Oregon and Washington both fall in non-conference action Tuesday.
Errors Costly In Loss To Hornets
EUGENE, Ore. – Blake Crosby hit the first grand slam out of PK Park on Tuesday afternoon, but unfortunately for the Ducks, Crosby was sporting a Sacramento State uniform, and the senior first baseman helped lead the Hornets to a 10-5 victory.
No. 10 UC Irvine Out-Slugs Washington, 17-13
SEATTLE – A ninth-inning sacrifice fly from DJ Crumlich broke a 13-13 tie as the No. 10 UC Irvine baseball team out-slugged Washington for a 17-13 win Tuesday night at Husky Ballpark.
EUGENE, Ore. – Blake Crosby hit the first grand slam out of PK Park on Tuesday afternoon, but unfortunately for the Ducks, Crosby was sporting a Sacramento State uniform, and the senior first baseman helped lead the Hornets to a 10-5 victory.
Crosby’s grand slam and poor Oregon defense proved to be the difference in Sacramento State’s victory over Oregon, as six of the Hornets’ 10 runs on the day were unearned.
It was a five-run eighth inning for the Hornets that proved too much of a hole for the Ducks to climb out of.
After moving from left field to the mound for Sacramento State, Jeff Roth started the eighth at the plate with a double to left field. Back-to-back errors on Oregon right-hander Geoff Nichols – dropping a pop up bunt and an errant throw to first – allowed Roth to score the go-ahead run and put runners on the corners with no outs.
One out later, Sacramento State’s leadoff hitter, Hunter Martinez, singled to load the bases, setting up Derrick Chung’s two-run double off the wall in center field. Later in the inning, Josh Powers hit a two-run single to right, scoring Chung and Martinez to put the final runs on the board for the Hornets.
At the start of the game things looked good for Oregon right away after senior Caleb Tommasini led off the game with a solo shot over the left field wall. It was his second home run this season, both coming during leadoff at-bats.
But the Hornets tied things in the top of the third after Dan McCarthy was issued a one-out walk by Oregon starter Chris Garrison – later scoring on an Oregon defensive error.
The Ducks got back on top in the bottom of the third thanks to freshman KC Serna’s first collegiate home run. After missing three games last week at the Rose City Invitational, in just his second at-bat of the game, Serna hammered a two-run shot over the wall in left, giving the Ducks a 3-1 advantage in the bottom of the third.
But Sacramento State did damage in the top of the fifth to retake its lead, 5-3, when Crosby hit the first grand slam out of PK Park. After retiring the first two batters of the inning, Garrison issued back-to-back walks to Martinez and Chung. Garrison was then lifted in favor of junior lefty Ryan Fleckenstein, who walked Tim Wheeler to load the bases before Crosby’s four-run knock.
The Ducks tied the game in the bottom of the seventh when Serna picked up another 2 RBI with a two-run single through the left side. The Ventura, Calif., native had the bases loaded with two outs against him, and sliced a two-run drive to left that brought home Tommasini and Andrew Schmidt after each singled to reach base.
Sacramento State had a slight 11-10 edge in the hits department, but Oregon’s four errors were costly.
Tommasini reached base in four of his five trips to the plate, with a home run, single and two walks. Curtis Raulinaitis, Schmidt and Serna also had multiple hits for Oregon.
Martinez reached base in all five of his plate appearances for Sacramento State, hitting three singles and getting walked twice. Crosby, Roth and Powers also had multiple hits for the Hornets.
On top of scoring the go-ahead run, Roth (2-0) took the win on the mound for the Hornets, pitching the final three innings of the game and holding Oregon to two runs on five hits.
Jesse Darrah started the game for Sacramento State, while Nick Buchta pitched three innings of one-hit baseball for the Hornets.
In his first start of the season, Garrison went 4 and 2/3 innings allowing three runs (two earned) on two hits. Ryan Fleckenstein, Nichols, McGough and Blake Williams all appeared in relief. Nichols (1-2) took the loss allowing five runs (all unearned) on four hits.
Oregon and Sacramento State will play at 1 p.m. tomorrow at PK Park.
