UC Irvine Baseball (25-27, 14-16) won against California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB) (23-32, 11-19) Roadrunners 10-7 at Anteater Ballpark on May 16. The win concluded their season, finishing the Anteaters’ senior night on a high note.
At the top of the first inning, CSU Bakersfield was shut out by UCI’s fielding, never getting a man on base. In the bottom of the first, Anteater outfielder Daniel Polasek scored the first run of the game when first baseman Alonso Reyes flew out to left field.
CSUB scored their first two runs in the top of the second inning. Roadrunner redshirt senior infielder Garrett Teunissen hit a home run, bringing both himself and graduate student outfielder Nick Mascaro to home plate. In the bottom of the second inning, UCI junior infielder Zach Fjelstad stole home, bringing the score to 2-2.
At the top of the third inning, CSUB senior outfielder Elgin Bennett scored when junior catcher Kanoa Morisaki grounded out to second base. UCI also scored in the third inning, after ‘Eater redshirt junior infielder Frankie Carney reached first on a fielding error, and then got a run when sophomore catcher Efren Ortega flew out to left field. Tying up the score again, the third inning ended 3-3.
Neither team scored in the fourth inning, and CSUB didn’t get any runs in the top of the fifth inning either. In the bottom of the fifth, however, the Anteaters came alive and scored four runs. Ortega hit a double to left field, and both Reyes and freshman infielder Lucas Schermer scored. Shortly after, redshirt junior infielder Auggie Gutierrez doubled to left center, and Ortega ran home. Three plays later, Fjelstad singled up the middle and Gutierrez got the final run of the inning.
Due to amazing fielding from UCI, CSUB was once again not able to score in the top of the sixth inning. In the bottom of the sixth inning, redshirt senior catcher Zach Crandall singled up the middle, and both Reyes and Schermer scored. At the end of the sixth inning, the score was 9-3, looking like a promising game for the Anteaters.
In the top of the seventh inning, the Roadrunners put up a good fight. Freshman outfielder Taison Miller singled to Anteater redshirt senior right-handed pitcher Danny Suarez, and Teunissen scored. Senior first baseman Evan Cloyd doubled down the left field line, getting Miller and redshirt senior infielder Dusty Vela home, scoring two more runs, bringing the score 9-6. In the bottom of the seventh inning, redshirt junior infielder James Castagnola singled to the pitcher, and Polasek scored unearned after he reached first on a fielding error.
At the top of the eighth inning, Bakersfield scored for the last time. Roadrunner freshman infielder Devon Wilkes grounded out to shortstop, and Vela ran home, bringing the score to 10-7. After the top of the eighth, neither team scored during the game.
The Anteaters claimed the win on their senior night, wrapping up their 2026 season with 14 conference wins and 25 wins overall.
Milo Cramer is a Sports Intern for the spring 2026 quarter. They can be reached at mncramer@uci.edu.
Edited by Jack Fedor and Tracy Sandoval