Anteaters miss opportunity in 7-3 setback

The stage was set, it seemed, for the UC Irvine baseball team, but

the Anteaters did not deliver in their debut at the NCAA regional

Friday in South Bend, Ind.

UCI left 12 runners stranded and lost, 7-3, to Arizona at Notre

Dame. The Anteaters (34-22-1) also missed out on a favorable matchup,

as Kent State upset the Fighting Irish, the regional’s top seed, 2-1.

UCI, which defeated the Wildcats twice and tied them once in a

February road series, will try to bounce back in the

double-elimination regional. The Anteaters face Notre Dame (49-11)

today at 9 a.m. Glenn Swanson will start for the ‘Eaters.

“We had a lot of opportunities to cash in, but we weren’t able to

get the big hit,” UCI Coach John Savage said by telephone. “They

walked six. We had 10 hits and we left 12 on base. It was just a

frustrating night.”

The Wildcats (31-24-1), the designated visitors, scored two runs

in the first.

UCI left the bases loaded in the first, but later came back with

two runs in the third.

Matt Fisher, Jordan Szabo and Cody Cipriano had singles in the

third. With the bases loaded and one out, Mark Wagner singled to

center field, bringing in Fisher. An error in the outfield allowed

Szabo to score.

Tim Stewart singled to load the bases again, but David Kennedy hit

into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

Arizona scored single runs in the third and fourth innings, as

Jordan Brown and Derek Decatur smacked solo home runs. The Wildcats

pulled away with a three-run seventh, all with two outs, to grab a

7-2 lead.

In the Anteater seventh, UCI had the bases loaded with one out,

but did not score.

Matt Anderson had a sacrifice fly to score Kennedy for the

Anteaters’ final run in the eighth.

Junior right-hander Brett Smith went 6 2/3 innings, allowing six

runs on eight hits. He struck out six and walked two on 118 pitches.

With the first-year player draft looming Monday, it may have been

Smith’s final collegiate outing.

“It wasn’t one of his better performances,” Savage said. “He was

too excited. He settled down, but you have to give Arizona credit.

They did a real nice job of making him work. It was a little bit of

him and a little bit of them.”

Fisher went 2 for 3, while Szabo and Cipriano also had two hits

each.

Richard Mercado led Arizona with a 2-for-4 performance that came

with three RBIs. Wildcats starter Koley Kolbert improved to 9-6,

giving up eight hits in six innings.

*--*

NCAA regional

Arizona 7, UC Irvine 3

Score by Innings

Arizona 200 110 300 -- 7 10 1

UCI 002 000 010 -- 3 10 1

Kolberg, Burns (7) and Hundley; Smith,

Schroer (7),Koehler (9) and Wagner. W --

Kolberg, 9-6. L -- Smith, 8-5. Sv --

Burns (3). 2B -- Boyer (A), Donald (A).

HR -- Decatur (A), Brown (A).

*--*