IRVINE, Calif.—San Diego could not overcome an early nine-run deficit and fell to No. 21 UC Irvine 17-7 on Tuesday evening at Anteater Park.
The Anteaters (16-4) jumped out to an early 9-1 lead after a three-run home run in the first inning, adding six more runs in the bottom of the second. The Toreros (17-8, 3-3 WCC) answered in the third scoring four runs on a
Cody Jefferis RBI double, a
Tora Otsuka RBI single and a two-run home run by
Ripken Reyes—his first of the season.
UCI would effectively stall USD's momentum one inning later, piling on five runs on four hits to take a 14-5 lead and never look back. The Toreros added a run in both the sixth and seventh innings, but the Anteaters answered each time, scoring one run in the sixth and two in the bottom of the eighth.
Reyes paced the Toreros offensively, going 3-for-5 including the two-run homer in the third. He also added two runs for USD.
Chris McCready finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run and
Shane McGuire went 2-for-5 including a leadoff double in the second to extend a nine-game hitting streak.
The Toreros used eight different pitchers in the contest, while the Anteaters used six, combining for 366 total pitches between the teams. Collectively the Toreros gave up 16 hits, with seven walks and five strikeouts with
Jack Dolak (2-2, 6.75 ERA) getting his first career start for USD. San Diego collected 11 hits, leaving nine men on base.
Next up, the Toreros will travel to Spokane, Wash. to face Gonzaga for a weekend series beginning Friday at 6 p.m. PT.
