Matadors stick it to Anteaters

Seeking its first conference home series sweep since 1992, the UC

Irvine baseball team stumbled Sunday, falling to last-place Cal State

Northridge, 8-4, in a 10-inning Big West Conference clash.

The Matadors ended their 14-game Big West losing streak by scoring

three in the sixth to erase a 4-1 deficit, then posting four runs in

the 10th. It was only the second time Northridge (15-25-1, 1-14 in conference) had scored more than three runs against a conference

opponent.

UCI (23-18, 6-6) saw its five-game Big West winning streak come to

a halt. The Anteaters had won eight of nine entering Sunday,

including back-to-back wins over the Matadors. But the hosts managed

only one earned run against Matador pitchers Jimmy Brettl and Joe

Rocchio in the series finale.

Brettl, a junior left-hander who entered with 5.62 ERA, allowed

seven hits and four runs before handing the ball to sophomore Joe

Rocchio with two outs in the fifth.

The 6-foot-4 sophomore right-hander blanked the Anteaters for for

5 1/3 innings to earn his fourth win in 10 decisions. Rocchio, who

has made eight starts this season, lowered his ERA to 4.62. He and

reliever Matt Gaylord (3.41 in 37 innings) are the only Northridge

pitchers with ERAs of less than 5.15.

UCI starter Steve Schroer was staked to a 4-1 lead when the hosts

posted four runs in the fifth, but Northridge quickly erased the

deficit.

All-American closer Blair Erickson pitched a scoreless eighth and

Nash Robertson kept the Matadors under wraps with a scoreless ninth.

But Northridge, which had scored more than two runs in only one

inning against conference pitching this year (three against Long

Beach State April 25), erupted for five hits to take a commanding

lead.

Jaime Martinez singled with one out in the 10th, but Rocchio

fanned two in the inning, including the final out, to cap a strong

relief appearance that included six strikeouts.

Northridge junior Bryan Paulk hit two home runs to give him nine

for the season and finished 3 for 4 with three RBIs and three runs.

UCI senior second baseman Brett Dalton went 2 for 5 with an RBI

and was 7 for 12 in the series to lift his batting average to .341.

Mark Wagner and Jaime Martinez also had two hits apiece for UCI

and are now hitting .361 nad .355 respectively, ranking first and

second on the team. Dalton ranks third.

Robertson, who recorded just one out in the 10th, took the loss to

fall to 3-3.

One positive for UCI was that UC Riverside lost to visiting

University of the Pacific Sunday, 10-4. UCI and Riverside are tied

for fourth in the conference, behind Cal State Fullerton (11-1), Cal

Poly San Luis Obispo (8-1) and Long Beach State (11-2).

UCI plays host to Pepperdine Tuesday at 6 p.m., before visiting

UOP for a three-game Big West series beginning Friday.