Mentor masters UCI

LOS ANGELES ? The UC Irvine baseball team needs one more win to surpass the best single-season total posted by the three Anteater teams coached by John Savage. But Savage wasn’t about to have that happen against his current team Tuesday night.

UCLA, which hired Savage away from UCI after he took the ‘Eaters to their first NCAA Regional in 2004, rolled to a 10-1 nonconference victory at Jackie Robinson Stadium. It was Savage’s fourth win in four games against UCI since he took the Bruins’ helm.

UCI (34-21) will now concentrate on trying to finish the regular season strongly against UC Riverside, which visits Anteater Ballpark for a three-game series beginning Friday.

Should the Anteaters, who enter the weekend in sole possession of third place ? one game ahead of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, UC Riverside and UC Santa Barbara ? win two of three against the Highlanders, they will clinch at least a share of third place.

Two more wins would also give UCI 36 for the season, two more than Savage’s 2004 trailblazers.

UCI Coach Dave Serrano was happy to focus on the weekend after the Bruins banged two home runs, two doubles and 13 hits against four pitchers.

“This was a good old butt-kicking in every phase of the game,” Serrano said. “Ultimately, though, I don’t think it affects us in a negative way. If we can get done what we need to do in conference this weekend, then we’ll be fine.

“Nothing’s assumed. We’re at the mercy of the NCAA committee and all that. But I think if we can finish third in the Big West with our RPI and our strength of schedule, we should be fine. But we’ll be on pins and needles, even if we are the third-place team, because I know what happened to Cal Poly last year.”

Cal Poly did not get a regional berth in 2005, something Savage said should not happen to the Anteaters this year.

“I do,” Savage said when asked if UCI would receive a regional berth, “because of the strength of their schedule. When you start talking about 34 wins on the West Coast, that means you’re a pretty good team. And, so I really believe, Long Beach State, Cal State Fullerton and Irvine should all get in.”

UCLA (31-22), which has now won five of its last six, appears also to be a strong candidate for the postseason.

Tuesday’s game got out of hand quickly, after Gary Nakashima allowed just one earned run through five innings. He surrendered two unearned runs in the fifth, then was charged with two earned runs after exiting in the sixth.

UCI was unable to do much damage against five UCLA hurlers, led by Brian Schroeder, who worked two hitless innings of relief to earn the win.

Taylor Holiday went three for four and Chad Lundahl went two for three to spearhead a seven-hit UCI attack.

Brandon Crawford launched a two-run homer in the fifth and Sean Smith belted a three-run homer to key a four-run sixth inning for UCLA.