UC Irvine wins opening battle at Baylor

UC Irvine reliever Blair Erickson struck out three of the final seven

batters to record his sixth save of the season and preserve a 3-2 win

over nonconference host Baylor Friday.

UCI (10-3-1) entered the first of a three-game series with a No.

25 ranking in Collegiate Baseball, while Baylor (4-8) is ranked 25th

in Baseball America.

Matt Anderson collected a two-run double in the top of the third

and Brett Dalton’s grounder in the top of the fourth brought in

designated hitter R.J. Brown to give UCI a 3-0 lead.

Anteater starter Brett Smith, who improved to 3-0, struck out five

and allowed 10 hits. He was relieved after one out in the seventh

inning, giving way to Erickson.

The two teams meet again today at 2 p.m.

*--*

Nonconference

UC Irvine 3, Baylor 2

Score by Innings

UCI 002 100 000 - 3 9 1

Baylor 000 110 000 -- 2 11 0

Smith, Erickson (8) and Wagner;

McCormick, LaMotta (6) and Dillon. W --

Smith, 3-0. L -- McCormick, 4-8. Sv --

Erickson (6). HR -- Griffin (B).

*--*

Sea Kings win in five

* VOLLEYBALL: The Welch brothers, Kevin and Tom, recorded 22 and

16 kills, respectively, to help lead the Corona del Mar High boys

volleyball team to a 28-26, 26-24, 20-25, 20-25, 16-14 season-opening

victory over nonleague visitor Capistrano Valley Friday.

Kevin Welch also had seven digs, while Tom contributed 12 digs.

Senior Dominic Rubino amassed 53 assists and six digs, while Austin

Brawner added seven kills.

Corona del Mar overcame a 13-12 deficit in the fifth game.

“It was tied 14-14,” Conti said. “Shane Collins made an incredible

dig that led to the 15th point and Ben Applebee served [an ace] for

the win.”

Capistrano Valley dropped to 0-2.

Cassidy leads Coast

* GOLF: Freshman Jason Cassidy (Estancia High) birdied six holes

in en route to earning medalist honors with a 3-over-par 75 to lead

the Orange Coast College golf team to a 415-431 nonconference win

over host Mt. San Jacinto Friday at the SCPGA Course in Beaumont.

Peter Baker (Estancia) followed with an 83 while Chad St. John

shot 84. Joo Namkoong carded an 85 while Alex Dugger tallied an 88

for Coast (4-2, 3-1 in the Orange Empire Conference).

Lions win in overtime

* BASKETBALL: The Vanguard men’s basketball team went on a 12-0

run in overtime and went on to defeat Golden State Athletic

Conference host California Baptist, 87-81, Friday.

Lions guard Kevin Dalafu grabbed an offensive rebound and hit an

off-balance jumper along the baseline with four seconds left in

regulation to force overtime at 71-71. All five Vanguard starters

scored in double figures, helping the Lions (14-16, 7-12 in

conference) clinch a spot in the GSAC tournament. Horace Wormely led

the Lions with 20 points.

*--*

Golden State Athletic Conference

Vanguard 87, Cal Baptist 81, OT

Vanguard -- Burnette 15, Wormely 20, Dalafu 13, Rosborough 19, Kim 12, Enns 6, Seekins 2. 3-pt. goals -- Rosborough 3, Wormely 2, Dalafu 1, Kim 1. Fouled out -- Wormely. Cal Baptist -- Lands 30, Holmes 11, Seidel 5, Fritts 11, Ojanen 6, Pierre-Fanfan

10, Bailey 4, Buchanan 4. 3-pt. goals -- Bailey 1, Ojanen 1, Fritts 1, Seidel 1. Fouled out -- Seidel. Halftime -- VU, 38-34. Regulation -- 71-71.

*--*

Mesa sweeps Calvary

* VOLLEYBALL: Through two matches, the Costa Mesa High boys

volleyball team has already equaled its win total of a year ago.

Mitch Mandel and Ryan Bagwell each had 11 kills while Garrett

Walthers added 10 for the host Mustangs in a 25-18, 25-16, 25-16 nonleague victory over Calvary Chapel Friday.

Sophomore Andrew Melcer had 16 assists while senior Marko

Stankovic, a center on the boys basketball team, tallied three stuff

blocks. This is Stankovic’s first season playing volleyball.

Trevor Smith led Mesa (2-0) with 16 digs.

The Mustangs host Sage Hill at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Coast cruises to wins

* TRACK AND FIELD: The Orange Coast College men’s and women’s

track and field teams posted dominating victories over visiting

Santiago Canyon Friday to each remain undefeated (2-0) in the Orange

Empire Conference. The men scored a 130-9 triumph while the women

earned a 127-9 victory.

