Another shutout for UCI

ROUND ROCK, Texas — The UC Irvine baseball team’s 13-0 win over Wake Forest in the NCAA Regional opener Friday at the Dell Diamond was its fourth shutout in its last seven games.

It was the Anteaters’ third consecutive shutout on a Friday and their eighth shutout of the season, a school record since the program entered Division I before the 1978 season.

With Wes Etheridge striking out 10 in eight innings Friday, UCI pitchers have now fanned 42 in a four-game span that included the regular-season ending series at UC Riverside.

Etheridge’s 10 strikeouts marked the 15th game this season that Anteater hurlers have reached double-digits in that department.

ROOKIES OF RENOWN

Freshman Christian Bergman pitched a perfect ninth inning Friday to complete the shutout and Coach Dave Serrano went out of his way to mention the contribution of the freshmen to the victory.

Freshman designated hitter Jeff Cusick singled in two runs in the first inning and finished two for three with three RBIs.

Freshman Luis Tovar had a pinch-hit, RBI single in the eighth inning, while freshman Sean Madigan, the team’s designated hitter against right-handed starting pitchers, flied out as a pinch-hitter.

Cusick and Madigan have been big contributors all season. During the regular season, Madigan played in 40 games, hit .340 with seven doubles and 24 RBIs.

Cusick played in 37 regular-season games, hitting .325 with three home runs and 15 RBIs.

Cusick said he had no extra nerves making his first collegiate postseason start against Wake Forest.

“This game was no different than the [56 games] we’ve already played,” Cusick said. “[Before my first-inning at-bat], I took a deep breath, and just tried to stay with my routine. And, I saw the guys before me were doing OK [four singles in the team’s first five at-bats], so I just tried to build off that.”

THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE

UCI sophomore second baseman Ben Orloff executed a sacrifice bunt to help set up the Anteaters’ four-run first inning Friday. It was the 28th sacrifice of the season for Orloff, who leads the nation in that department. Orloff also led the nation last season with 26 sacrifice hits. He owns the school records for single-season and career sacrifice hits.

Even more impressive, Orloff, hitting .349 after Friday’s win, has raised his average 132 points from last season.

Orloff also has 10 more extra-base hits than he did as a freshman, when he had none in 152 at-bats.

UCI’S MAN OF STEAL

Junior right fielder Bryan Petersen stole a base in the fifth inning, giving him 27 this season. He is one shy of tying school single-season record set by Stacy Parker in 1989.

LONGHORN LONG-BALLER

Texas sophomore Kyle Russell, who led the nation with 27 regular-season home runs, wasted little time adding to that total in the postseason.

Russell, a rail-thin right fielder who is listed at 6-foot-5, 185 pounds, and bats left-handed, drove the first pitch he saw into the left-field foul pole for his 28th homer of the season.

Russell, who now has 38 home runs and 113 RBIs in 115 collegiate games, went undrafted out of Tomball High in Magnolia, Texas.

FANS COME OUT

The crowd of 3,724 that attended the UCI-Wake Forest game was the biggest the Anteaters have played in front of this season.

The two biggest crowds at a UCI home game this season (2,026 and 1,637 against Long Beach State) would also be fewer than attended Friday’s game.

Texas drew 9,230 for its game against Brown Friday.

That is a session record for a regional hosted by the Longhorns.

GARRIDO PRAISES ‘EATERS

After his team’s 8-2 victory over a scrappy Brown team in the second game Friday, Longhorns Coach Augie Garrido offered a little impromptu critique of both games.

“If you take apart the two games, Irvine played the better game,” Garrido said. “They scored 13 runs and were pretty flawless on offense and defense.”

Today’s pitching matchup will be UCI sophomore Scott Gorgen (10-2 with a 3.06 earned-run average) against Texas junior right-hander Adrian Alaniz (12-2, 2.58), the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year.

Gorgen enters the game having thrown 18 straight scoreless innings.

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at [email protected].