UCI knocks off Titans

Barry Faulkner

First-year UC Irvine baseball coach Dave Serrano picked up a plaque

Friday night for the contributions he made to the Cal State Fullerton

program as both a player and, the last eight seasons, an assistant

coach.

Then, after tucking the pregame trinket away, Serrano and his

Anteaters gave the host Titans something a little less festive.

Led by strong pitching from starter Chris Nicoll and reliever

Steve Schroer, UCI may have sent a message with a 5-1 Big West

Conference-opening victory before 2,111 at Goodwin Field.

“I have a lot of respect for this [Fullerton] program, but [the

Titans] put their uniforms and shoes on the same way we do,” Serrano

said. “This is good team win and I’m proud of my team and how it

performed.”

The performance was particularly impressive in light of how

Fullerton has dominated UCI for two decades.

It was only the third UCI win in the last 10 games against the

perennially powerful Titans, who had won the last five meetings,

including a three-game sweep last spring at UCI.

Since winning the series with their Orange County neighbors, three

games to one in 1985, UCI, which suspended its program for nine

seasons after the 1992 campaign, has not won a season series against

the school that captured its fourth national title last season.

Fullerton, ranked No. 2 after an 18-6 preconference record, was

overcome Friday by pitching and timely offense.

Nicoll, whose 94 pitches took him through 5 2/3 innings,

combined with Schroer on a four-hitter to extend what Fullerton Coach

George Horton said has been a recent offensive funk.

Nicoll allowed just three hits and one run, while Schroer, who

struck out the first hitter he faced to leave runners at second and

third in the sixth, surrendered just one hit en route to his first

save.

“I thought Nicoll didn’t have his A game,” Horton said. “But he

battled with his B game and, obviously, Schroer [who fanned five and

did not walk a batter] was phenomenal.”

UCI took the lead in the second when junior catcher Mark Wagner

tripled off the center fielder’s glove in right center and junior

left fielder Erik Johnson followed with a triple just out of the

reach of a diving center fielder in left center. Johnson then came

home on Cody Cipriano’s grounder to second.

Fullerton opened the scoring in the first when Justin Turner

doubled down the left-field line with one out, went to third on a

groundout and scored when Danny Dorn’s blooper down the left-field

line caromed off sliding shortstop Chad Lundahl. Lundahl retreated

and went into a slide near the line in an unsuccessful attempt to

catch the blooper.

“I thought [the Titans] threw the first blow in that first

inning,” Serrano said. “It would have been easy for our guys to think

‘Oh well, here we go again,’ especially with the track record between

these two programs. But we answered back and I thought that was

important.”

Serrano and Nicoll both acknowledged that Nicoll never developed

much more than his fastball. But both were happy with the performance

that helped Nicoll improve to 4-1 and outduel Titan ace Ricky Romero,

now 5-3.

Serrano had high praise for Schroer.

“His 3 1/3 innings of relief were great and it helped us,

because we were able to save [All-American closer Blair] Erickson.

Nicoll said his team was fully aware of its lack of previous

success against Fullerton.

“It’s nice to escape with this win,” Nicoll said. “Fullerton has

handed it to us a little bit. But, hopefully, we can come out

tomorrow and get another and play well, win the series and put an end

to it.”

Wagner led UCI’s 10-hit attack, going 3 for 4 with an RBI, while

Johnson finished 2 for 4 with an RBI.

Cipriano had two RBIs to help the Anteaters improve to 14-11.

ZOTS - UC Irvine Coach Dave Serrano was honored in pregame

festivities Friday. The former Cal State Fullerton pitching coach was

presented with a plaque to commemorate his eight seasons as part of

the Titans’ program, including last year when Fullerton won the

national championship and Serrano was named national assistant coach

of the year ... The series continues tonight at 6 and Sunday at 1

p.m. Tonight’s pitching matchup features UCI sophomore Justin Cassel

(3-1 with a 3.40 ERA) against freshman Wes Roemer (0-1, 2.37). The

starting pitchers for Sunday had not been determined.

Big West Conference

UC Irvine 5,

Cal State Fullerton 1

Score by Innings

*--*

UCI 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 - 5 10 1

CSF 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 1 4 1

*--*

Nicoll, Schroer (6) and Wagner. Romero, Gagnier (8) and Curtis. W

-.Nicoll, 4-1. L -.Romero, 5-3. Sv - Schroer (1). 2B - Turner (CSF),

Dorn (CSF), Johnson (UCI), Garcia (CSF). 3B - Wagner (UCI), Johnson

(UCI).