USD puts Anteaters in a jam

SAN DIEGO — The fact that UC Irvine’s nonconference baseball game against host San Diego ended at the beginning of rush hour, had little to do with the Anteaters’ delayed return to their bus for the 90-mile ride home Tuesday.

Instead, the UCI position players remained parked in shallow right field for the traditional postgame discussion in which Coach Mike Gillespie required a few extra minutes to go over the many things his offense and defense failed to execute in a 7-1 loss to the No. 12-ranked Toreros (28-11).

The No. 5-ranked Anteaters (23-7) had leadoff hits in four innings and had their first two batters reach safely three times against San Diego junior starter Ricardo Pecina.

But the left-hander still managed to allow just one run in his 7 1/3 innings by consistently buzzing UCI batters with inside pitches, on his way to earning his third victory in five decisions. It was the peak performance this season for Pecina, who struck out seven, walked none and allowed seven hits.

“I thought he pitched masterfully,” Gillespie said of Pecina, for whom sophomore closer AJ Griffin recorded the final five outs to post his eighth save of the campaign.

“I think [Pecina] had really good command,” Gillespie said. “He went both away and in, and he pitched in late in counts. He got that cutter over and he also was working his change. And, it looked to me like he dug down and got just a little bit tougher with that guy at third and nobody out.”

Until the eighth, in which freshman reliever Crosby Slaught surrendered two doubles and three singles, the UCI bullpen had inspired praise from Gillespie.

The UCI relief corps that had largely struggled recently, followed starter Christian Bergman’s three innings with four straight scoreless innings, all thrown by a different pitcher, to keep the visitors in the game.

Matt Dufour, Cole Hathcock, Reid Suitor and Tom Calahan all combined on a streak in which 10 straight Toreros were retired. Hathcock, a sophomore making his 2008 debut, Suitor, a sophomore who had only one-third of an inning this season, and Calahan, a sophomore who had been part of the pen’s recent struggles, all threw perfect innings.

“I was pleased with the pitching,” said Gillespie, who entered expecting only three innings from Bergman, who surrendered three earned runs and six hits, after having allowed just four earned runs in his previous 40 1/3 innings this season. Bergman saw his 0.89 earned-run average (which led the Big West Conference coming in), swell to 1.42.

But one of those runs came courtesy of a sun double that junior right fielder Eric Deragisch, starting in place of sophomore Dillon Bell, let drop at his feet in the second inning.

Bell, incapacitated, Gillespie said, by a bruise sustained while sliding into the Long Beach State catcher Sunday, is expected to be ready for the weekend Big West series with visiting UC Riverside.

That was the most glaring defensive lapse in a game that featured a handful of web gems by junior shortstop Ben Orloff, who remains an island of tranquility amid a sea of defensive adventure, around the infield and in both corner outfield spots.

Gillespie said he also spent several postgame minutes going over the ’Eaters’ approach at the plate.

Linton and Orloff were both two for four and redshirt freshman Mike Pugliese got his first hit as an Anteater.

Nonconference

San Diego 7, UC Irvine 1

SCORE BY INNINGS

Bergman, Dufour (4), Hathcock (5), Suitor (6), Calahan (7), Slaught (8) and Lowenstein; Pecina, Griffin (8) and Gelbrich. W – Pecina, 3-2. L – Bergman, 4-1. Sv. – Griffin (8). 2B – Nicol (SD), Meador (SD), Gelbrich (SD), Romanski (SD), Hansen (SD). 3B – Larson (UCI).