UCI drops in standings

IRVINE — When members of the UC Irvine baseball team left their clubhouse Sunday, there were just four teams ranked ahead of the Anteaters in last week’s Baseball America poll. But after dropping a 7-5 decision to Big West Conference visitor UC Riverside, a second straight loss to the Highlanders, who claimed the three-game series, the Anteaters found themselves behind five teams in the conference standings.

“We’ve certainly dug ourselves a hole,” said UCI Coach Mike Gillespie, who would have liked to have found some subterranean place to hide when his squad failed to make two critical defensive plays that helped the Highlanders produce five runs in the sixth and seventh innings before a national television audience looking in on CBS College Sports.

“We managed to do a couple of things on defense that certainly opened the game up,” Gillespie said of a botched pop-up in the sixth and a mishandled infield flip in the seventh. “We’re getting exposed a little bit.”

Defense has been a bugaboo for UCI, even during a 16-1 start, after which the ‘Eaters are now 8-8, including 6-6 in conference. Dropped pop-ups and catchable fly balls (the combined total of both hovers around a dozen), have helped opponents extend innings and slice into the Anteaters’ victory total.

Such was the case Sunday. With UCI trailing, 2-1, with two outs in the top of the sixth inning, Highlanders catcher Daniel Pellegrino lofted a high pop to shallow right field. UCI second baseman Ryan Fisher drifted back and appeared to settle under the ball as right fielder Dillon Bell closed in. Suddenly, Fisher wavered and as the ball hit the grass, the two players collided. The official scorer ruled the play a hit, but a consensus in the press box believed an error on Fisher was a more appropriate ruling.

“I certainly think that we have to catch that pop-up,” Gillespie said.

A third Riverside run scored and a subsequent walk chased starter Danny Bibona from the game. Bibona had blanked the Highlanders on three hits through five innings. Bibona finished giving up seven hits and three runs (all earned), though he did not absorb the loss.

The loss was pinned on reliever Christian Bergman, who appeared to have gotten out of the seventh with no runs allowed, until another middle infield snafu.

After a double and an intentional walk created a rally with two outs, Bergman induced a hard ground ball to the left of shortstop Ben Orloff off the bat of Aaron Wible. Orloff made a good play to dive and smother the ball, then spring to all fours in time to loft a soft flip toward second base. Fisher, squatting and lunging to meet the low flip, however, could not come up with the ball as the runner from first slid in safety. The ball trickled away, allowing the runner who had advanced to third, to score on what was ruled an error on Orloff.

Gillespie, however, said Fisher should have come up with the ball and recorded the third out of an inning that became a four-run windfall for the visitors.

Logic renders Gillespie’s point hard to argue.

More difficult to dispute was the fact that UC Riverside, which lost, 7-2, Friday to extend its losing streak to seven and drop its record to 9-23, did not out hit, out pitch and out play the Anteaters in all facets the final two games of the series.

“You have to tip your hat to those guys,” Orloff said of a team that had lost the last four conference series against UCI. “We’d like to have some plays back or some at-bats back, but those guys played well and I don’t think we overlooked them at all.”

Orloff, who doubled, walked twice and scored a run Sunday, led UCI batsmen by going five for nine in the series and was typically strong on defense, despite the aforementioned error.

Sophomore left fielder Francis Larson had RBI singles in the sixth and seventh innings to aid two-run rallies in each frame. He finished six for 13 in the series and extended his hitting streak to 12 games.

Sophomore right fielder Dillon Bell launched a solo home run on the first pitch of the third inning to give UCI its only lead, and later doubled to cap a two-for-four performance.

Sophomore first baseman Jeff Cusick had a sacrifice fly and an RBI groundout, while junior center fielder Ollie Linton doubled and walked and senior catcher Aaron Lowenstein doubled and threw out two runners at second base.

Sophomore closer Eric Pettis worked two scoreless innings to finish the game, in which Bergman was charged with three earned runs in 1 1/3 innings after taking over for Bibona with two outs in the sixth.

Bergman, who entered the week with a Big West-best 0.89 earned-run average (four earned runs in 40 1/3 innings) allowed six earned runs in 4 1/3 innings in two appearances to see his ERA increase to 2.01.

Ryan Goetz and Pellegrino each went three for five to lead UCR, which is tied with Long Beach State for fourth in conference, behind first-place Cal State Fullerton (9-3 in conference), as well as UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara (both 6-3).

“I think we’re the scariest team in the Big West right now, because you don’t know what you’re going to get [with us],” said Goetz, who drove in three runs to give him five RBIs in the series. “We don’t even know what we’re going to get.”

Riverside sophomore Joe Kelly closed for his second save in as many days.

UCI will try to get back on the winning track when it hits the road for five nonconference games this week. The Anteaters are at Kansas State Tuesday and Wednesday and at New Mexico for a three-game set begining Friday.

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Big West Conference

UC Riverside 7, UC Irvine 5

SCORE BY INNINGS

Bargas, Platt (6), Waite (7), Kelly (9) and Pellegrino; Bibona, Bergman (6), Pettis (8) and Lowenstein, Larson (9). W – Platt, 2-2. L – Bergman, 4-2. Sv – Kelly (3). 2B – Uhl (UCR), Gonzales (UCR), Orloff (UCI), Bell (UCI), Lowenstein (UCI). 3B – Goetz (UCR). HR – Bell (UCI).

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