College Baseball: UCI rallies past Nevada in 10
UC Irvine’s baseball game Saturday was about chances; chances squandered, chances denied, chances granted, chances seized and, ultimately, one final chance cashed in.
Junior catcher Alex Guenette, who was hitless in 11 career at-bats entering this season and was three for eight in 2016, laced the first pitch he saw up the middle for a game-winning single with the bases loaded to complete a dramatic comeback and cap an 8-7 win over Nevada in a nonconference battle that lasted four hours, 23 minutes at Anteater Ballpark.
UCI trailed, 2-0, 5-1, and 7-2, and left 14 runners on base the first six innings, including the bases loaded in the fifth and the sixth. In addition, UCI committed three errors in the first three innings, giving the Wolfpack three unearned runs to help them gain control.
UCI stranded 18 runners, including at least one in each of the first nine innings, but six of the hosts’ seven relievers did not surrender an earned run to maintain striking distance.
UCI (4-3) scored twice in the eighth to pull within 7-4 and plated three runs with two outs to tie it in the ninth.
Guenette, the 14th and final position player available and the 22nd UCI player to appear, got his chance after sophomore Keston Hiura, who was four for four and reached base in all seven plate appearances, was intentionally walked with two outs and runners on first and second.
Guenette, who learned he would pinch-hit midway through Hiura’s at-bat, said he wasn’t overwhelmed by the situation.
“The coaches always preach to be ready to go, because you never know when it might be your time to go in,” Guenette said. “So, the whole game, I was going up and down the dugout, stretching out, getting lose. I just got my opportunity.”
“Good for him,” Gillespie said of Guenette. “He has hardly ever gotten an opportunity to play and he has had very little happiness. Now he has some.”
Guenette said he sat on a fastball from Nevada reliever Ty Pennington, and he smacked it through the box to plate Adam Alcantara, who was hit by a pitch to lead off the 10th.
Alcantara advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Griffin Mazur, and Evan Cassolato who was three for four, was then walked to put him on base for the fifth time.
After Parker Coss popped out, Hiura, who singled in a run in the first, doubled and scored in the third, tripled and scored in the eighth and dropped a perfectly place bunt single then came around to score in the ninth, was denied his chance to win the game by Nevada Coach TJ Bruce.
The intentional walk, though hardly conventional, did not surprise the Anteaters.
“I think it was a slam dunk [and Nevada] had to do it,” Gillespie said of Huira being put on to load the bases. “I would have done it with third base open.”
Was Hiura disappointed he did not get a chance to be an even bigger hero?
“No, I wasn’t,” said Hiura the 2015 Big West Conference Freshman Player of the Year and a preseason All-American this season who has hit in nine straight games, reached base in 22 straight and is hitting .500 in 28 at-bats this season with a team-best nine RBIs and five extra-base hits (including the ‘Eaters’ only home run). “The way we played today, coming back from a pretty big deficit and the bullpen limiting the runs, it’s always good to get a team win like that. We played 22 guys today and each one of them contributed up and down the lineup.
“As soon as I saw they were going to intentionally walk me, I looked to see who was on deck, and it was Alex. And I’m glad it was him, because he came through big for us.”
Guenette said it was the biggest hit of his collegiate career.
“I went up there thinking I just wanted to get my pitch,” Guenette said. “I wanted to see what I could do with it and hit the ball hard. That’s all I could ask.”
Gillespie could not have asked for greater clutch performances in the ninth inning. Cassolato singled with one out, but remained at first after Paul Coss struck out. Senior first baseman Mitchell Holland walked following Hiura’s bunt single and senior third baseman Jonathan Munoz drove a ground ball off the slope of the mound that shortstop Justin Bridgman dived to field, but fell backward and had no play. Cassolato scored on Munoz’s infield single and sophomore second baseman Cole Kreuter then whacked a two-run single through the left side to erase the deficit.
It was the third hit of the day for Kreuter, who is six for nine in the series and drove in three runs Saturday. Kreuter, Gillespie’s grandson, is now hitting .417 in 24 at-bats this season, after injuries opened a doorway to the field.
“Good for him and good for the blood line,” Gillesipe said of Kreuter, who is playing because senior shortstop Mikey Duarte (season-ending elbow surgery) and junior second baseman John Brontsema (lingering back problem) are unavailable. “He has certainly taken advantage of his opportunity, because although his mother [Gillespie’s daughter] and father [former major league catcher Chad Kreuter] would be very disappointed to hear it, without those two guys hurt, [the younger Kreuter] wouldn’t have been out there, no matter how much I love him. It’s going to be hard to get him out of there now, with what he’s done.”
The comeback was aided by scoreless relief innings from Daniel Alvarez, Miles Glazier, Alonzo Garcia (two innings), Mitchell Miller and winning pitcher Ben Ritchey. Dylan Riddle allowed one unearned run in his one inning.
UCI starter Cameron Bishop allowed four hits and four runs (two earned) in two innings.
The series concludes Sunday at 1 p.m.
Twitter: @BarryFaulkner5
