UCI rally comes up run short

UC Irvine committed all three of its errors in the seventh inning to

help host Cal State Fullerton score four runs that proved to be the

difference in a 6-5 Big West Conference baseball win Sunday.

The rubber game of the three-game series was knotted, 2-2, through

six innings, before the No. 2-ranked Titans (20-7, 2-1 in conference) parlayed two singles and a double, one hit batsman and three UCI

fielding miscues, into four runs, two unearned.

UCI (14-13, 1-2), which won the opener Friday in an attempt to win

the first season series from the reigning national champions since

1985, scored three times in the eighth. But Fullerton reliever Vinnie

Pestano fanned pinch-hitter Bryan Peterson to leave the bases loaded

and preserve the one-run cushion.

The Anteaters had one last gasp in the ninth when junior catcher

Mark Wagner singled with two out. But Pestano struck out Erik Johnson

to end the game.

Wagner was 3 for 4 with two RBIs to lead the Anteaters’ 12-hit

attack, which mached Fullerton’s total. Wagner was 7 for 12 in the

series.

Junior third baseman Matt Anderson was 2 for 5 Sunday and 6 for 11

in the series. But his error with one out in the seventh opened the

floodgates for the Titans.

After Anderson’s miscue, Brett Pill was hit by a pitch and Felipe

Garcia singled to left to drive in the go-ahead run. Johnson,

however, mishandled the ball for an error, then threw wildly to third

for a second error, allowing a second run to score on the play. A

single and sacrifice fly produced two more runs.

Steve Schroer and Blair Erickson each threw three effective

innings (each surrendering one run], before Nash Robertson came on in

the seventh and absorbed the tough-luck loss.

UCI returns to conference play with a three-game series against

visiting Long Beach State, beginning Friday at 6 p.m. The 49ers swept

UC Riverside for a 3-0 conference start.