Anteaters plunked

OMAHA, Neb. — In a season of firsts, the UC Irvine baseball team finally looked like a rookie Saturday in its 5-4 loss to Arizona State in the Anteaters’ first appearance in the College World Series.

Though No. 4-ranked UCI (45-16-1) had forged its road to Omaha through hostile environs, playing before home-team-friendly crowds of between 8,000 and 9,000 in the regional and super regional, the 19,683 at Rosenblatt Stadium were enough to unnerve Coach Dave Serrano’s 25-man roster, made up of 10 freshmen and four sophomores.

The No. 3-ranked Sun Devils (49-13), making the school’s 20th trip to the College World Series, were considerably less flustered. The Pac-10 champions took advantage of UCI sophomore starting pitcher Scott Gorgen’s first mediocre outing in more than a month by scoring all their runs on three swings.

Junior center fielder Matt Spencer belted a 2-0 Gorgen fastball deep into the right-field bleachers to cash in two walks and create 3-0 lead in the second inning.

Gorgen, who had allowed just one earned run in his previous 37 innings, including three shutouts in four complete-game efforts, said he had difficulty relaxing and never really found his groove.

After UCI turned five consecutive two-out hits into a four-run fourth inning to take the lead, ASU senior third baseman CJ Retherford drove the first pitch of the fifth inning just into the seats in left-center field to tie the score.

That’s how it remained into the bottom of the eighth, when sophomore right fielder Ike Davis launched a 1-1 pitch deep over the right field wall for the winning margin.

UCI’s failure to become the first team since 1994 to win its College World Series debut drops the Anteaters into the loser’s bracket, where they will meet Cal State Fullerton (38-24) in an elimination game Monday at 11 a.m.

Defending champion Oregon State (45-18) defeated the Titans, 3-2, Saturday night.

“I didn’t have my best stuff and I was out of character,” said Gorgen, a third-team All-American. “I tried not to let things bother me, like whose team we were playing against or the ballpark. But I have to admit the World Series got to me. I was trying the best I could not to get nervous, but there was just a rush of emotion. The heat got to me and I didn’t have the kind of control I wanted in the first part of the game. I left some pitches up and I just wasn’t myself.”

The Anteaters, who had just one error in their first five postseason games, all victories, committed two miscues Saturday, though neither proved costly.

Outside of its four-run fourth, UCI managed just one hit and four base runners against two ASU pitchers. Only two of those base runners reached second base. UCI did not get a hit in its final five innings.

Junior right fielder Bryan Petersen, who had the game-winning RBI double to close out the super regional sweep at Wichita State, tripled in two runs in the UCI fourth.

Freshman designated hitter Sean Madigan followed with an RBI double into the left-field corner and Ollie Linton followed with an RBI single up the middle.

The rally began when Cody Cipriano was hit by a pitch and advanced on a Matt Morris single.

Petersen, drafted in the fourth round by the Florida Marlins last week, was two for three to pace the Anteaters’ six-hit attack.

ASU starter Mike Leake, a freshman who said his pregame nerves were the same as any regular-season game, worked seven innings. He struck out three, walked none and hit two batters.

Leake, who came in 13-1, exited after throwing 104 pitches. He was not involved in the decision.

Gorgen, who struck out nine to give him 115 for the season, second most in UCI single-season annals, threw 119 pitches. He walked three and surrendered eight of the Sun Devils’ nine hits.

“Then we brought in Never-nervous Jarvis,” ASU Coach Pat Murphy said of freshman closer Jason Jarvis, who retired six of the seven hitters he faced to earn the victory.

Jarvis, who has 11 saves, struck out three and left the potential tying run at second, when he induced a game-ending groundout from freshman pinch-hitter Jeff Cusick.

Linton walked with one out and stole second on the pitch that fanned freshman pinch-hitter Dillon Bell for the second out.

UCI stranded five in the game, only its second loss in its last 16 contests.

ASU has won six straight and 15 of its last 16.

“I’ve been with teams that have come here and in Game 1 played out of character and were sometimes embarrassed,” Serrano said. “I was not embarrassed. That was a great college baseball game. We just came up on the short end of the stick.

“If we had a chance to do something differently we would, including myself. [The Sun Devils] were able to lift some balls over the fence and we weren’t. But we can’t put our heads down. I’m not disappointed in my young men. We battled.”

Junior Wes Etheridge (12-4 with a 2.49 earned-run average) is scheduled to start Monday for the Anteaters, who will need to utilize some pitching depth for the first time in the postseason.

UCI will need four straight wins to advance to the best-of-three championship series.

“The situation is tougher for us in the loser’s bracket,” Serrano said. “But we have Wes starting Monday. We’re in good shape. We still have the uniforms on and we’re still breathing.”

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at barry.faulkner@latimes.com.

College World Series

Arizona State 5,

UC Irvine 4

Score by Innings

UCI 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 - 4 6 2

ASU 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 1 x - 5 9 0

Gorgen, Calahan (8), Axelrod (8) and Lowenstein; Leake, Jarvis (8) and Paramore. W -- Jarvis, 2-2. L -- Gorgen, 12-3. 2B -- Madigan (UCI); Davis (ASU). 3B -- Petersen (UCI). HR -- Retherford (ASU), Davis (ASU), Spencer (ASU).