UCI blisters Wake Forest

ROUND ROCK, Texas — The UC Irvine baseball team left a blood trail on the mound, as well as the scorecard in a 13-0 victory Friday over Wake Forest in the opener of the NCAA Regional at the Dell Diamond.

The win, UCI’s first postseason triumph in five tries at the Division I level, propels the Anteaters (41-15-1) into today’s winner’s bracket game against Texas (45-15) at 4 p.m.

The Longhorns, the No. 4 national seed and the top seed in the four-team, double-elimination regional, beat Brown, 8-2, Friday night.

The blood on the mound came from UCI junior sinker-baller Wes Etheridge, who pitched out of a first-inning jam and through a middle-innings blood blister on the middle finger of his right (pitching) hand to win his third straight decision and improve to 12-4.

Etheridge, who saw the Demon Deacons (33-28) load the bases with one out in the first inning, allowed four hits and struck out a career-best 10 in eight innings.

“He wasn’t throwing that hard, but he was just sinking balls away,” said Wake Forest sophomore first baseman Allan Dykstra, who walked in the first inning to help give Etheridge a sinking feeling.

“I was trying to throw every pitch as hard as I could,” Etheridge said of his shaky start, which eased not long after Coach Dave Serrano trotted to the mound with some reassurance and a prediction.

“He told me to throw strikes and to get a double-play ball,” Etheridge said of Serrano’s visit with the bases loaded. “He called it.”

Etheridge induced Brett Linnenkohl to ground to shortstop Ben Orloff, who scooped up the ball, stepped on second and threw to first to end what amounted to Wake’s only offensive ripple.

Meanwhile, UCI hitters were mixing line drives with bloops and bleeders to score four in the first inning and two in the second. The No. 9-ranked Anteaters, the No. 2 seed in Round Rock, added single runs in the fourth and fifth innings, then two more in the seventh and three in the eighth.

In the middle innings, unbeknownst to anyone outside the UCI dugout, Etheridge was dealing with the troublesome blister.

“Wes had to change his uniform pants in the fifth inning,” Serrano said. “But Etheridge, who also had some blood on his jersey, didn’t change his approach on the mound.

“I could feel the blister, and it hurt, but I think it helped me out, because I wasn’t thinking about anything but pitching,” said Etheridge, who shrugged off any suggestion that the blister, his first this season, would affect him the rest of the postseason.

“If I let this stop me, I’m pretty soft,” said Etheridge, who left his final regular-season start May 26 in the third inning with a mild quadriceps injury.

Little stopped the UCI hit parade against left-handed starter Garrett Bullock, who surrendered 11 hits and seven earned runs in five innings to fall to 4-3.

The Anteaters, who came in with 10 regulars batting better than .300, had five hits in the first inning, including a two-run single by freshman designated hitter Jeff Cusick.

Senior second baseman Cody Cipriano also singled in a run in the first, while another scored on a balk.

Cipriano also singled in a run in the second and finished two for five with three RBIs.

Cusick was two for three with three RBIs, while Ollie Linton (two for three) drove in two runs with a triple in the eighth.

Junior first baseman Taylor Holiday was three for five to extend his hitting streak to 18 games, and scored three times.

Junior third baseman Tyler Vaughn was two for three with an RBI and junior right fielder Bryan Petersen was two for three with three runs.

Nine different Anteaters contributed to the 16-hit attack, including freshman pinch-hitter Luis Tovar.

Serrano said Etheridge getting out of the first inning helped his whole team relax.

“Probably the best thing that happened was, Wes got that ground ball,” Serrano said. “That took a little pressure off.

“Any time you come to this atmosphere [3,724 fans], there’s going to be some anxiety and tightness and the wonder of what’s going to go on. I’m sure that was going through a lot of minds in our dugout in that first inning with one out and the bases loaded.

Then we got the double-play ball and we got it going with four runs in the first. That [double-play ball] took a lot of pressure off and allowed us to play our game.”

Wake Forest Coach Rick Rembielak praised the Anteaters’ ability to execute, as well as Etheridge’s ability to stymie his team’s offense.

“[The Anteaters] are a disciplined ballclub and they have a game plan offensively and on the mound,” Rembielak said. “It’s also clear those guys enjoy playing and having fun. What we define as fun is execution.

“The execution in the first inning was not good for us, whereas for them, it was the way it should be done.”

Serrano’s postgame smile echoed Rembielak’s assessment.

“For the first victory in UC Irvine history in regional play, I don’t think I could have scripted it any better,” Serrano said. “It was a pretty good baseball game by our team. We pitched, hit and played wonderful defense. That’s the good thing; the bad thing is, we’re not going to sneak up on anyone, now, because I think people know a little more about UC Irvine.”

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4616 or at barry.faulkner@latimes.com.

UC Irvine 13,

Wake Forest 0

Score by Innings

Wake 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 4 1

UCI 4 2 0 0 1 1 2 3 x - 13 16 0

Bullock, Ernst (6), Souder (9) and Jones; Etheridge, Bergman (9) and Lowenstein. W -- Etheridge, 12-4. L -- Bullock, 4-3. 2B -- Vaughn (UCI). 3B -- Linton (UCI).

NCAA Regional