‘Eaters topple Huskies in twin bill

Chris Yemma

The UC Irvine baseball team, cooped up for a day and an extra two

hours because of rain delays, released its tensions Saturday in its

home opener plus one.

The Anteaters were scheduled to host Washington Friday in what

would have been a home opener, but the rain forced the two teams to

play a doubleheader Saturday. UCI came out throwing heat in the first

game, and swinging deep in the second, on its way to back-to-back

victories over the Huskies in nonconference play at Anteater Stadium.

UCI rode the pitching of Chris Nicoll on its way to a 6-3

first-game victory, and rode a six-run first inning, peaked with a

Chad Lundahl grand slam, en route to an 8-3 second-game win.

In the early stages of a season that is showing promise,

first-year UCI Coach Dave Serrano has the Anteaters (4-1) thinking

big picture.

“I’m not afraid to say that my expectations are no different than

at the other schools I’ve worked at,” Serrano said. “And that’s to be

there at the big dance. I think I’d be selling these guys short and

myself short if we didn’t have those expectations.”

If there was any preseason questions about UCI’s capability this

season, some light was definitely shed after the Anteaters took care

of Washington (0-2), ranked No. 8 by Baseball America.

Huskies’ pitcher Tim Lincecum, a Collegiate Baseball preseason

All-American and member of the preseason All-Pac-10 team, made his

2005 debut against UCI, pitching 5 2/3 innings and allowing four

runs and six hits.

Nicoll, making his home debut, stole the spotlight from Lincecum,

as he pitched seven innings with eight strikeouts and only one run

scored against him. Nicoll was credited the win after Blair Erickson

came in during the eighth inning and finished the game off for the

Anteaters.

After allowing only four hits compared with Lincecum’s four runs,

and allowing just one run in 13 innings dating to a previous win

against Cal, Nicoll didn’t want to take anything away from the

preseason All-American.

“I don’t face [Lincecum], I face nine batters,” Nicoll said. “I

don’t think of it in terms of facing him.”

Issues of last year’s offensive production were put in check

Saturday as well.

After a two-run double in the first inning of Game 2 by Matt

Anderson, Lundahl stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and

smacked it over the right-field fence, 335 feet out, to give UCI a

6-0 cushion.

“It was an awesome feeling to get a hold of it like that,” Lundahl

said. “Doing anything like that to help the ballclub out to a big

lead is an awesome feeling.”

Lundahl’s seven RBIs this season are one more than his 2004 total,

while Anderson was 4 of 6 with a triple and a double. Gregg Wallis

went 2 for 5 with a double and Danny Miramontes was 3 for 6.

UCI added to its second-game lead, scoring a run in both the

second and third innings after R.J Brown and Wallis RBIs. And UCI

walked off the field, playing two days’ worth of baseball in one,

with two victories.

“This is a good start, but we still have a long way to go,”

Lundahl said. “We’re still building on stuff and learning from our

mistakes. I think we’re going to do well this year.”

Nonconference

First game

UC Irvine 6,

Washington 3

Score by Innings

*--*

Wash. 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 -- 3 7 1

UC Irvine 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 2 x -- 6 8 0

*--*

Lincecum, Dowling (6), Cononver (8) and Lane; Nicoll, Schroer (8),

Erickson (8) and Wagner. W -- Nicoll, 2-0. L -- Lincecum, 0-1. Sv --

Erickson (1). 2B -- Batkoski (W). 3B -- Anderson (UCI). HR -- Johnson

(W).

Second game

UC Irvine 8,

Washington 3

Score by Innings

*--*

Wash. 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 -- 3 7 3

UC Irvine 6 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 x -- 8 7 0

*--*

Parker, Ponzoha (3), Hague (7) and Dunn and Lane; Swanson, Koehler

(6) and Wagner. W -- Swanson, 1-0. L -- Parker, 0-1. Sv -- Koehler (1). 2B -- Burnham (W), Wallis (UCI), Anderson (UCI). 3B --

Lillibridge (W). HR -- Lundahl (UCI).