May 1, 2012
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - UC Irvine scored five runs over the first three innings and went on to defeat San Diego State, 6-2, Tuesday evening at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
In a matchup of two lefty relievers making their first starts of the 2012 season, UCI's Mark Trentacosta (1-0) got the better of SDSU freshman Brandon Thomas (0-1). The Anteater hurler went six innings, allowing a run on three hits with no walks and six strikeouts to pick up the victory.
UV Irvine (24-17) got out of the gate quickly, putting up three runs in the first inning against Thomas. Those runs came on a pair of walk and three singles. The visitors added two more in the top of the third with three straight hits after two out. Those runs came against Aztec reliever Travis Pitcher.
The Aztecs (20-26) answered with a run in their half of the third. Seby Zavala and John Spirk singled to open the frame and advanced to second and third respectively on Matt Muñoz's sacrifice bunt. Zavala would then score on an RBI grounder to shortstop by Spencer Thornton.
The Anteaters added a run in the half of the seventh off SDSU sophomore right-hander TJ Kendzora. A walk, ground out and RBI single gave UCI a 6-1 lead.
The Aztecs countered with a run in the bottom of the same inning as they rallied with two outs on a walk to pinch hitter Jomel Torres, single up the middle by Zavala and an RBI single to right by John Spirk. But that was as close as SDSU would get as neither team would score over the final two frames.
A total of four Anteater pitchers held SDSU to just six hits on the night with two each by Tim Zier, Zavala and Spirk. Zier's double was the lone extra-base hit for the Aztecs as the sophomore second baseman extended his current hitting streak to 17 games.
San Diego State will now resume Mountain West play when it hosts UNLV for a three-game series this weekend that starts with a game on Friday, May 4, at 6:0 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium.