‘Eaters can’t hold on

IRVINE ? A solid outing from Scott Gorgen went all for naught as UC Irvine coughed up a four-run lead and lost, 8-7, to UC Santa Barbara in a Big West Conference baseball game Saturday night.

Pinch-hitter A.J. Knox singled in the game-winning run off Glenn Swanson with two outs in the top of the ninth inning. The Anteaters then stranded two runners in the bottom of the inning to bring their four-game winning streak to an end.

Gorgen pitched eight innings for UCI (23-17, 4-7 in conference), allowing five hits and three runs, striking out six and walking none.

The freshman left with a 7-3 lead as Coach Dave Serrano handed the ball to Dylan Axelrod for the ninth inning. UCSB’s Robbie Blauer reached on an infield single and pinch-hitter Clayton Shank followed with a double. Matt Emerick hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Blauer, followed by a single by Patrick Rose.

Serrano pulled Axelrod to bring in Kyle Necke, who gave up an RBI single to Austin Hogans before being replaced by Glenn Swanson.

The left-hander plunked Chris Webber on an 0-and-1 pitch to load the bases. Swanson picked off Webber for the first out, but then gave up a two-run single to Alden Carrithers that tied the score at 7-7. Knox followed with the go-ahead single.

UCI had a chance to tie the score in the bottom of the inning when Gauchos reliever Justin Segal hit Bryan Petersen to start the inning. Tyler Vaughn, who homered in the fourth inning, bunted Petersen to second.

Segal struck out Chad Lundahl on three pitches, but then hit pinch-hitter Danny McCarthy to put runners at first and second. Gary Dudrey, the team’s leading hitter entering the game at .382, struck out swinging to end the game.

The ninth-inning collapse spoiled what had been a come-from-behind effort for UCI. The Anteaters scored twice in the sixth inning to take a 4-3 lead and then padded it with a three-run outburst in the seventh. Jaime Martinez led off with his team-leading fourth homer of the season, Chad Lundahl added an RBI single and later scored on a throwing error for what seemed to be a comfortable lead.

Lundahl led the UCI offense with four hits, scoring twice and driving in two runs.

Segal pitched three innings of one-hit relief to get the victory for UC Santa Barbara (16-19, 3-5). Carrithers and Chris Valaika each had two hits and drove in two runs.

The three-game series concludes with a 1 p.m. game today at Anteater Ballpark. Serrano had not announced a starting pitcher for the Anteaters, but he could use closer Blair Erickson, who made his first collegiate start last weekend against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.