Notes: Sacramento State head coach John Smith is in his 31st season with the Hornets…he coached against the Ducks in 1979, 1980 and 1981 before Oregon discontinued the baseball program…KC Serna hit his first career home run in the third…for the second time this season Caleb Tommasini led off a game with a home run…it is his second HR of the season…Sacramento State’s Blake Crosby hit the first grand slam out of PK Park at 4:39 p.m…Oregon has now dropped its last three…Sacramento State has won seven in a row.
UC Irvine Out-Slugs Washington, 17-13
March 24, 2009
Box Score
SEATTLE – A ninth-inning sacrifice fly from DJ Crumlich broke a 13-13 tie as the No. 10 UC Irvine baseball team out-slugged Washington for a 17-13 win Tuesday night at Husky Ballpark.
Washington (9-12), which led 12-8 after six innings, gave up runs in each of the last three innings for the loss. Irvine improved to 13-6 on the season.
Husky freshman Andrew Kittredge (1-2), who came on to begin the ninth, suffered the loss. UCI reliever Noel Avison (1-0), who pitched three innings in relief, got the win.
In the top of the ninth, a walk, a single and a hit batter loaded the bases for Crumlich, who had entered the game as a pinch hitter in the eighth. Dillon Bell followed with a two-run double and Ben Orloff drove him in with a single to account for the Anteaters’ final tally.
Both teams were active at the plate in the early going. After UCI scored a run in the top of the first, the Huskies answered with three in the bottom of the opening inning.
After the Huskies got another in the second, Irvine erupted for a six-run rally in the third, scoring all six with two outs, to take a 7-4 lead.
However, after a Ty Rasmussen homer in the third cut the lead to 7-5, Washington scored three more in the fourth to move back on top, 8-7.
But, Anteater DH Brock Bardeen belted his sixth homer of the year in the fifth to tie the score at 8-8.
In the fifth, the Huskies scored four runs to take back the lead. After Brendan Gardner-Young tripled and scored on a two-out single from Pierce Rankin and Troy Scott belted a three-run homer to center to make it a 12-8 Husky lead.
Irvine cut the gap to 12-10 in the seventh when Bardeen hit his second homer of the night, a two-run shot to right.
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In the eighth, Anteater catcher Ronnie Shaeffer led off with a solo homer to left, cutting the lead down to one at 12-11. Casey Stevenson followed with a single and, after moving to third on a bunt and a groundout, he scored on a passed ball, tying the score at 12-12. With the bases empty and two down, Orloff walked, stole second and scored on a two-out single from Ryan Fisher put UCI on top, 13-12.
In the bottom of the eighth, Kyle Conley’s leadoff fly to right was dropped for a three-base error and Troy Scott followed with a sacrifice fly to tie the score once more at 13-13.
Scott led the Husky hitters with four runs batted in. Bardeen drove in three for the Anteaters, who also got four hits from Shaeffer.
The two-game series concludes with another game Wednesday. First pitch is slated to begin at 2:00 p.m. (NOTE: that time has been changed from the original 2:30 p.m. start). This weekend, the Huskies open Pac-10 play with a three-game series at Stanford. All three games from Palo Alto will air live on KKNW AM-1150.
LINESCORE Non-Conference Game #10 UC Irvine 17, Washington 13 UC Irvine 106 010 234 -- 17 16 1 Washington 311 340 010 -- 13 12 0 Cory Hamilton, Matt Dufour (4), Noel Avison (6), Eric Pettis (9) and Ronnie Shaeffer. Jorden Merry, Jason Erickson (3), Forrest Snow (8), Aaron West (8), Andrew Kittredge (9), Geoff Brown (9) and Pierce Rankin. W - Avison (1-0). L - Kittredge (1-2). 2B - UCI, Shaeffer, Casey Stevenson, Dillon Bell; UW, Julien Pollard, Rankin. 3B - UW, Brendan Gardner-Young. HR - UCI, Brock Bardeen 2 (7), Shaeffer (2); UW, Ty Rasmussen (3), Troy Scott (3). T - 3:30. A - 248.
