Shutout brings playoffs closer

IRVINE ? UC Irvine junior Justin Cassel pitched like it was his last collegiate start Friday night, greatly increasing the chances he could return to the mound in the postseason.

Cassel, praised by Coach Dave Serrano for his ability to set a positive tone in the opening game of the Anteaters’ last four Big West Conference series victories, blanked UC Riverside with a complete-game five-hitter.

The 5-0 win helped solidify the Anteaters’ hold on third place in the conference standings, also helping their chances of earning an NCAA Regional bid.

UCI (35-21, 10-9 in the Big West) has one more win than the 2004 Anteater squad that earned the program’s first NCAA Division I Regional berth. The Anteaters need just one more win to clinch at least a share of third place. They could clinch third outright with a victory today and a UC Santa Barbara loss to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

“I think we all have a good little feel right now,” Cassel said of his team’s postseason chances. “Hopefully, we don’t get our hearts broken. The feeling for a lot of us, at least for me, was that this was a big one to get ... This just takes a little more pressure off.

“Now we’re at 35 wins, and 36 and 37 wins are right in front of us. We still have to play, but with a win [Friday], that really helps our chances with the seeding meeting Monday and getting into a regional.”

Cassel, who had won four straight starts before being defeated at Cal State Northridge on May 19, faced only four batters more than the minimum. He retired the side on six pitches in the first inning, a frame in which he had struggled early in the season, and continued to sail from there.

After allowing a leadoff single in the second, he retired the next 12. He benefited from sparkling defense that included three double plays and two spectacular diving stops on would-be ground-ball hits up the middle that second baseman Cody Cipriano turned into outs.

Cassel struck out four and walked two in his fourth complete game of the season.

“We preached from our first workout together that pitching and defense will lead to something special,” Serrano said. “And that’s what tonight was. Cassel goes out and pounds the strike zone [72 strikes in 111 pitches] and we make some spectacular defensive plays all around the field to get a complete-game shutout against what I believe is one of the better offensive teams in our conference.”

Third baseman Chad Lundahl made a stellar backhand stab to turn a hard-hit ground ball into an out to open the third.

Catcher Aaron Lowenstein completed a double play in the second by throwing out a would-be base stealer on a strikeout and first baseman Jaime Martinez started a double play by collecting a ground ball, tagging first and throwing accurately to second, where shortstop Ben Orloff tagged an approaching runner in the sixth.

No Highlander reached second base until the seventh inning and none made it to third until the ninth.

“Justin Cassel should get most of the credit, but it was a team effort all the way around,” said Serrano, who also praised his team’s offensive execution.

“We started that [four-run] third-inning rally with a hit-by-pitch, which is part of our offense,” Serrano said.

The offense featured 10 hits, including a two-run single by Cipriano that opened the scoring in the third. Designated hitter Zach Robinson drove in the final two runs of the inning with a double into the gap in right-center field.

The last run scored on Taylor Holiday’s RBI single in the sixth.

Cipriano went three for four to raise his team-leading batting average to .351. Holiday, Robinson and Matt Morris also had two hits for the ‘Eaters, who have won 16 of their last 21 games.

Included in that recent late-season surge are conference series triumphs over Cal Poly, UCSB, Pacific and Cal State Northridge.