Anteaters can’t avert sweep by Dirtbags

LONG BEACH ? Statistical probability, matchups and even the law of averages aligned with the UC Irvine baseball team in its Big West Series finale against Long Beach State on Sunday at Blair Field.

But it was a couple of extra runs the Anteaters could have used in a 3-2 loss that defied logic and denied UCI a reprieve from the Big West basement.

The Anteaters (18-13, 0-3 in conference) had won the last five times freshman Scott Gorgen started on the mound. They had won seven of Gorgen’s eight starts this season.

Further, Long Beach (15-15, 3-0) started sophomore Donnie Hume, formerly the 49ers’ closer, who had lost all three of his decisions coming in.

Gorgen lived up to his end of the deal, allowing four hits and one run before handing the ball to All-American closer Blair Erickson with two outs and two on in the sixth.

Trailing, 1-0, at the time, UCI Coach Dave Serrano said he was following his pregame script that called for him to go to Erickson, who had not pitched in a week, with the game on the line in the late innings.

“We were at the point where I felt we had to get things stopped,” Serrano said of lifting Gorgen. “Having not used Blair in the first two games, we knew we had him for three or four innings today.”

But Erickson walked the first hitter he faced to load the bases and Long Beach first baseman Scott Bradley then drove an opposite-field single through the right side to plate two runs and up the lead to 3-0.

“I felt it was the right time to make the [pitching] change and it backfired a little bit on us,” Serrano said.

Brock Bardeen’s RBI single got the Anteaters on the scoreboard in the seventh and Bryan Petersen opened the UCI eighth with a triple to spark the visitors’ hopes.

Gary Dudrey hit a comebacker that reliever Brent Andrade fielded and threw late to third, in an ill-fated attempt to catch Petersen straying off the bag. Taylor Holiday then hit what appeared to be a routine double-play ball to shortstop, but Danny Espinoza booted it for an error, as Petersen scored to cut the lead to one.

Ben Orloff moved the runners over with a sacrifice bunt, creating what Serrano later said was the ideal scenario.

“I thought the top of the eighth inning couldn’t have set up any more perfectly for us,” Serrano said. “We had our best situational bunter [Orloff] up with runners on first and second and he moved them over to put the go-ahead run on second. Now, we have our No. 3 and No. 4 hitters coming up.”

But Jaime Martinez, who homered in Saturday’s loss, fouled out to the first baseman. And cleanup hitter Cody Cipriano, who had two of the team’s five hits to that point, struck out on a check swing against Vance Worley to end the threat.

UCI’s Jeff Werhun laced a pinch-hit single up the middle with two outs in the ninth, but Petersen then took a called third strike to end the game.

“I thought we played the game hard,” Serrano said. “But it came down to the one inning and we walked two guys, which you just can’t do in a one-run game, because it’s going to end up hurting you.”

Gorgen, charged with three runs, saw his earned-run average jump from 2.16 to 2.43. He also took the loss to fall to 3-2.

Hume, who worked into the seventh, yielding just two hits and one run, earned his first win. It was the first save of the season for Worley, who had started seven games this season.

“We were hoping to get three innings out of Donnie Hume and then just piece it together,” Long Beach State Coach Mike Weathers said. “That was just a great performance [by Hume]. We thought he would throw 30 or 40 pitches, 50 tops, and he wound up throwing 68.”

Hume did not allow a runner to reach second base, until Orloff walked to lead off the seventh, then stole second. One out later, Cipriano greeted reliever Andrew Liebel with a single to put runners at the corners.

Pinch-hitter Bardeen lifted a fly to shallow right that fell in front of Jordan Struble, who, fooled on contact, took a step back, before sprinting in to no avail.

But UCI, which totaled 15 hits in 27 innings in the series, failed to extend the damage against Liebel.

UCI is tied with Cal State Northridge at the bottom of the eight-team Big West. The Matadors were swept by Cal State Fullerton, which visits Anteater Ballpark for a three-game conference series beginning Friday at 6 p.m.

“This [0-3 conference start] doesn’t make it any easier, but it definitely doesn’t put us out of the race,” Serrano said.