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.
*--*
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