Arizona wins battle of lefties

Richard Dunn

Knowing the opponent came with a reputation Friday night, UC Irvine

sophomore left-hander Glenn Swanson was a little extra fired up to

pitch in the host Anteaters’ nonconference baseball game against the

University of Arizona.

“I liked it,” Swanson, with a grin, said of facing the Wildcats in

the opener of a three-game series.

Arizona, however, started its own ace left-hander, junior Joe

Little, who helped the Wildcats post their first shutout in over a

year with a 3-0 victory over the Anteaters (2-3).

So, in a duel of southpaws throwing goose eggs on the scoreboard,

Little had the biggest finish with seven strong innings, in which he

struck out a career-high 11, walked two and yielded only three hits,

including an infield single.

Arizona (4-3), which has appeared in the College World Series 14

times but none since 1986 when it captured the last of its three

national championships, broke the scoreless tie with a run in the

seventh inning against UCI reliever Steve Schroer.

“It was like a drink of water,” Little said of the game’s run,

before taking the mound in the bottom of the seventh. “It was

refreshing to see that run up there and get a lead like that.”

Little, a Tom Glavine pitch-alike, had pro scouts drooling with

his control and command of four pitches, including a fastball clocked

at 90 mph.

“Little is a front-line Division I Pac 10 starter who is a

legitimate prospect,” UC Irvine Coach John Savage said. “He threw a

ton of strikes and was the difference in the game.”

Little, who made 114 pitches, was never in trouble. UCI’s biggest

threat against him was a two-out double by catcher Mark Wagner in the

first inning. No other Anteater reached second base -- and that goes

for the eighth and ninth innings, when Arizona freshman right-hander

John Meloan closed the door on UCI to record his first save.

Arizona scored in the seventh when No. 9 hitter Lee Franklin, who

was only in the lineup because regular third baseman Brad Boyer was

sick and stayed at the hotel, scored John Hardy on a sacrifice fly to

left field.

Hardy opened the seventh with a single against Schroer, the losing

pitcher, and moved to second on a wild pitch. Hardy took third on a

balk before scoring on Franklin’s liner to left, which was snagged by

UCI’s Chris Klemm, whose throw to the plate came up short before it

was cut off.

Arizona, which hadn’t pitched a shutout since Feb. 7 of last year

against San Diego State in a 1-0 win, scored twice in the ninth

against the UCI bullpen to pull away.

“It seems like we’re in a lot of close games,” Savage said. “Every

game is decided by a couple of runs. Our pitching’s there, and our

offense will catch up to our pitching. Right now our pitching’s a

little ahead of our offense.”

Taking Swanson out was an easy decision, Savage said, despite the

fact that Swanson was spinning a shutout through six innings.

“At 90 pitches (actually 87), with it being early in the year and

on a cold night, I thought it was in the best interest for him and

the team, and certainly because of the way our bullpen has been

pitching,” said Savage, who will send sophomore right-hander Brett

Smith (1-0) to the hill in the second game against Arizona tonight at

6.

Swanson, who got a no-decision in his first start this season

against Santa Clara, has yet to allow an earned run.

“Coach told me I was coming out right after (the sixth inning),”

Swanson said. “My arm was getting a little tired, but I like to pitch

in the later innings. Sometimes I get stronger ... but I figured

somebody’s got to score, and I figured we’d definitely answer with a

run.”

Swanson scattered seven hits, struck out five, walked one and hit

a batter. In the fifth, Arizona put runners on second and third with

two outs, but Swanson got No. 3 hitter Moises Duran to pop up and end

the threat.

“We didn’t score any runs, and it’s hard to win when you don’t

score,” Savage said.

Arizona freshman catcher Nick Hundley opened the ninth for the

Wildcats with a double to left field, chasing Schroer. With

left-hander Pat Reilly stepping to the plate with an 11-game hitting

streak on the line, Savage countered with lefty reliever Phil

Tripoli, who was tagged a single to right, which plated Hundley and

extended Reilly’s hitting streak.

UCI’s Kris Krise replaced Tripoli after only one hitter and the

first batter he faced, Hardy, reached on a throwing error. With

runners at second and third, Krise uncorked a wild pitch, scoring

Reilly from third to give the visitors a comfortable 3-0 edge.

Meloan, who earned the win in his first appearance this season,

shut down six straight UCI hitters to finish matters.