Shakeup spurs UCI

Barry Faulkner

On the heels of what may have been the season’s most disappointing

loss, UC Irvine baseball coach Dave Serrano flexed his depth chart

Saturday night at UC Riverside.

The result was some untapped productivity, perhaps some bruised

egos, and a 5-2 Big West Conference win that Serrano believes helped

send the message his lineup card initiated.

“I think the flame was lit by me putting different names in the

lineup,” said Serrano, who penciled in only three of the same names

that started Friday’s series-opening 3-2 setback in 10 innings. “The message I wanted to send was the same message I had from Day One when

I met with this team. That is that no one person is bigger than the

program and there’s no one who can’t be replaced.”

The newly constructed lineup banged out 14 hits, including at

least one by every starter, which proved enough to reward another

solid start by sophomore pitcher Justin Cassel.

Cassel surrendered seven hits in 7 1/3 innings, striking out nine

and walking just one to improve to 5-2, before 258 at the Riverside

Sports Complex.

The Anteater offense was led by senior designated hitter Gregg

Wallis, who went 3 for 4 with an RBI. Wallis entered the game hitting

.207 with six hits in 29 at-bats this spring.

“This was an opportunity for some other guys to play and show what

they had,” Wallis said. “[Friday night, when Riverside erased a 2-0

deficit with a two-out, two-run homer in the ninth and won it in the

10th] was a big punch in the gut for us. I think everyone really

wanted to contribute to turning that feeling around.”

Getting their first starts of the series, second baseman Cody

Cipriano (2 for 3 with an RBI and a stolen base), left fielder Danny

Miramontes (2 for 4 with two runs) and first baseman Jaime Martinez

(2 for 4 with two RBIs and one run) also made the most of Serrano’s

willingness to rethink the status quo.

“It’s kind of an attitude check right now,” said Serrano, whose

team improved to 17-16, 3-5 in the Big West. “I haven’t been happy

about how we’ve sustained our intensity from day to day, pitch to

pitch and inning to inning. I think there are some guys who have

stayed in there because of their accolades in the past. But just like

I got done telling them [in an extended postgame meeting in left

field], it’s about here and now. And the guys who are showing that on

an everyday basis, in practices and games, are the guys who are going

to continue to get reps. There’s not a huge separation between the

No. 1 player and the No. 16 position player, so it has been kind of

drawing straws on who plays. I’ve been sticking with some guys and

hoping they would break out of things and they just haven’t been

doing it. So I think there’s an opportunity for many jobs to be won.”

So far, so good, Serrano said.

“I was very happy with the way that lineup produced tonight. I tip

my cap to many of those guys who have sat and watched for many

innings. They’ve learned from what they’ve seen their teammates do

and I think they really sustained some things.”

Even so, Serrano lamented 13 runners left on base, after stranding

10 Friday. And while situational success was achieved on sacrifice

flies by David Kennedy (scoring Ollie Linton in the first) and Wallis

(cashing in Kennedy in the seventh), Cipriano had the only two-out

RBI, when he singled in Martinez.

UCI led, 4-0, before Riverside broke up Cassel’s no-hitter with a

pair of doubles in the fourth.

Highlander Brian Steinmeyer led off the fifth with a home run to

left field, but Cassel and relievers Nash Robertson and Blair

Erickson shut down the hosts (15-18, 1-4).

Big West Conference

UC Irvine 5,

UC Riverside 2

Score by Innings

*--*

UCI 1 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 - 5 14 0

UCR 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 - 2 7 2

*--*

Cassel, Robertson (8), Erickso (9) and Wagner; Bills, Cassa (8)

and Dunbar, Abney (8). W -- Cassel, 4-2. L -- Bills, 3-6. Sv --

Erickson (6). 2B -- Martinez (UCI), Salotti (UCR), Cunningham (UCR).

HR -- Steinmeyer (UCR).