In front of a sellout crowd of 1,727, UCI Baseball (29-9, 16-2) took control and cruised in a highly anticipated matchup against UCLA (29-11, 13-5), claiming a 5-3 victory over the Bruins at Anteater Ballpark on April 22.
Following two straight complete-game shutouts for Irvine over the weekend, No. 12 UCI was well-positioned for a battle against the Bruins’ high-profile offense, sporting a .295 batting average as a team on the season.
Four days of rest for UCI’s bullpen gave head coach Ben Orloff extra flexibility against Los Angeles, allowing bullpen leader sophomore left-handed pitcher Ricky Ojeda to open the game for the Anteaters. Overall, Orloff remarked on how important his pitching staff has been for the team’s success this season.
“I think the offense gets a lot of attention, but we’ve been so good because [of] the pitching and because of the defense,” Orloff said in an interview with New University. “That was on full display against Hawaii last week and then tonight too.”
Ojeda took the mound and allowed two straight baserunners, the first on a hit-by-pitch and the second on a single through the left side. However Ojeda locked in and struck out his next batter looking before needing four pitches to record a flyout to center and a groundout to second. Irvine’s dugout exhaled and its bats prepared for the bottom of the first.
Following an injury to UCLA’s planned starter, Los Angeles redshirt junior right-handed pitcher James Hepp was sent to the mound to open a bullpen game for UCLA.
After Hepp hit his first batter on a 1-2 pitch, Irvine junior shortstop Colin Yeaman took a middle-middle fastball to left-center field for a two-run home run, catapulting UCI into an early 2-0 lead. Batting near .400 on the season going into the game, he commented on his dazzling season and his first-inning swing.
“I feel great. I think my feel for the zone has only gotten better,” Yeaman said. “[I’m] just not trying to worry too much about my stats; just base [my swings] off how I feel in the box and trying to catch barrels.”
Another single prompted the first pitching change of the game, this time for UCLA redshirt sophomore left-handed pitcher Will Goldberg. Irvine senior right fielder Chase Call faced Goldberg in the first and greeted him with another high fly ball to dead center field, putting Irvine up 4-0 before an out was recorded.
UCI’s fast start riled up its sellout crowd early, only intensifying Goldberg’s stress on the mound. He hit his next batter after Call’s home run but was able to recuperate by inducing a double play for the first two outs of the game.
Just as it seemed like Los Angeles was getting things under control, a double down the right-field line put them back in danger — Irvine sophomore third baseman Zach Fjelstad jumped on a first-pitch fastball to center, which sunk fast enough to drop in for an RBI single.
Ojeda took the mound for the second inning, suddenly up 5-0, allowing him to pitch more aggressively. This translated into a leadoff home run by Bruins junior designated hitter Jarrod Hocking to left-center field. Three quick outs after the homer ended the top of the second nonetheless.
After a scoreless bottom of the second, two straight singles from Los Angeles in the top of the third were wiped clean by a fielder’s choice groundout and an inning-ending double play. Both teams exchanged scoreless frames again in the fourth, and the Bruins threatened in the fifth before UCI redshirt junior right-handed pitcher Danny Suarez entered and recorded the last out of the inning.
Suarez’s less-than-memorable season, sporting an 11.74 ERA entering the game, took a turn as he covered 2.1 scoreless innings against the Bruins offense. Five of his seven outs were strikeouts, many of which came against the heart of the Bruins’ lineup.
“Danny Suarez,” Orloff immediately said when New University asked about his biggest takeaways from the team’s 5-3 win. “He started the year as our Friday night guy and he scuffed a little bit. For him to do what he did tonight was huge; because of that, if he can get going and pitch to his abilities, that’ll be one more guy that will give us a chance to stretch out that depth and play a big role for us.”
Solid relief appearances continued from both sides, but with Irvine’s first-inning outburst, it still felt like a UCI-controlled game through the top of the seventh.
Attempting to complete the eighth inning was Suarez again. However, he allowed a walk and a single to end his outing. For the third time in the game, UCLA had two straight baserunners to begin an inning; after going scoreless its first two times, its next attempt would be against senior right-handed pitcher David Butler.
Bruins sophomore shortstop Roch Cholowsky pulled the trigger on a 2-1 offspeed pitch but pulled it straight to third. Irvine went around the horn for a double play, and a groundout marked the final out of the eighth.
Outside of its five-run first, Irvine’s offensive performance was less than interesting. The ‘Eaters went down in order in the bottom of the eighth, and the top of the ninth was ready for Irvine junior right-handed pitcher Max Martin.
With a runner on in the top of the ninth, Martin deflected a comebacker that was corralled by Irvine redshirt senior second baseman Will Bermudez. Facing Hocking once more, Martin induced a pop fly far behind first base that was caught on the tarp, but a dropped ball on the transfer convinced the first-base umpire that the ball was not caught.
Banter from the crowd was directed towards first base before Martin struck out both Hocking and the following batter. Down to its last out, UCLA sophomore catcher Cashel Dugger reached on an infield hit ahead of a two-RBI single that put Los Angeles within two runs in the ninth. This was its final threat of the night. Martin struck out his third and final batter of the inning to end the game and cap off a satisfying victory against the Bruins.
Irvine will take its four-game win streak to San Luis Obispo to start a three-game weekend series against Cal Poly at Baggett Stadium, starting April 25.
Avery Rosas is a Sports Staff Writer. He can be reached at rosasaj1@uci.edu.
Edited by Benjamin Flores and Jaheem Conley.