The UC Irvine Baseball team (6-2) won against the Grand Canyon University (GCU) Lopes (2-6), 3-0, after seven scoreless innings at Anteater Ballpark on Feb. 24. This win for the Anteaters broke a two-game losing streak that started over the weekend against the UC Berkeley Golden Bears.
With the redshirt senior right-handed starting pitcher Finnegan Wall on the mound for Irvine, the Anteaters found themselves in a bases-loaded jam at the top of the first. After striking out lead-off hitter graduate second baseman Vince Bianchina, Wall gave up a single to the Lopes’ graduate catcher Mito Perez. The two following hitters would put up an intense battle against Wall, who walked both senior designated hitter Dominic Chacon and junior first baseman Cannon Peery to load the bases.
On the third pitch from Wall, GCU’s junior right fielder Billy Scaldeferri grounded out to Irvine’s redshirt junior third baseman Auggie Gutierrez, who turned the play to junior second baseman Noah Alvarez and then redshirt junior first baseman Alonso Reyes for the inning-ending double play.
Despite the Lopes not being able to jump on an early lead, their senior right-handed pitcher Elijah Higginbottom took care of the top of the ‘Eaters lineup with two strikeouts, but not without giving up a single to junior shortstop Zach Fjelstad.
A pitcher’s duel between Wall and Higginbottom ensued as each side’s offense kept trying to make contact to get on base for some run support.
In the top of the third, the Lopes’ junior center fielder Griffin Cameron singled up the middle — even reaching scoring position on a wild pitch from Wall — but was stranded as Wall secured the outing with a strikeout against Chacon.
In a similar fashion for Irvine, Alvarez singled to right field but could not score as Fjelstad lined out to end the third for Higginbottom.
GCU found another chance to score in the top of the fifth with a two-out single from Perez to left, advancing Bianchina, who was now on second after being previously walked by Wall. A grounder from Chacon allowed for a fielder’s choice by Alvarez, who flipped the ball to Fjelstad at second for the third out.
The ‘Eaters also came close to getting a man home in the bottom of the fifth as junior center fielder Tommy Farmer powered a single to the left side. Gutierrez laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Farmer to second. Although Irvine’s sophomore catcher Efren Ortega grounded out to second, GCU could not turn the play, leaving Farmer safe at third. A well hit grounder from Alvarez was stopped by Bianchina to end the inning, leaving another ‘Eaters runner stranded.
By the sixth inning, both teams brought in relievers for their starters — freshman right-handed pitcher Hunter Manning coming in for the ‘Eaters and junior right-handed pitcher Tommy McGuire coming in for the Lopes.
A moment of uneasiness surged in the seventh inning for Manning when he faced the middle of the Lopes lineup. After walking sophomore third baseman Jake Sanko, who then advanced on a ground out from junior shortstop Camden Bates, a violation was called on Manning. A ball was added to Cameron’s 2-1 count, putting Manning behind the hitter 3-1 with a runner on second.
“It was a pitch clock violation — I stepped off and you only get one step off per batter,” Manning told New University. “I came [to] set while the batter wasn’t looking at me so it was an automatic ball.”
Manning did not let this interrupt his rhythm as he struck out Cameron and Bianchina fouled to Gutierrez to secure the final out of the top of the seventh.
It wasn’t until the bottom of the eighth inning that the ‘Eaters scored the first run of the game.
Ortega started off the eighth with a hit by pitch, but redshirt sophomore outfielder Kai Smith came in to pinch run for him. Alvarez hit a grounder to Bates, who stumbled and could not properly field the ball for an out, leaving both runners safe. In what should have been a routine double play for the Lopes resulted in an error for them and allowed the Anteaters to capitalize on the chance.
With two runners on, Fjelstad singled through the left side to score Smith for an RBI, putting the ‘Eaters up 1-0. The Lopes brought in senior right-handed pitcher Aidan Lee to relieve McGuire, but the Anteaters continued to look for some extra runs.
In a post-game interview, Fjelstad commented on his big hit to score the first run of the game.
“I knew they were gonna let me hit, so I needed a good fastball. First pitch was a slider — I thought it was a little off — next pitch [was a] fastball which I missed unfortunately,” Fjelstand told New University. “At that point I thought ‘I can’t strike out here,’ just put something in play. I hit it where they weren’t playing, so that was the best part.”
A single from redshirt junior right fielder Frankie Carney to right center loaded the bases up for Reyes, who remained disciplined in his at-bat and walked to get another run for the ‘Eaters, extending the lead to 2-0.
With one out, Irvine’s senior outfielder Rowan Felsch struck out for the second out, but in a confused frenzy, Fjelstad stepped off third base toward the dugout, prompting Perez to throw to Sanko at third. Fjelstad was caught in a pickle, but successfully stole home with no one covering and was called safe to score the Anteaters’ third run of the game.
“I don’t know how that goes in the book, but that was definitely a mistake. I got completely lucky,” Fjelstad said. “I messed up, I thought there were two outs so strike three and I start walking back to the dugout. Luckily I was safe, so that was the best part.”
A line out from Farmer put an end to the eighth inning, but not without Irvine managing to lead 3-0.
The ‘Eaters brought in redshirt junior left-handed pitcher Ryder Brooks to close out the game in the top of the ninth. Although Sanko singled up the middle, the Lopes could not make a breakthrough and recorded their last out on a ground out from Bianchina to Fjelstad.
Although GCU outhit Irvine 7-6, the ‘Eaters won 3-0 with the Lopes recording one error.
The ‘Eaters once again faced the Lopes the following day in an intense extra-innings battle, but ultimately dropped the game, 9-4 in ten innings. The ‘Eaters then hit the road for the weekend to Las Vegas for the Live Like Lou Las Vegas Classic, where they defeated Vanderbilt University 9-4 on Feb. 27 at the Las Vegas Ballpark.
Gissel Delgado is a Sports Staff Writer. She can be reached at gissead1@uci.edu.
Edited by Jack Fedor and Joshua Gonzales
