Game slips past ‘Eaters

Barry Faulkner

It was a breaking ball that slipped through the grasp and between the

legs of UC Irvine catcher Mark Wagner that allowed the game’s only

run to score in the Anteaters’ 1-0 Big West Conference baseball loss

to visiting UC Riverside Saturday.

Now, the Anteaters (33-18-1, 9-11 in the Big West), who

surrendered any chance of finishing in the top three in the

conference with the loss, must hope the ball that trickled away is

not an accurate metaphor for their NCAA postseason aspirations.

“I think [Wagner] thought the ball was going to bounce and he went

down to block it and it scooted underneath him,” UC Irvine Coach John

Savage said of the run-scoring passed ball, Wagner’s 12th of the

season, on a 2-1 pitch by reliever Steve Schroer with one out and a

runner on third in the eighth.

“I told the team [afterward] that it’s never about one play. And

it’s not about one pitch. Come on, we’re out here for 2 1/2 hours

and there were opportunities for both teams to score some runs, so,

it was just unfortunate that a run came across that way.”

Riverside’s opportunistic score was about the only misfortune that

befell either pitching staff, as UCI junior starter Glenn Swanson

returned to the form that had eluded him for 43 days since his last

win, April 9 in the Big West-opening series against UC Santa Barbara.

Swanson, who had yielded 22 earned runs and 26 hits in his

previous 16 innings coming in (a 12.37 ERA) -- spanning four starts

and a relief appearance -- worked into the eighth and left with only

zeroes on the scoreboard. The left-hander, whose sunny disposition

and extreme competitive nature made it all the more difficult for UCI

coaches, teammates and UCI supporters to watch him endure his recent

struggles, struck out the first two Highlander hitters, retired the

first 11 he faced and gave up just two hits before Kyle Barratt lined

a leadoff double into the left-center field gap to open the eighth.

“[Swanson] was impressive, very confident,” Savage said. “We call

it that Swanson swagger and he had it back, and it was fun to watch

again.”

But Swanson, who took the tough-luck loss to fall to 6-3, was not

the most impressive pitcher in the game. That was Riverside senior

right-hander John Martinez, who threw a complete-game three-hitter to

improve to 9-2.

“Swanson pitched outstanding and we had to have somebody come up

huge for us and [Martinez] did that,” said Riverside Coach Jack

Smitheran, who called the game, only Martinez’s second complete game

of the spring, the pitcher’s best outing of the year.

“That’s about as good as it can get. [Martinez] is about as good a

competitor I’ve had in 35 years.” Martinez and Savage fully agreed.

“I think that might be one of the best feelings I’ve ever had in

my whole life,” said Martinez, who struck out seven, walked two,

allowed only one runner to reach second (none reached third) and

faced just four more than the minimum.

“That was as well-pitched a game as I’ve seen all year by both

starting pitchers,” Savage said. “They both dominated the game.”

The game came down to the eighth, when Barratt, whose double

knocked Swanson from the game -- to a thunderous and largely standing

ovation from the home crowd as he strode to the dugout -- moved to

third on a sacrifice bunt.

“Somebody had to blink and, fortunately for us, we were in a

position to score when somebody did.” Smitheran said.

After the passed ball, which did not appear to hit the ground

until it slipped through Wagner, Schroer retired the next two

hitters.

Jordan Szabo, whose double with two outs in the third was the

‘Eaters most impressive offensive feat, reached to lead off the UCI

eighth when Barratt, playing first base, booted Szabo’s ground ball

near the bag.

Designated hitter Cody Cipriano whacked a comebacker that

deflected off Martinez’s glove, to shortstop Brian Steinmayer, who

stepped on second for the force. Had Martinez not gotten a his glove

on the hard-hit grounder, it would have gone into center field.

Matt Anderson singled with one out in the ninth, but was left on

first when Martinez, grunting on every pitch and topping only about

85 mph with his mix of cut fastballs, fastballs, changeups and

curves, induced a fly to right and struck out the final Anteater

hitter.

Matt Fisher’s swinging bunt to lead off the UCI first was the only

other Anteater hit.

Riverside (33-23, 10-9) is one game ahead of UC Santa Barbara,

while UCI drops into a fifth-place tie with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Savage, however, believes the Anteaters can still make the

postseason.

“We’ve played well for most of the entire season,” Savage said.

“For the Big West to get three teams [into an NCAA regional] and not

four would be really an injustice, in terms of the league’s power

ratings, the league’s RPI. I truly believe this conference deserves

four teams and anybody that has played this conference, would have to

agree, I would think.”

*--*

Big West Conference

UC Riverside 1, UCI 0

Score by Innings

UCR 000 000 010 - 1 6 1

UCI 000 000 000 - 0 3 0

Martinez and Collette; Swanson, Schroer

(8), Erickson (9) and Wagner. W -

Martinez, 8-2. L - Swanson, 6-3. 2B -

Barratt (UCR), Szabo (UCI).

*--*