UCI duo combines to shut out Aggies

Barry Faulkner

Though UC Irvine baseball coach Dave Serrano slept on his decision

whether to start Steve Schroer or Jimmy Alstot Saturday against

visiting UC Davis, he probably couldn’t have dreamed of a better

performance by both.

The senior right-handed pitchers combined on a eight-hit shutout,

teaming for 10 strikeouts to pace a 7-0 nonconference win that

clinched the series victory for the Anteaters.

Schroer made his ninth start of the season and worked into the

seventh, coming up two outs shy of matching the longest outing of his

career. He surrendered six hits and walked two, striking out seven.

He did not allow a runner to reach third base.

Alstot, who returned recently from nearly three months on the

sidelines due to arm trouble, came on with one out and one on in the

seventh. He fanned three and yielded just two hits to close out the

whitewash, the third of the season for the Anteaters (27-21).

“It was a flip of the coin,” Serrano said of picking his starter,

asked to fill the Saturday role normally taken by sophomore Justin

Cassel. Cassel, who started Tuesday’s nonconference loss to UCLA, is

scheduled to start today’s 1 p.m. series finale.

“I went home and slept on it and, when I woke up, my gut feeling

was to go with Schroer,” Serrano said. “He’s done it more this year.

“Unfortunately for Jimmy [who has two starts in four appearances

this season], he hasn’t had a chance to do it more. But I knew they

were both going to pitch and I talked to them [Friday] night about

both of them being ready to go.”

Serrano said Alstot being on a limited pitch count also swayed his

decision to open with Schroer, whose seven strikeouts were his

second-best single-game performance of his career. He fanned nine in

a six-inning performance against UNLV in 2003.

Schroer and Alstot both received strong support, not only from an

opportunistic offense, but a stingy defense.

The Anteaters turned three double plays, the most impressive

triggered by second baseman Cody Cipriano. Cipriano dived to his left

to snag a line drive before it hit the grass in shallow right field,

then regained his feet and fired to second to double off a runner who

had doubled to start the sixth.

Left fielder Erik Johnson also made a sliding catch of a sinking

liner in the ninth and shortstop Chad Lundahl used some nifty

footwork to field a chopper up the middle, tag second and throw to

first with a runner barreling in on him for a double play in the

fifth.

Cipriano also was the middle man on a 3-4-1 groundout, on a ball

that glanced off first-baseman Jaime Martinez’s glove to end the

seventh with two runners on.

“I tip my hat to the defense today, because they complemented what

Steve was doing,” Serrano said. “We came up with some outstanding

plays and got some great double plays. That’s what usually happens

when you have a pitcher who is throwing strike one and getting ahead

in the count.”

Serrano said Schroer, known for his slider, used primarily

fastballs and changeups against an Aggie lineup stacked with

left-handed bats. UC Davis, which started seven left-handed hitters

Friday against a UCI staff lacking a single southpaw, had six lefties

in the batting order Saturday.

UCI broke ahead in the first when Ollie Linton opened with a bunt

single, was sacrificed to second and scored on a one-out double by

Martinez.

Matt Anderson then singled in Martinez for all the hosts would

need.

Linton and Danny Miramontes each had RBI singles in a three-run

third, capped when Linton scored from third on a double-steal

attempt.

Linton and Miramontes also had RBIs in the seventh for the

‘Eaters.

Linton, a freshman leadoff man, went 4 for 4 with two RBIs, two

runs and three stolen bases. He lifted his batting average 25 points

to .312 and now has a team-leading 14 steals.

UCI, which defeated the Aggies, 3-1, Friday, has won two straight,

despite being without red-hot senior second baseman Brett Dalton.

Dalton, who is 22 for 37 on a nine-game hitting steak (.595), is

out for the weekend with a concussion, sustained when he was hit in

the head by an errant throw from a UCLA player during pregame warmups

Tuesday.

The Anteaters, battling UC Riverside for fourth place in the Big

West Conference standings, have eight games remaining, including

today.

UC Davis (23-24), which becomes an official member of the Big West

for the 2008 baseball season, played the final two innings without

Coach Rex Peters, who was ejected after arguing a call at first base

in the seventh.

After jawing with umpires, Peters pulled the first-base bag from

its mooring, took it to the field exit in the right-field corner and

threw it over the fence, before departing.

“That was their second stolen base of the day,” Serrano quipped.

ZOTS -- The UC Davis series concludes today with UC Irvine

sophomore Justin Cassel (7-3, with a 3.55 ERA) matching up against an

Aggie starter to be named ... The Anteaters entered the weekend in

fifth place in the Big West, despite ranking third among conference

teams in batting average, ERA and defense.

Nonconference

UC Irvine 7, UC Davis 0

Score by Innings

*--*

UCD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 8 0

UCI 2 0 0 0 3 0 2 0 x - 7 9 0

*--*

Schroer, Alstot (7) and Wagner; Potter, Gamboa (7) and LaTorre. W

-- Schroer, 5-5. L -- Potter, 4-6. 2B -- Martinez (UCI), Oliver

(UCD), Johnson (UCI).