‘Eaters sink to sixth place

IRVINE — The UC Irvine baseball team that only eight days earlier had earned the right to be considered by many the team to beat in the Big West Conference, was knocked into sixth place Sunday by visiting Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

The conference-leading Mustangs (20-18, 7-2 in conference) flexed their muscles at bat and on the mound to claim a 12-0 win before 885 at Anteater Ballpark.

With the loss, UCI, which had won eight consecutive series and had not lost a series at home this season, falls to 25-10-1, 5-4. The Anteaters, ranked No. 17 by Baseball America, also figure to fall in the national polls.

UCI managed just four hits off three Cal Poly pitchers, including sophomore right-hander Thomas Eager, who started and went 7 2/3 innings.

The Anteaters committed four errors, including three during a four-run fourth for the Mustangs.

Eager, who improved to 7-2 and lowered his ERA from 3.24 to 2.94, struck out five, walked two and hit two.

The Mustangs added four runs in the fifth and three in the sixth, including back-to-back homers by Logan Schafer and freshman shortstop Kyle Smith, whose first collegiate dinger cleared the fence in left, muting an already docile UCI crowd.

Cal Poly junior Grant Desme, who went four for four Saturday, was three for four with a home run, his 12th of the season, which leads the Big West. Desme, who was hitless in four at-bats against UCI Friday, is now hitting .408 this season.

Meanwhile, UCI is barely hitting. The ‘Eaters had 19 hits in three games, 17 of which were singles.

But it was the pitching, specifically the lack of an effective Sunday starter, that had UCI Coach Dave Serrano most concerned afterward.

“We still have guys pitching like freshmen and acting line freshmen and we’re two-thirds of the way into the season,” said Serrano, who also serves as the team’s pitching coach. “We’re 10 weeks into the season and we’re still searching for a [Sunday starter]. That’s very disappointing to me and I take it personally, because I work with those young guys.”

Freshman Christian Bergman made his second straight start in a series finale, but lasted just 2 2/3 innings. He gave up six hits and four runs, though only one run was earned.

Seniors Gary Nakashima (four earned runs in 1 1/3 innings) and Dylan Axelrod (three earned runs in two innings), couldn’t slow down the Mustangs’ offense.

Finally, freshman Eric Pettis allowed only Desme’s home run in two innings and freshman Daniel Bibona worked a scoreless ninth for the Anteaters.

“[Pettis] has some mentality and I think he proved himself a little [with his outing],” Serrano said. “With his [side-arm delivery], I don’t think he’s a guy [who can pitch deep into ballgames he would start]. But, gosh, we just need somebody to start the game out and get us rolling a little bit, so we can get some momentum.”

UCI was unable to get any momentum going against the Mustangs, despite putting either its first or second hitter of the inning on base in seven of the nine innings.

Sophomore center fielder Ollie Martin, who traded jerseys with catcher Aaron Lowenstein, so that he could wear No. 42 to honor Jackie Robinson — celebrated Sunday by Major League Baseball on the 60th anniversary of his breaking the color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers — went two for three to highlight the Anteaters’ offense.

Matt Morris bunted for a single in the sixth and Taylor Holiday led off the eighth with a line single to center.

It was the first time UCI has been shut out since it managed just two hits in a 2-0 nonconference loss to visiting San Diego on March 6.

The 12-run margin made it the worst defeat in the six seasons since UCI resurrected its program, following a nine-year hiatus. UCI’s last loss by at least that much was a 15-3 setback to San Diego on April 14, 1992.

Desme, whom Serrano called the best position player UCI has faced this season, said his team may have opened some eyes by beating UCI two out of three.

“We came out and did what we expected to do,” Desme said. “Everyone is stepping up and, like coach [Larry Lee, a former Orange Coast College standout] said, we’re so young and ignorant, we don’t care who we’re playing.”

Said Serrano: “Cal Poly impressed me as much, if not more, than Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State. We put ourselves in a good position after [winning series] against Fullerton and Long Beach, but we kind of negated that this weekend.”

Big West Conference

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 12,

UC Irvine 0

Score by Innings

Eager, F. Reed (8), E. Reed (9); Bergman, Nakashima (3), Axelrod (5), Pettis (7), Bibona (9). W -- Eager, 7-2. L -- Bergman, 0-3. Carson (CP). HR -- Schafer (CP), Smith (CP), Desme (CP).