Anteaters’ capture fifth straight, 4-3

UC Irvine second baseman Cody Cipriano broke a 2-2 tie in the top of

the seventh with a solo home run and outfielder Danny Miramontes

drove in the eventual game-winning run in the eighth as the Anteaters

earned a 4-3 nonconference baseball win at Sacramento State Sunday.

The win, UCI’s fifth straight, upped the Anteaters’ record to

21-16, while the Hornets fell to 18-22.

Sacramento State’s Brett Flowers gave the team a 2-0 lead with an

RBI single in the first and a solo home run in the fourth off UCI

starter Gary Nakashima.

However, UCI’s Matt Anderson crossed the plate on a groundout by

Cipriano in the fifth and catcher Mark Wagner’s double drove in

outfielder Ollie Linton in the sixth to tie the game.

Nakashima pitched four innings, giving up two runs on four hits

while striking out three. He was relieved by Nash Robertson who

allowed a run in 2 1/3 innings to earn the win and improve to 3-2.

Reliever Steve Schroer pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings before

All-American closer Blair Erickson pitched a perfect ninth for his

seventh save of the season, the 24th of his young collegiate career.

Hornet starter Matt Campbell held UCI to two runs on four hits and

struck out three in 5 2/3 innings but was left with a no-decision.

Sacramento State reliever Marshall Plouffe fell to 2-2 after

yielding a pair of runs on three hits in 3 1/3 innings.

Cipriano was 1 for 4 with two RBIs while Miramontes was 2 for 3

with a run batted in.

Senior outfielder Andy Amara, playing near his home town of

Placer, contributed a double to the Anteaters’ seven-hit attack.

The win capped a perfect three-game trip to Sacramento that

included two nonconference victories over Arizona Friday and

Saturday. The three-team confab was a compromise for Arizona, which

inadvertently scheduled both UCI and Sacramento State for these three

dates.

The five-game win streak is the longest of the season for the

Anteaters, for whom first-year coach Dave Serrano shook up the lineup

after a 10-inning setback April 15 at UC Riverside that dropped the

‘Eaters to 16-16, 2-5 in the Big West Conference.

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

visiting Cal State Northridge beginning Friday. First, however, the

Anteaters visit UCLA Tuesday at 6 p.m.

UCLA (8-28), coached by former UCI head man John Savage, has lost

five straight and 24 of its last 25.

Nonconference

UC Irvine 4

Sacramento State 3

Score by Innings

*--*

UCI 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 - 4 7 1

Sac St. 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 - 3 7 0

*--*

Nakashima, Robertson (5), Schroer (7), Erickson and Wagner;

Campbell, Plouffe (6) and Wilson. W -- Robertson, 3-2. L -- Plouffe,

2-2. Sv -- Erickson (7). 2B -- Linton (UCI), Wagner (UCI), Amara

(UCI), Flores (Sac) 2. HR -- Cipriano (UCI), Flowers (Sac).