‘Eaters win 1-0 thriller

Barry Faulkner

The Big West Conference standings won’t budge at all, but UC Irvine

may have moved more than a season-high home crowd of 1,243 with a 1-0 nonconference baseball victory over Big West rival Long Beach State

Saturday night.

“No doubt about it,” UCI junior right-hander Brett Smith said of

the more than casual significance of the thrilling win.

“[The No. 7-ranked 49ers] are having an unbelievable season and so

are we,” added Smith, who teamed with freshman closer Blair Erickson

on a three-hit shutout that upped his record to 5-0. “We knew it was

going to be a battle. I love pitching in these kinds of games. This

was so much fun.”

There figure to be many more of these kinds of games, but the No.

19-ranked Anteaters (17-6-1), may not find any more pivotal to their

quest to turn their third season after a 10-year hiatus into a strong

postseason push.

“This was a special win,” UCI Coach John Savage said. “Any time

you have the No. 7-ranked team at your place, you’re happy if you

play them tough, let alone win. One pitch, either way, was the

difference in this game and we were fortunate to have come away with

the victory. How often do you see a 1-0 game in Division I. That goes

to show you how important pitching and defense can be. I think Long

Beach has the best pitching and defense in the country. We’re not

there yet, so we’re just trying to follow their model.”

Instead, the Anteaters provided the tough act to follow, whether

it was pitching, defense, or heroic hitting.

Sophomore third baseman Matt Anderson handled the latter for the

‘Eaters, yanking a high curveball over the right-field wall for the

game’s only run in the fourth inning.

“He left it up and I stayed short on it,” said Anderson of the

only one of the nine hits in the game that mattered.

Anderson said the way Smith was throwing, he figured his second

dinger of the season had a chance to hold up.

Smith, who worked all but the final out of UCI’s 3-0 win over

Minnesota on March 18, tired in the eighth, however, and Erickson,

who notched his 10th save, came on to close the deal.

But not without some high drama in the top of the eighth.

Savage took the ball from Smith after a leadoff walk, a wild pitch

and sacrifice bunt sparked a 49er rally. With the middle infielders

playing back, clearly conceding the run on a ground ball, Erickson

walked the first hitter he faced to put runners at the corners.

Erickson went 3-1 on the next hitter, before Long Beach, nicknamed

the Dirtbags, largely based on their reputation for aggressively

manufacturing runs, tried a delayed double steal.

UCI catcher Matt Wagner quickly gunned to second baseman Matt

Fisher in front of the second-base bag as the runner breaking from

first stopped and retreated, hoping to draw attention in a rundown.

But Fisher, anticipating the runner at third’s break for the plate,

veered toward third base and fired to Anderson, who made the tag

before the runner could dive back to third.

On the next pitch, Erickson blew a high fastball past Brad Davis

for the third out, triggering an exultant explosion from the

Anteaters on the field, in the dugout, as well as the fans

overflowing from the stands onto the grassy hill behind the visitors’

dugout.

Long Beach State Coach Mike Weathers, who was ejected in the fifth

inning for arguing over a would-be base stealer being thrown out at

second, and watched the rest of the game from the bullpen deep in

right field, said he didn’t know what play was called by the 49ers.

Savage, however, said he knew the 49ers would try something in

that situation.

“We thought they would put something on, but we had a play on,

too. Fortunately, we executed. Fisher stepped up and made a play. And

the best thing was, the runner at first never went to second. So, we

went from 3-1 with runners on the corners to being out of it in two

pitches. That’s baseball, right? Expect the unexpected.” UCI has come

to expect excellence from Smith, who fanned seven and walked three in

what he called his best outing of the year.

“It’s fun to have watched a guy grow up right in front of our eyes

and learn how to pitch,” Savage said of his third-year ace. “There

may be guys who have a better fastball, breaking ball and change, but

there aren’t too many who can bring the combination he can. He got

tougher in tough situations tonight, which is the mark of a real

competitor.” Long Beach starter Cesar Ramos gave up five hits, struck

out six and walked only one in seven strong innings, helping UCI

strand seven runners.

But the visitors (18-6) left just four runners on base to become

Irvine’s fourth shutout victim this season. It was the first time in

58 games the 49ers had been blanked, dating back to last season.

UCI came in with a team ERA of 3.01, while Long Beach came in at

1.91.

ZOTS - Saturday’s attendance of 1,243 was a season high for UC

Irvine, topping the 1,032 that attended the 6-0 win over UCLA ... In

a two-game nonconference series between the two top pitching staffs

in the Big West Conference, the Anteaters missed facing Long Beach

State All-American Jared Weaver. Weaver, who tied a school record by

striking out 16 in six innings of a 10-1 nonconference win over

Wichita State Wednesday, is 8-0 with an 0.64 ERA and has 89

strikeouts in 56 2/3 innings this season. He has allowed just 22 hits

and walked eight ... Today’s 1 p.m. series finale pits UCI senior

Glenn Swanson (4-1, 3.74 ERA) against 49ers freshman left-hander

Brandon Villalobos (1-0, 4.50) ... UCI senior second baseman Matt

Fisher entered Saturday’s game with eight sacrifice hits this season,

just three off the school single-season record held by Brian Hester

(1976) and Dave Lyons (1974) ... Long Beach State played without

starting second baseman Chuck Sindlinger, who is our for four weeks

with a wrist injury. Senior T.J. Bruce, who came in hitting .147 (5

for 34) started in Sindlinger’s place ... UCI is now 48-34-1 all-time

against Long Beach State.

*--*

Nonconference

UC Irvine 1, Long Beach State 0

Score by Innings

LB State 000 000 000 - 0 3 3

UC Irvine 000 100 00x - 1 6 1

Ramos, Anderson (8) and Davis; Smith,

Erickson (8) and Wagner. W - Smith, 5-0 .

L - Ramos, 4-2. Sv - Erickson (10). 3B -

Mocny (LB). HR - Anderson (UCI).

*--*