Irvine with a crazy eighth

IRVINE — Hawaii freshman reliever Sean Soto may be wishing for a case of amnesia after UC Irvine hitters gave him a hard-to-forget Friday night greeting. And, Scott Gorgen, UCI’s junior All-American pitcher, provided another memorable performance.

Hawaii’s Derek McDonald ended Gorgen’s no-hit bid in the seventh with a single up the middle with one out, but Sean Madigan, a right-fielder, made a diving catch in foul territory and McDonald was later forced at second on the fielder’s choice to end the inning.

Madigan also came up big with the bat. The sophomore took Soto’s first-pitch fastball and turned it into a center-field triple. He led off a four-run, four-hit inning that capped a 9-0 nonconference win over Hawaii as Soto made his collegiate baseball debut.

“Usually, when you’re a guy out of the ’pen, you’re going to want to throw a fastball,” Madigan said. “As a hitter, anyone coming out of the ’pen, you’ve got to expect fastball first pitch. Any pitcher. You can’t be looking on a breaking ball. So he just threw that fastball. It was fat, I saw it well, and took a hack at it.”

It was the eighth-ranked Anteaters’ sixth shutout this year, and their first since a 2-0 loss at Tulane that ended a four-game shutout streak.

Soto got an out on the next at-bat, but it wasn’t an easy one. Junior third baseman Eric Deragisch, shot a line drive right back to Soto that caught him hard in the chest.

Senior catcher Aaron Lowenstein followed with an RBI double to left, but junior center fielder Ollie Linton couldn’t get a piece of the action. Soto walked Linton. Junior shortstop Ben Orloff singled to right, then redshirt freshman second baseman Ryan Fisher struck out. Sophomore first baseman Jeff Cusick doubled to left for two of his five RBIs against the Rainbows (7-10). Cusick’s five RBIs is a career high.

The heated inning finally ended when junior pinch hitter Sammy Donabedian, the only batter to face Sam Spangler, struck out swinging.

“That’s an inauspicious debut,” said UCI’s first-year coach Mike Gillespie. “But it was the perfect opportunity to get a kid like that in there though. He got his feet wet, and he might not throw a first-pitch triple next time.”

Gorgen (3-1) had nine strikeouts and one walk in eight innings. Gillespie decided to reel him in at 109 pitches instead of going for the complete game.

“This early in the year — and we think that this is still early — we’ve cut it off at 110, and that’s even a tick high, but 110,” Gillespie said. “A month from now it’ll be 120.”

Freshman closer Crosby Slaught allowed one hit in four at-bats in the ninth.

Even Gorgen, who had a one hit-shutout against San Francisco Feb. 29, the seventh of his career, remembers his collegiate debut, which was Feb. 3, 2006 against Cal. Gorgen opened at home and pitched 5 2/3 innings against his twin brother, Matt.

“To make your collegiate debut on the road has got to be tough,” Gorgen said. “I got to make it at home, but for someone like that, who’s a freshman, probably has a lot of ability, a lot of potential down the road, don’t hang your head. Every pitcher’s going to go through their ups and downs.”

UC Irvine started rolling early, taking a 2-0 lead in the first. Linton reached on a single into the right gap. He took second on Orloff’s single to left. He stole third, and scored on Cusick’s single to right. Orloff ran home on a groundout by Bordeen.

Linton scored again in the third on Fisher’s groundout, and in the fifth. Linton bunted to get to first, then took third on Ben Orloff’s single to center. Fisher got his second RBI of the night when he drove in Linton with a single to right.

Orloff followed to make it 5-0, running home on Cuscick’s groundout to second.

Linton, the Big West Player of the Week, finished with four runs, three hits and two steals. He now leads the team in poached bases — he’s 15 of 16 — and runs scored with 15.

The Rainbows finally saw their first baserunner in the fourth when Fisher committed an error, the first of three for the Anteaters.

The Anteaters will play Hawaii today in a doubleheader, a decision Gillespie made to avoid the possibility of a rainout Sunday. The first game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.

“Gorgen was again special,” Gillespie said of Friday’s shutout. “He was really, really special. You look up there and you see one hit and think they can’t be any good, but they are. They swing it pretty good. So he made a good club not look good tonight.”

Nonconference

UC Irvine 9, Hawaii 0

SCORE BY INNINGS

Alexander, Capaul (6), Soto (9), Spangler (9) and Hernandez; Gorgen, Slaught (9) and Lowenstein. W – Gorgen, 3-1. L – Alexander, 2-2. 2B – Cusick (UCI), Lowenstein (UCI). 3B – Madigan (UCI).

SORAYA NADIA McDONALD may be reached at (714) 966-4613 or at soraya.mcdonald@latimes.com.