Bibona, Linton part Red Sea

LINCOLN, Neb. — More than 8,000 who comprise what is called the Red Sea, seeped from Hawks Field at Haymarket Park Saturday night without having made more than a few periodic splashes.

They were stilled by the huge and heroic performances of not only the two smallest players on the field, but the smallest among those listed on the combined 50-player rosters.

And, wading through their disappointment after UC Irvine defeated their beloved Nebraska Cornhuskers, 3-2, in the winner’s bracket game of the NCAA Lincoln Regional, they reached the parking lot not knowing they had likely hurt their team more than helped.

Sophomore Danny Bibona, a 5-foot-11, 165-pound left-hander who said stamina has prevented him from working through the eighth inning in his previous 19 collegiate starts, said the crowd helped sustain him through eight strong innings, as he earned his ninth win of the season in his first postseason appearance.

“I fed off the crowd,” said Bibona, who after allowing a two-run home run to Jake Opitz in the third inning, got 16 outs while facing the next 16 hitters.

Bibona handed over the ninth inning to sophomore All-American closer Eric Pettis, who tied the UCI single-season record with his 17th save by retiring the side on three ground balls.

“In the beginning of the game, [the crowd] was a little overwhelming because I’ve never pitched in an atmosphere like that before,” said Bibona, who allowed just four hits, walked two and struck out seven in the longest outing of his career. “But when they were all clapping in the seventh and eighth innings, I thought they were clapping for me.”

Ollie Linton, a speedy leadoff man who has built his renown on stolen bases and ranging catches in center field, rotated every ounce of his 5-foot-8, 160-pound being into a low curveball that Nebraska ace Johnny Dorn said he meant to bury with the score tied, 2-2, in the fifth inning.

Instead, Linton lofted it over the fence in right field for his fourth home run of the season to bury the ’Huskers’ hopes for victory.

It was the game-winning hit and propelled the No. 2-seeded Anteaters (40-16) into today’s championship game at 6:05 p.m., against the winner of today’s elimination game between top-seeded Nebraska (41-15-1) and Oral Roberts (46-13).

UCI needs just one more win in the double-elimination tournament to advance to the Super Regional. Should UCI lose Sunday, another championship game would be held Monday at 11:05 a.m.

“I didn’t go up there thinking I’m going to hit a home run,” said Linton, whose only dinger before this season was inside the park. “I try to put the ball on the ground and make the defense make the play. If I run into a few balls, I’m happy about it.”

UCI junior shortstop Ben Orloff, who doubled and scored on Jeff Cusick’s single in the third to erase Nebraska’s 2-1 lead, has been and remains impressed with Linton.

“I joke with Ollie,” Orloff said. “I say he’s the poor man’s Ryan Howard [the 2006 National League Rookie of the Year who blasted a league-best 54 home runs in 2007]. He does an unbelievable job at the top [of the order] of getting us going. And every once in a while, he runs into one. He’s unbelievable.”

UCI Coach Mike Gillespie, who first praised the combined pitching dominance of Bibona and Pettis, added his wry wit to the plaudits going Linton’s way.

“The guy who we’ve come to expect home runs from [Linton], jumped the yard and we made it work,” Gillespie said.

It was the fifth straight win in regional play for the ’Eaters, who have reached the 40-win plateau for the fourth time in the program’s 30-season history.

“I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that we’ve been here before,” said Orloff, who along with Linton and senior catcher Aaron Lowenstein are returning starters from a 47-17-1 team that swept the Round Rock Regional and the Super Regional at Wichita State before finishing third in the 2007 College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

“We’re not nervous. We know that if we play well, we have a good chance to win any day against anybody.”

Gillespie and pitching coach Ted Silva believed Bibona, the Sunday starter all season, would give UCI the best chance of winning against a Nebraska lineup that loads up with left-handed hitters against right-handed pitching.

Conversely, UCI stacked five left-handed hitters against Dorn, whose 37 wins and 58 starts rank second in Nebraska career annals. Dorn was also 3-1 in the postseason, before absorbing the tough-luck loss to fall to 6-2.

UCI’s lefties produced eight of the 11 hits off Dorn, the most he has allowed in those 58 career starts.

Sean Madigan and Casey Stevenson, both left-handed hitters, were three for four, while Linton, another lefty, was two for four.

“I thought it was one of my best outings,” Dorn said. “[The Anteaters] just got some good at-bats and you have to give them credit.”

Said Nebraska Coach Mike Anderson: “We performed at a high level. [Bibona] was outstanding. “He located every pitch, off-speed, fastballs, you name it. We tip our hats to him.”

Opitz also praised Bibona.

“Every time the catcher put the glove up, [Bibona] hit it. You expect him to throw strikes, so our guys were chasing balls in the dirt [with two strikes]. We had some opportunities early, but once he settled in, we struggled to even get runners on base, let alone score some runs.”

Stevenson and Madigan singled with two outs and Eric Deragisch doubled to drive in Stevenson to open the scoring in the second for UCI, the designated home team.

After Opitz’s homer, his third in the regional, Bibona retired the next six in order.

Bibona issued a two-out walk in the fifth, but his pickoff move helped nail the runner trying to advance to second to end the inning.

He then had perfect innings in the sixth, seventh and eighth.

UCI will start sophomore Bryce Stowell in today’s game, Gillespie said.

NCAA Regional

Winner’s bracket game

UC Irvine 3, Nebraska 2

SCORE BY INNINGS

Dorn and Abeita; Bibona, Pettis (9) and Lowenstein. W – Bibona, 9-3. L – Dorn, 6-2. Sv – Pettis (17). 2B – Deragisch, Kline (N), Orloff (UCI). HR – Opitz (N), Linton (UCI).

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