UCI wins it in 15th round

IRVINE ? It’s a good thing the UC Irvine baseball team has the week off from Big West Conference play. The Anteaters might be sleeping through the weekend.

UC Irvine, playing the longest game in school history, scored two runs in the bottom of the 15th inning to defeat UNLV, 4-3, on Tuesday night at Anteater Ballpark.

It marked UC Irvine’s sixth consecutive victory and tenth out of the last 11.

The Anteaters left 17 runners on base through 14 innings, but when the Rebels scored a run off reliever Dylan Axelrod in the top of the 15th, they responded.

Senior backup catcher Jeff Werhun led off the bottom of the 15th with a walk and was sacrificed to second by Gary Dudrey. Cody Cipriano singled on a 1-and-2 pitch and stole second, putting runners on second and third.

Freshman Ben Orloff then delivered his third hit of the game, a two-run single to right-center field on a 2-and-2 pitch to bring home the tying and winning runs for the Anteaters (29-17). It was the first two runs UC Irvine scored in the game since the first inning, about 4 1/2 hours earlier.

Justin Cassel made a rare Tuesday start for the Anteaters, who don’t play again until April 9 at San Diego State. The right-hander pitched nine strong innings on three days rest, striking out five and without walking a batter. The junior allowed just four hits and didn’t walk a batter.

He was economical, too, retiring the side in order six times, including his last three innings, and throwing just 90 pitches.

After the Anteaters threatened several times in the extra frames, the Rebels struck in the 15th. Axelrod replaced Kyle Necke, who threw two innings of scoreless relief, and allowed a one-out walk, a bloop single and another walk to load the bases.

The Rebels scored on a broken double-play attempt. C.J. Lang hit a groundball to third baseman Tyler Vaughn, who threw home to get the force out. But Werhun’s throw to first banked off the shoulder of Lang and caromed toward second base, allowing the Rebels to score the go-ahead run ? the first run scored since the third inning.

Every Anteater batter in the starting lineup had at least one hit by the time the sixth inning was over. But the Anteaters didn’t have an extra base hit until Bryan Petersen doubled in the 10th.

The Anteaters opened the scoring in the first inning. Cipriano was hit by a pitch and Orloff sacrificed him to second. Taylor Holiday singled to shallow left field with Cipriano stopping at third. After Holiday took second on a wild pitch, Jaime Martinez hit a ground ball up the middle that found its way into the outfield and two runs scored.

UNLV starter Ryan Tabor went 6 2/3 innings, allowing 10 hits and two runs while striking out five. Rebels reliever Jabe Beard put in a stellar performance in relief, throwing 103 pitches in 6 1/3 innings, allowing just four hits and no runs while striking out eight.

But UC Irvine’s relievers were just as effective. Blair Erickson threw three innings of hitless baseball and Necke hurled two scoreless innings.

UNLV’s No. 3 hitter, Keith Smith, was hitless in seven at-bats, but did drive in a run. Only Lang had multiple hits for the Rebels (19-27).

Cipriano and Orloff had three hits each for the Anteaters.

Dudrey stole his 20th base of the season in the bottom of the eighth inning when he swiped second, but got greedy when he tried to steal third too and was thrown out.