‘Eaters finish sweep

NORTHRIDGE — Call it the Big West confidence.

Clearly the Big West Conference schedule brought out the best in UC Irvine last season, when the Anteaters won 22 of 24 conference games to claim the program’s inaugural Big West crown, as well as the consensus No. 1 national ranking.

And UCI seems to have picked up where it left off, as it polished off a three-game conference-opening sweep at Cal State Northridge with a 7-5 victory Saturday.

Dating back to the final two conference games of 2008, the No. 24-ranked Anteaters (17-8, 3-0 in conference) have now won 27 of their last 29 conference games.

“That’s pretty staggering,” UCI Coach Mike Gillespie said of the sparkling 29-game stretch in conference play. “I certainly hope that we feel like we’re a team that can be one of the teams that can win it. [Going 22-2] last season was such an aberration. You can’t afford the luxury of thinking that it’s going to be like that. Who knows what the number will end up being, but it’s hard for me to believe that 18-6 won’t end up winning it, or 17-7.”

The win sets up a first-place showdown with Cal State Fullerton, which visits Anteater Ballpark for a three-game Big West series that begins Friday at 6 p.m.

The Titans, unranked after posting a 12-11 record heading into conference play, swept UC Davis to join UCI atop the standings after the first weekend of conference action.

“That will be fun again,” Gillespie said of the series with Fullerton, coached by former UCI head man Dave Serrano. “But you’ve got to be careful about what kind of fun you wish for.

“It’s no surprise to anybody that Fullerton is going to be one of the teams you’ve got to go through to win it and it’s your only shot at them,” Gillespie said. “It will be exciting.”

There was, perhaps, more excitement than Gillespie would have liked Saturday, as Northridge (16-10, 0-3) rallied from a 7-0 deficit to force UCI to use three pitchers in relief of starter Eric Pettis.

Pettis cruised through seven innings, throwing just 69 pitches and allowing only five hits and one run.

But the Matadors, thanks to an error that led to three unearned runs, scored four in the eighth.

After Andy Lines yielded a two-run single to C.J. Belanger, sophomore Matt Summers induced a groundout to end the inning.

When Summers allowed a leadoff single in the ninth, UCI called upon senior Kyle Necke to close out the win.

Necke induced a soft line drive to short that D.J. Crumlich turned into a double play by nailing the runner who had strayed too far from first base. A flyout to center finalized Necke’s fifth save of the season, his second in as many days.

“We had to go to Necke and he was real good,” Gillespie said. “Each time he’s out there now, he does one more thing important. I trust he really feels comfortable now when it’s tough.”

UCI made things tough on Matadors pitchers after three scoreless innings.

Sophomore designated hitter Ronnie Shaeffer homered to left field to open the fourth inning and a two-run homer by senior center fielder Cory Olson and a two-run single by junior third baseman Brian Hernandez keyed a four-run sixth.

Ryan Fisher’s single to drive in a run helped UCI tack on two in the seventh, and both runs proved to be quite necessary.

Shaeffer was four for five and scored three times, while Hernandez went three for five to finish eight for 14 with six runs batted in for the series.

“Hernandez really looks more like we had been spoiled to believe he was in the two falls he has been with us,” Gillespie said. “He was hitting around .325 and I don’t think you’d ever be unhappy with that. But it was a soft .325 and now it’s a little louder.”

Hernandez, who redshirted last season and is now hitting .571 in conference play, said he is clicking, as is the team.

“It was good to get off to a good start as a team and we’re finally starting to put it together,” Hernandez said. “We’re seeing the ball well at the plate, we’re playing good defense and we’re throwing strikes.

“I’m not missing pitches that I was earlier in the year, so I’m feeling good up there.”

Pettis, who played his high school ball in the San Fernando Valley and had nearly three dozen rooters in the stands, improved to 5-0.

Big West Conference

UC Irvine 7, Cal State Northridge 5

SCORE BY INNINGS

Pettis, Lines (8), Summers (8), Necke (9) and Larson; A. Muren, Ott (1), Gorski (6), Longpre (7), Jolicoeur (7) and Piazza. W – Pettis, 5-0. L – Ott, 2-1. 2B – Reyes (UCI), Piazza (CSN) 2, Larson (UCI), Belanger (CSN), Carpenter (CSN). HR – Shaeffer (UCI), Olson (UCI).