Anteaters pull away, win, 9-5

Senior second baseman Brett Dalton continued his hot hitting to help

the UC Irvine baseball team defeat host UC Santa Barbara, 9-5, Sunday

in a Big West Conference game.

The Anteaters won the three-game series, two games to one.

Dalton hit an RBI single to right field in the second inning and a

two-run double to right in the eighth to extend his hitting streak to

12 games. Dalton, who was 2 for 4 Sunday, is 27 for 51 during his

streak (.529).

The UCSB series, in which Dalton went 5 for 14, is his first action since missing four games due to a concussion sustained May 10.

Sophomore pitcher Justin Cassel scattered eight hits over seven

innings with four strikeouts for UCI (30-23, 9-9 in conference).

Sophomore closer Blair Erickson walked one batter and struck out

two in two innings to pick up his 10th save of the year. Erickson had

17 saves last year to earn All-American accolades.

Freshman center fielder Ollie Linton broke a 5-5 tie in the eighth

when hit an RBI single to center that scored left fielder Erik

Johnson.

Dalton then doubled in two runs.

The Gauchos (23-30, 5-13) had a two-out rally in the seventh to

tie the game. Alden Carrithers doubled and scored on David Figoni’s

single and Chris Malec followed with an RBI double to right.

UCI pulled into a fourth-place tie with UC Riverside, which lost

to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 16-8, Sunday to fall to 9-9 in

conference play.

UCI will host a three-game set against Cal Poly, beginning Friday,

to finish the regular season. The Mustangs are currently third in the

conference (12-6).

Riverside hosts first-place Cal State Fullerton for three games,

starting Friday.