The UC Irvine Baseball team (4-0) defeated the San Diego State University (SDSU) Aztecs (3-1), 5-2, in an intense match at Anteater Ballpark on Feb. 18. The last face off between these two teams was when the ‘Eaters swept the Aztecs in a three-game series in 2024.
In his first start of the season, the Anteaters’ senior right-handed pitcher Jack Ross handled the top of the Aztecs’ lineup in the top of the first with two flyouts and a line out to diving senior left outfielder Rowan Felsch. With the ‘Eaters up to bat, SDSU’s redshirt sophomore right-handed pitcher Alec Belardes also put away the top of the ‘Eaters’ lineup with three consecutive strikeouts.
The first scoring opportunity of the game came from the Aztecs in the third inning after junior right outfielder Zane Kelly got on base with a lead off triple to right field. With one out, SDSU’s junior second baseman Dawson Santana grounded out to a charging ‘Eaters’ junior shortstop Zach Fjelstad, who was able to get the out at first but allowed for Kelly to score.
Ross was able to limit the damage to one, as SDSU’s freshman first baseman Max Farrell flew out to right center to end the top of the third with the Aztecs leading, 1-0. Despite two of the ‘Eaters getting on base with a hit by pitch, they could not capitalize off the chance in the bottom of the third.
Going into the top of the fourth, Ross quickly put away the middle of the Aztecs’ lineup, but needed support from his offense, who showed up big in the bottom of the fourth.
The ‘Eaters’ junior centerfielder Tommy Farmer started the inning’s momentum with a triple to center on a 3-2 count. With Farmer on third and redshirt junior third baseman James Castagnola on first after a walk, Felsch evened the score with an RBI single to right, 1-1.
Now on third from Felsch’s single, Castagnola scored moments later on a passed ball from the Aztecs, advancing Felsch to second and giving the Anteaters a 2-1 lead. Irvine’s redshirt sophomore designated hitter Kai Smith added to the tally with a triple to center, scoring Felsch in the process.
The ‘Eaters’ junior second baseman Noah Alvarez brought Smith in with a sacrifice fly to left, extending the score, 4-1. The ‘Eaters got one more man on — sophomore catcher Efren Ortega with a single up the middle to Santana with two outs — before a lineout to Farrell ended the inning.
Ross returned to the mound in the top of the fifth and faced two more hitters — giving up a single to redshirt junior shortstop Jabin Trosky and striking out freshman designated hitter Marc Emmerman — before the ‘Eaters’ redshirt freshman left-handed reliever Dane Grant came into the game.
Kelly got a single off Grant — advancing Trosky — but the Aztecs could not bring in any runs as Grant ended the top of the fifth by striking out junior left fielder Reeve Boyd and Santana flying out to Felsch.
With two men out in the bottom of the fifth, Irvine’s redshirt junior first baseman Alonso Reyes singled to right and then advanced to second on a following single from Castagnola, but a strikeout from Felsch left them stranded.
After a dramatic end to the top of the seventh inning with a diving stop by Reyes to get the last out, the ‘Eaters found another chance to score with one out against SDSU’s junior right-handed pitcher Evan Miranda. With Fjelstad and Farmer on base from back-to-back singles, Reyes singled up the middle to bring Fjelstad into score and advanced Farmer to second. Farmer and Reyes each collected a stolen base as the inning progressed but were once again left stranded, leaving the score 5-1.
“It felt really good — got the barrel out there,” Reyes told New University. “It’s always good to score some more runs, add-on runs are important. We preach that here.”
Trailing the ‘Eaters 5-1, the Aztecs had one last chance to make something happen in the top of the ninth. The ‘Eaters’ sophomore right-handed pitcher Peyton Rodgers — who transferred from SDSU this year — ran into some trouble against his former team. After giving up a lead-off single to SDSU’s senior third baseman Tyce Peterson, the Aztecs’ redshirt sophomore catcher Zach Justice singled through the gap between Fjelstad and Castagnola. A bouncing ground ball from Trosky was fielded by Fjelstad for the first out, but advanced the runners to second and third.
Brought in to pinch hit, SDSU’s redshirt sophomore catcher Anthony Marnell IV walked on a 3-2 count to load up the bases for Kelly. Although he grounded out to Rodgers on the first pitch, Kelly collected an RBI as Peterson scored, making the score 5-2. Keeping his cool all the way through, Rodgers recorded the last out of the game with a strikeout against SDSU’s junior center fielder Drew Rutter.
The game ended in a 5-2 ‘Eaters win with Ross recording the victory after 4.1 innings pitched, three strikeouts, and two hits and one run given up. The ‘Eaters pitching gave up a total of six hits to the Aztecs as the offense recorded ten hits.
In a post-game interview Ross reflected on his performance against the Aztecs.
“I always trust Danny [assistant coach Daniel Bibona], he always calls a great game. Height is really important — throwing the fastball down low,” Ross told New University. “When I’m doing that, I feel like I can be successful against anyone. The splitter took a little bit to kind of get going, but by the third inning, we had that going and it felt good.”
Ross also shared his thoughts on taking the home opener for the 2026 season.
“It’s great, nothing like the Cich [Cicerone Field] — it’s a great environment with great fans,” Ross said. “Nothing like playing a home game, so I’m glad to be back and can’t wait for many more.”
The Anteaters extended their four-game winning streak to five as they defeated the UC Berkeley Golden Bears at Anteater Ballpark, 5-3, on Feb. 20. The ‘Eaters dropped the series against the Bears with an 11-2 loss on Feb. 21 and 4-2 loss on Feb. 22.
Gissel Delgado is a Sports Staff Writer. She can be reached at gissead1@uci.edu.
Edited by Jack Fedor and Riley Schnittger