomore pitcher Riley Kelly took over for the Irvine starter who finished with 3.1 IP, 3 R, 1 ER and 3 strikeouts. On his first pitch of the afternoon, Kelly got a ground ball to second base and the Anteaters went 4-6-3 for an inning-ending double play.
Bowker continued his dominance, getting Yeaman to chase a fastball up and out of the zone for the fifth strikeout of his Vanderbilt debut. An infield single and a walk triggered a mound visit to Bowker, but the righty settled down. With some help from Vastine, who speared a liner at short, the frame ended with the shutout intact and two UC Irvine runners stranded.
Kelly retired the first Vandy hitter he saw but walked Nelson on the ensuing at bat. Davis continued to cause problems for Irvine with a double that put runners at second and third, with one out for the Commodores. Kelly got out of the jam by inducing a popout to short and a gutsy 2-2 breaking ball to strike out Rose, putting a zero up for the Anteaters.
Vanderbilt made a pitching change to start the bottom of the fifth, inserting freshman right-handed pitcher Hudson Barton. Bowker finished with four shutout frames and six strikeouts to just one walk.
Barton walked one but left the fifth unscathed, ending the inning by getting Bermudez to ground out to second base.
Kelly returned to the mound for the sixth and buckled Holcomb with another curveball to record his second strikeout of the afternoon. However, Vandy got a break as McCombs lost a ball in center field in the sun, which allowed Rigdon to reach on a questionably scored double.
Vanderbilt finally cashed in on their many opportunities with men on via an Austin single that scored two runners, opening the score up 5-0. A pickoff error and two walks by Kelly induced more stress for the Anteaters, but the Tustin native got out of the jam and kept Irvine in the game with a flyout to center field.
Irvine’s offense came alive in the bottom of the sixth with a leadoff double by Yeaman, followed by an RBI triple from senior outfielder Chase Call. McCombs got in on the action, scoring Call from third with a double to bring the score to 5-2. With Irvine threatening, Vanderbilt went to freshman left-handed pitcher Matthew Shorey to limit the damage. An Irvine sacrifice bunt pushed runners into scoring position, and Shorey hit Irvine senior catcher Blake Penso to load the bases. A walk drawn by Fjelstad scored Irvine’s third run and knocked Shorey out of the game.
After an Irvine strikeout, Bermudez ambushed Vanderbilt with a double to score two and tie the game at 5. Vanderbilt freshman right-handed pitcher England Bryan then threw a fastball to the backstop for a wild pitch, giving Irvine their first lead of the game, 6-5. Bryan got out of the jam, albeit with major damage done, via a strikeout of Yeaman on a high fastball.
Irvine’s momentum continued into the seventh with senior pitcher David Butler getting three ground balls to retire Vanderbilt in order. UCI then scored their seventh run of the game in the seventh after an RBI double by redshirt sophomore infielder James Castagnola, but the inning ended shortly after.
An error, a walk and a single with no outs set the table for Vandy in the top of the eighth. With their backs against the wall, Irvine turned to its closer, junior right-handed pitcher Max Martin for a six-out save. Unfortunately for the Anteaters, Nelson collected his third hit of the matchup — a grand slam to give the Commodores a 9-7 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish.
Down to their last out, UCI got a jolt from Castagnola as the infielder hit a solo homer to left field, but it wasn’t enough as Vandy closed out the win with a strikeout and a 9-8 final.
Postgame, UCI head coach Ben Orloff spoke about what Irvine needs to build on in their young season.
“We’ve got to play better defense. You can’t give anybody, especially Vanderbilt, any extra opportunities,” Orloff said in a statement sent in an email to New University. “We can play a lot better defense than we did and that extended a lot of those innings which led to runs. We’ve got to defend better and avoid throwing as many walks.”
Irvine dropped their next game against USC 5-2 in their home opener on Feb. 18.