‘Eaters handle Nevada

The UC Irvine baseball team covered all the bases in defeating visiting Nevada, 4-1, Friday night.

The Anteaters tagged out baserunners at first, second and third base, with one assist coming from sophomore center fielder Keston Hiura.

Hiura, the 2015 Big West Conference Freshman of the Year and a preseason All-American this year, touched every base after launching a majestic solo home run to break a 1-1 deadlock in the fifth inning.

Senior left-hander Elliot Surrey allowed only one unearned run on four hits in six innings to win his first decision and help UCI (3-3) start the three-game nonconference series on the right foot. He initiated two successful pickoffs and finished with three putouts and three assists to help his cause.

Senior designated hitter Grant Palmer drove in the tying run with a successful bases-loaded squeeze bunt in the fourth inning and sophomore shortstop Parker Coss added insurance with a two-run, two-out single in the sixth.

Sophomore second baseman Cole Kreuter was three for four with a double to pace the Anteaters’ eight-hit attack.

Senior first baseman Mitchell Holland, who came in with four hits, none for extra bases, had a pair of doubles in the cleanup spot.

UCI notched a pair of noteworthy firsts this season. Hiura’s homer was the first for a team that led the Big West with 31 dingers last season. Surrey earned his initial victory and freshman closer Calvin Faucher posted his first strikeout (two in a scoreless ninth) and his first save.

“It was mostly a well-done game, so I don’t have much to [complain] about,” UCI Coach Mike Gillespie said. “I think Surrey was good, [reliever Sean] Sparling did well [two scoreless innings] and Faucher was a little scary, but survived it.”

Surrey, who walked three and left the bases loaded in the fourth, when a throwing error by catcher Alex Guenette allowed a run to score, struck out five. Surrey has not allowed an earned run in 10 innings this season and has surrendered just five hits.

“I had my ups and downs throughout, but that is going to happen,” said Surrey, who threw 99 pitches, 62 for strikes. “You just have to figure out what’s working and not working and try to pitch your way out of jams. The difference tonight was we pitched out of more jams, and we took advantage of the freebies they gave us.”

Nevada (3-3) committed two errors that led to three unearned runs.

Surrey earned himself some breathing room by picking off a runner straying from second base in the fifth inning. The runner was tagged out sliding in to third.

In the sixth, Surrey picked off a runner who had just singled with two outs. He was tagged out trying to get back into first.

In the eighth inning, Nevada’s Miles Mastrobouni tried to stretch a single to center field into a double. But Hiura, charged the ball in shallow left-center and threw a strike to Kreuter, who applied the bang-bang tag to start what became a one-two-three inning.

“That was a miracle throw,” Gillespie said of Hiura’s assist. “We have four outfield assists now in six games. I don’t think we’ve had four assists in four years around here.”

Surrey credited the coaching staff for sniffing out aggressive base runners on the pickoffs.

“Those came from the brains on the bench,” Surrey said.

Evan Cassolato made a diving catch in shallow left field to end the Nevada eighth inning.

There were plenty of admirers for Hiura’s blast over a tree beyond the 380-foot marker in left-center field.

“That thing was crashed,” Gillespie said of the eighth career homer by Hiura, who extended his hitting streak to eight games, dating back to last season, with the bomb. “And tonight was a damp night, so it had to really be hit pretty good [to get out].”

Added Surrey of the 6-foot, 188-pound Huira, who now has a team-best 10 hits (a .417 average), and leads the squad with six runs batted in: “Keston may not look like the strongest human being, but he is one strong beast and he can swing it. He has some of the fastest hands I’ve seen.”

The series continues Saturday at 2 p.m.

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NONCONFERENCE

UC Irvine 4, Nevada 1

SCORE BY INNINGS

Nev 000 100 000 – 1 7 2

UCI 000 112 00x – 4 8 1

Stolo, Pennington (6), Lott (7), Martine (8) and Hazard; Surrey, Sparling (7), Faucher (9) and Guenette, Reitano (5). W – Surrey, 1-0. L – Stolo, 0-2. Sv – Faucher (1). 2B – Kreuter (UCI), Holland (UCI) 2. HR – Huira (UCI).