College Roundup: UCI baseball edged by UCSB

BASEBALL

UC Santa Barbara 3, UC Irvine 2 (11 innings)

SANTA BARBARA — The visiting Anteaters, who fell out of a first-place tie on Friday, dropped to third in the Big West Conference on Saturday, despite posting a 15-8 advantage in hits.

UCI (31-20, 13-6 in conference), ranked No. 22 by Collegiate Baseball, erased a 1-0 deficit with a two-run fourth inning that included a run-scoring fly ball by John Brontsema and a run-producing single by Parker Coss.

But UCSB (38-13-1, 14-6), ranked No. 12 by Baseball America, tied it in the eighth and got a walk-off single by Clay Fisher in the 11th against UCI reliever Sam Moore.

Moore took the loss and is now 5-4.

UCI junior Matt Esparza, bidding for his ninth win, allowed one run and three hits in 6 2/3 innings.

Junior shortstop Mikey Duarte was three for six while Keston Hiura, Coss, Jerry McClanahan, Mitchell Holland and Cole Kreuter all had two hits apiece for the ‘Eaters, who left 13 runners on base.

The series concludes Sunday at 1 p.m.

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MEN’S GOLF

NCAA Lubbock Regional

LUBBOCK, Texas — UC Irvine finished 10th in the event that concluded Saturday at The Rawls Course.

The Anteaters’ final-round 287 gave them a 54-hole total of 865, 25 shots behind victorious Texas.

UCI senior Pete Fernandez fired a 1-under-par 70 in the final round to finish 33rd at 215.

Junior Jacob Schulze (39th at 216) and freshman David Kim (46th at 217) also cracked the top 50 for UCI.

This was the 13th NCAA regional team appearance for the ‘Eaters, their first since 2010.

Coach Paul Smolinski’s squad won the program’s seventh Big West Conference title last month.

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MEN’S TRACK & FIELD

Big West Conference Championships

RIVERSIDE — UC Irvine sophomore Lloyd Sicard earned the title in the 110-meter hurdles Saturday.

Sicard won the final in 14.05 seconds to become the Anteaters’ first champion in the event since Jacob Yowell in 2012 and just the second from UCI in the last 27 years. Kyle Hubbard was fourth in the 110 hurdles in 14.69 in Saturday’s final.

Cameron Vaca placed second in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 51.84 and Sicard finished fourth in 52.06.

Isaiah Thompson registered a fifth-place finish in the 800 meters in 1:51.50 and Mason Miller was seventh in the discus throw with a mark of 159-5.

UCI’s 4x100 relay of Oliver Pham, Kolton Cody, Mike Graf and Michael Hamill finished seventh with a time of 42.40.

The ‘Eaters placed eighth in the team competition with 55 points.

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WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD

Big West Conference Championships

RIVERSIDE — Sophomore Megan George made UC Irvine history Saturday in winning the 100-meter hurdles.

She won the event in 13.51 seconds, setting an Anteater record that was previously set by Golde Ibia (13.67) in 2009. George became UCI’s first Big West champion in the 100 hurdles with the victory.

Tyra Jones placed seventh in the 100 hurdles Saturday with a time of 14.38.

Kaulyn Lee-McNeill finished second in the 400-meter hurdles in 60.45 and Persis William-Mensah was fifth in the 100 meters in 12.00.

Lauren Ellison placed eighth in the triple jump with a mark of 38-5, which ranks No. 7 in the Anteater record book. Bridget Devaney finished eighth in the hammer throw at 174-5.

The 4x100 relay of Taisyn Crutchfield, George, Jones and William-Mensah placed sixth in 46.73 while the 4x400 relay of Lee-McNeill, George, Brenna McNulty and Simone Buchanan finished seventh with a time of 3:50.67.

UCI finished ninth in the meet with 39 points.

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Big West Conference Championships

RIVERSIDE — UC Irvine sophomore Ariel Change finished third in the pole vault on Friday at UC Riverside.

Cheng posted a top clearance of 12 feet, four inches.

Junior Kelly Magana also earned team points for UCI with a seventh-place finish in the javelin (118-11).