The UC Irvine Baseball team (13-17, 5-6) won against the UC Davis (UCD) (11-16, 5-9) Aggies, 7-2, on April 3. The Anteaters also won the night before against the Aggies, beating them 4-1 on April 2.
Starting off the game with UCI senior right-handed pitcher Jack Ross, the top of the first inning ended with UCD getting senior pitcher Braydon Wooldridge to first base, before Ross struck out senior third baseman Korey Williams, the third out. In the bottom of the first inning, UCD had a base-loaded jam, and Anteater’s redshirt junior right fielder Frankie Carney got in a run, putting the Anteaters in the lead. Shortly after, senior left fielder Rowan Felsch struck out swinging, concluding the first inning.
UCI continued their superb fielding into the second inning, preventing the Aggies from scoring any runs. UCD sophomore designated hitter Zach Story got caught stealing, ending the first half of the inning and leaving zero men on base. At the bottom of the second inning, UCI’s redshirt freshman center fielder Zach Doyle hit a single up the middle, helping senior catcher Zach Crandall get home, effectively bringing the score to 2-0.
At the top of the third inning, UCI got the first three UCD batters — senior third baseman Ryan Lee, senior infielder Joey Wright and junior infielder Tyler Howard — out at first base. In the bottom of the inning, junior second baseman Noah Alvarez hit to right center, getting redshirt junior third baseman Auggie Gutierrez home, and then scored in the next play when Crandall was also hit by pitch.
At the top of the fourth inning, UCI had a double play after striking a player out, getting Williams out at second and Wooldridge out at first, concluding the top half without letting UCD gain a run. The Aggies returned this notion in the bottom of the fourth inning, preventing UCI from scoring again.
The Aggies scored their first run in the fifth inning. Story hit by pitch and made it home after freshman shortstop Elijah McNeal singled to left field, bringing the score 1-4. In the bottom of the fifth inning, UCI got another run with Alvarez getting home after hitting a single, stealing second base and finally scoring after Crandall hit to left field.
UCI scored twice more in the sixth inning, getting runs from Doyle and Carney. Both teams this inning subbed out their pitchers: Ross for junior left-handed pitcher Ricky Ojeda on the Anteaters and senior left-handed pitcher Jack Meek for freshman right-handed pitcher Eli Solem on the Aggies.
In the 9th inning, UCD scored a second and final time. Wooldridge got a run before the game was called after sophomore first baseman and pitcher Keenan Anzai singled to left field. However, in the next play, Anzai was out at second base, and the game was called.
The Anteaters won 7-2, as well as leading in hits with 10-7.
“It’s just buying into what coach Ben says and taking it to heart,” Ross told New University when asked about how the team morale stayed high through game weeks like this one. “We’ve got a lot of belief in the team and in each other.”
Milo Cramer is a Sports Intern for the spring 2026 quarter. They can be reached at mncramer@uci.edu.
Edited by Jack Fedor and Sasha Alikhanov
