Anteaters win again at Cal Poly

Sophomore first baseman Jaime Martinez went 4 for 5 with two home

runs and freshman closer Blair Erickson earned his nation-leading

15th save Saturday as visiting UC Irvine posted a 9-8 Big West

Conference baseball victory over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

The Anteaters (30-13-1, 7-7 in conference) clinched the three-game

series with their second straight victory. UCI remains tied for

fourth place with UC Santa Barbara, two games behind third-place UC

Riverside with seven Big West games remaining.

Erickson, who surrendered an unearned run and allowed the

potential tying run to reach in the ninth inning, broke the

conference single-season freshman record for saves. The mark had

belonged to former Cal State Fullerton standout Chad Cordero.

UCI junior starter Glenn Swanson entered his third inning with a

7-0 lead, but for the fourth consecutive start, failed to last long

enough to be eligible for his seventh win. Instead, Swanson

surrendered four runs in the third and was relieved with two outs by

Michael Koehler.

After Koehler gave up a hit, freshman David Huff was summoned and

he worked 2 1/3 innings to get his third victory in as many

decisions.

Steve Schroer worked 2 1/3 scoreless relief innings before turning

it over to Erickson.

UCI sophomore catcher Mark Wagner doubled in two runs in the

second and singled in two more in a five-run third to help put the

visitors on top.

Martinez whacked his first solo homer in the fifth and added the

second, his fifth of the season, for what proved to be a valuable

insurance run in the ninth. He also delivered an RBI single in the

third.

Junior outfielder Jordan Szabo also had four hits for the

Anteaters. He drove in one run, as did sophomore shortstop Kyle

Rykebosch.

Cal Poly, which entered the series in a fourth-place tie with UCI

and UCSB, fell to 33-21-1, 5-9.

Leadoff man Sam Hebert paced the Mustangs’ 15-hit attack, going 3

for 3 with three RBIs.

*--*

Big West Conference

UC Irvine 9, Cal Poly SLO 8

Score by Innings

UCI 025 010 001 -- 9 12 1

SLO 004 102 001 -- 8 15 1

Swanson, Koelhler (3), Huff (3), Nicol

(6), Schroer (6), Erickson (9) and

Wagner; LeDuc, Olson (3), Moser (8) and

Taillon. W -- Huff, 3-0. L -- LeDuc,

4-3. Sv -- Erickson (15). 2B -- Wagner

(UCI), Rykebosch (UCI), Herbert (CP),

Roberts (CP), Mayo (CP) 2, Berglund

(CP). HR -- Martinez (UCI) 2.

*--*