College Baseball: ‘Eaters sweep Vols

An endangered osprey that has nested in one of the light towers at Anteater Ballpark is benefiting from federal wildlife protection that prevents eviction. And, based on a nonconference doubleheader sweep of visiting Tennessee on Friday, UC Irvine pitchers are making sure that the diamond is still a safe haven for goose eggs as well.

Junior Matt Esparza posted eight zeroes in a complete-game effort and John Brontsema lined a two-out, walk-off single into center field to secure a 2-1 win in Game 2.

In the opener, junior starter Elliot Surrey and reliever Sean Sparling combined for seven goose eggs in a 5-2 triumph.

Esparza, who allowed four hits and struck out six, threw 118 pitches, while Surrey finished with 123 pitches, on which he surrendered seven hits and struck out six.

Both pitchers earned their first win to even their records this season. They combined to give UCI (3-6) its third straight victory after the worst start in program history.

“I think it was really great,” said Esparza, who spent the first three semesters of his collegiate career at Tennessee, before competing for Cypress Community College last season. “Surrey and myself showed that we can pitch deep into games and continue to pitch with higher pitch counts. I think that was a big boost for this team that can give us some confidence.”

Esparza surrendered a solo home run to former teammate Christin Stewart with two outs in the first inning, then allowed just three singles and only one Volunteer runner past second base.

“That was one of the most impressive games I’ve seen pitched in my two years here,” said Brontsema, who was two for four to key the ‘Eaters’ seven-hit attack in the second game. “Both [Surrey and Esparza] were truly incredible. To play defense behind those guys is really easy, because they work fast, throw strokes and they strike a lot of people out. They both pitched their hearts out tonight and if we can get those kinds of performances consistently, we are going to have a really good team and we know it.”

Junior right fielder Wyatt Castro was two for three with a run batted in and senior catcher Jerry McClanahan was two for four in the opener.

UCI got three unearned runs in the sixth inning when Jonathan Munoz’s line drive appeared to glance off the glove of Tennessee center fielder Vincent Jackson with the bases loaded and two outs against tough-luck starter Bret Marks. The critical error turned a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead and junior shortstop Mikey Duarte drove in an insurance run in the UCI seventh.

After Surrey retired a batter, then hit another in the ninth, Sparling set down both Vols he faced to record his first career save.

Duarte singled, stole second and scored on freshman left fielder Keston Hiura’s opposite-field single to right in the fourth inning to knot the second game at 1-1.

Tennessee starter Kyle Serrano, the son of Volunteers head man and former UCI Coach Dave Serrano, matched Esparza with zeroes until being relieved by Andy Cox with two outs in the seventh.

Esparza, who said he was excited to compete against his old teammates, was told he was being removed from the game after eight innings and 108 pitches, Gillespie said. But he talked Gillespie and pitching coach Danny Bibona into allowing him to finish what he started.

“We had hooked him,” Gillespie said. “But he convinced us to reconsider. I’m really proud of him. The way he started running up zeroes after the home run, I thought was impressive.”

Gillespie was also impressed with Kyle Serrano, a sophomore right-hander who was a UCI bat boy during his father’s three-season tenure that culminated in a run to the 2007 College World Series.

The Anteaters were clearly enthused with the sweep, which provided a much-needed lift.

“We started the season in a hole and team morale was down,” said Brontsema, who tripled in the opening game. “Today was a big team morale game, and we came out strong. Now, we’re back rolling.”

The teams are scheduled to conclude the series Saturday at 1 p.m.

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Nonconference

Game 2

UC Irvine 2, Tennessee 1

SCORE BY INNING

UT 100 000 000 – 1 4 1

UCI 000 100 001 – 2 7 1

Serrano, Cox (7) and Santiago; Esparza and McClanahan. W – Esparza, 1-1. L – Cox, 0-1 . HR – Stewart (UT).

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Game 1

UC Irvine 5, Tennessee 2

SCORE BY INNING

UT 010 100 000 – 2 7 2

UCI 001 003 10x – 5 8 0

Marks, Lenstrohm (7) and Houser; Surrey, Sparling (9) and McClanahan. W – Surrey (1-1). L – Marks (0-1). Sv – Sparling (1). 2B – Lance (UT), Senzel (UT), McClanahan (UCI). 3B – Brontsema (UCI).