The Coast men won all but one event as Matt McKeehan captured the

1,500 meters in 4:02.1. The Pirates had 11 different athletes win

events with David Bare, Peter Bas and Son Thai capturing two apiece.

Bare won the javelin (143 feet, 9 inches) and the pole vault (14-6)

while Bas captured the 400 (52.6) and 400 hurdles (57.2). Thai

claimed the 100 (11.6) and 200 (23.8).

The women took top honors in each event with Gegi Van De Walker

(Costa Mesa High) claiming four. She won the 100 (13.1), 200 (26.5),

100 hurdles (18.6) and the shot put (26-4 1/4). Tayler Cusick won the

long jump (15-11) and triple jump (33-3 3/4).

Bjargardottir qualifies

* SWIMMING: UC Irvine sophomore swimmer Lara Bjargardottir became

the first female swimmer in school history to qualify for the NCAA

Division I swimming and diving championships after clocking a 2:15.66

in the 200-meter breaststroke at last month’s Big West Conference

championships.

Four divers have previously qualified, most recently Jennifer

Chandler in 1980. The championships will be held March 18-20 in

College Station, Texas.

Bjargardottir currently holds five individual UCI records; 200

freestyle (1:51.96), 500 free (4:54.33), 200 breaststroke (2:15.66),

200 individual medley (2:03.01) and the 400 individual medley

(4:20.31).

OCC improves to 8-1

* VOLLEYBALL: The Orange Coast College men’s volleyball team

improved to 8-1 with a 30-27, 26-30, 30-27, 30-23 nonconference

victory over visiting Santa Barbara Friday night.

Sophomore Poyer Poia led the Pirates with 16 kills while Kaimana

Kamalani added 15 kills, eight digs and four blocks. Brahma Furtado

talled 14 kills and four blocks, hitting at a .429 clip. Sophomore

setter Mike Murphy tallied 63 assists while Matt Skolnik paced the

defense with 18 digs.

Vanguard stomps foe

* BASEBALL: Mike Sparks, Adam Yoder and Joe Candelaria each had

two hits to help lead the Vanguard University baseball team to a 9-1

nonconference victory over visiting Indiana Wesleyan Friday.

Isaac Salazar contributed three RBIs and David Hudgins brought in

two runs for the Lions (5-9), who snapped a seven-game skid had a

five-run fourth to help their cause. Vanguard finished with 11 hits.

Indiana Wesleyan (2-8) had 10 hits and scored its only run in the

ninth inning. Josh Franco got his first win of the season, producing

five scoreless innings. Relievers Matt Franco and Jason Brunett had

one scoreless inning each on the mound.

Eagles edge Lancers

* SWIMMING: Senior Paul Collier and sophomore Chad Kunert each won

two individual races to lead the host Estancia High boys swimming

team to an 85-79 nonleague victory over Orange Lutheran Friday.

Collier placed first in the 100- and 200-yard freestyle races in

55.31 and 2:07.69, respectively, while Kunert claimed the 500 free

(5:21.66), good for CIF consideration, and the 100 backstroke

(1:05.03). Sean Goodman in the 200 individual medley (2:23.46) and

Anthony Hermann in the 100 breaststroke (1:13.44) -- a personal best

-- also claimed victories for Estancia (2-0).

Jason Echanique, Collier, Goodman and Kunert claimed the 200 free

relay in 1:42.

An Orange Lutheran swimmer was disqualified in the 200 individual

medley race, the third event of the meet, causing a five-point

deduction.

VU runners fall short

* TRACK AND FIELD: Vanguard runners Mikael Larsson and Matt Meyer

competed Friday in the NAIA men’s indoor national championships at

Johnson City, Tenn., but missed advancing to today’s finals. Larsson

finished ninth out of 17 runners in the 1,000 meters (2:31.60), while

Meyer was 12th among 18 competitors in the 800 (1:57.72).

Cardinal outlasts UCI

* VOLLEYBALL: Jimmy Pelzel recorded a match-high 25 kills, but the

UC Irvine men’s volleyball team lost to Mountain Pacific Sports

Federation visitor Stanford in four games Friday night.

The Cardinal (7-11, 4-9 in the MPSF) won, 32-30, 30-32, 30-27,

30-27.

David Smith added 14 kills, while Brett Reid contributed 64

assists for the Anteaters (7-12, 3-9). Stanford had five players with

double-digit kills, including Craig Buell, who led with 16.

Sage Hill denied

* TENNIS: Junior No. 1 singles player Tristan Cordier swept, but

the Sage Hill School boys tennis team lost, 11-7, to nonleague host

Santa Margarita Friday.

Sophomore Ara Dimirjian collected two victories in singles for the

Lightning (1-1). Santa Margarita improved to 2-1.