LINCOLN REGIONAL:

LINCOLN, Neb. — Call it double-decker dominance.

The UC Irvine baseball team continued to show it could deliver its best performances in the biggest venues, such as 8,500-seat Hawks Field at Haymarket Park, where the Anteaters (41-16) blanked Oral Roberts, 8-0, Sunday to win the NCAA Lincoln, Neb. Regional at the double-decker stadium that the Nebraska Cornhuskers call home.

Sophomore right-hander Bryce Stowell produced the best performance of his collegiate career to clinch a visit to LSU for the Super Regional, which will start either Friday or Saturday in Baton Rouge. The start date of the best-of-three series from which the winner will advance to the College World Series, will be announced tonight at 6. LSU has won 23 straight.

“We were thrilled with what our guys did and what they accomplished and how they played here and how they handled themselves,” UCI Coach Mike Gillespie said. “Bryce Stowell was spectacular. He had a premier, elite, spectacular day.”

With Nebraska eliminated earlier Sunday, only 1,264 were on hand to witness UCI’s sixth straight win in regional play. UCI has now won five in a row and seven of its last eight.

Stowell, pitching for only the second time in 22 days, said the smallish crowd helped him relax. His mound dominance did not afford the Golden Eagles (48-14) the same opportunity.

He struck out a career-high 13, allowing just five hits (all singles) and walking none in 7 2/3 innings. He did not allow a runner past second base, struck out the side in the fourth and sixth innings, and retired the final eight he faced, before being pulled after 121 pitches.

Tom Calahan got the final out of the eighth and Christian Bergman worked a perfect ninth to spark a UCI dogpile on the mound.

It was the first time Oral Roberts was shut out since April 5, 2007, a span of 90 games. The Golden Eagles, who were beaten by UCI, 9-7, in Friday’s opening round, fanned 27 times in 18 innings against UCI pitching.

“We think we beat, arguably, the best hitting club we saw all year,” said Gillespie, whose pitching staff, including Saturday night’s 3-2 win over Nebraska, blanked opponents the final 15 1/3 innings of the regional.

Oral Roberts, which scored 23 runs in its three previous regional games, including an 8-0 thumping of Nebraska in Sunday’s afternoon elimination game, came into the week ranked 10th nationally in runs and 13th in team batting average (.330).

Offensively, UCI came up equally big, collecting 12 hits off four Oral Roberts hurlers, including starter Carlos Luna, who came in with a pristine 13-0 record (tied for the NCAA lead in wins), but absorbed the first loss of his Division I career.

Sophomore right fielder Sean Madigan went three for five with five RBIs, while sophomore second baseman Casey Stevenson went three for four with two RBIs to improve to seven of nine in the regional.

Sophomore first baseman Jeff Cusick went two for three for the ’Eaters, who scored single runs in the first and third, then opened it up with four in the seventh.

“[Stowell, who was named MVP of the regional] was special,” Oral Roberts Coach Rob Walton said. “He had really good velocity and a good breaking ball and that’s the only guy all year who has really shut us down. We’ve seen a bunch of good arms, but that was the best performance somebody has had against our lineup.”

Luna, who went 6 1/3 , despite pitching 4 1/3 innings of relief Saturday, was charged with six runs, five earned, on eight hits. He walked two and struck out two. But he kept the Golden Eagles in the game through six innings.

“If we’d have had somebody stick it to us during the year [like Stowell did Sunday],” Walton said, “hey, maybe we’d have thought we were in trouble [as the shutout innings mounted and they trailed just 2-0 through six]. But our guys have found a way to get it done, so we were confident we could eventually get some offense going.”

Stowell, however, was nearly flawless, Walton said.

“[Stowell] just kept making pitcher’s pitches,” Walton said. “At some point, you figure the guy is going to make a mistake. But, honestly, I only think he made about two or three. This guy was just flat on.”

Stowell, who had surrendered 11 earned runs in 12 innings spanning his last two starts, said his limited duty lately [he missed his May 17 start at UC Davis due to food poisoning] had no effect on his outing.

“Coming into today, everyone knew what was on the line,” Stowell said. “We were all really fired up and pumped to be out here. Once the first pitch took place, we all had the same vision in mind and that just took over.”

Stowell said he was on his game more than any other time in his career.

“I felt like I could put the ball wherever I wanted to,” Stowell said. “I had all three pitches. When that happens, it’s just something you hold onto, because it doesn’t happen every time.”

Madigan, junior center fielder Ollie Linton, sophomore lefty Danny Bibona who got the win Saturday against Nebraska before an overflow Red Sea crowd of 8,646, and junior shortstop Ben Orloff joined Stowell on the 11-player All-Regional team.

NCAA Regional

Championship game

UC Irvine 8, Oral Roberts 0

Score by Innings

UCI 101 000 402 – 8 12 0

ORU 000 000 000 – 0 7 4

Stowell, Calahan (8), Bergman (9) and Larson; Luna, Jarmen (7), Serrano (7), Kelly (9) and Genao; W – Stowell, 8-2. L – Luna, 13-1. 2B – Orloff (UCI), Stevenson (UCI), Minisalle (ORU).

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