UCI prevails in marathon

OMAHA, Neb. — The UC Irvine baseball team, which has not worked overtime all season, came up big in the longest game in the 61-year history of the College World Series Monday.

The No. 4-ranked Anteaters eliminated Big West Conference and Orange County rival Cal State Fullerton, 5-4, in 13 innings before 16,451 people at Rosenblatt Stadium.

Junior right fielder Bryan Petersen capped the five-hour, 40-minute game by lining a single to center that drove in Cody Cipriano from third with the winning run. It was the Anteaters’ first extra-inning game since they were eliminated from the 2006 Malibu Regional in a 5-4 loss to Missouri in 14 innings.

The victory propelled the Anteaters (46-16-1) into another elimination game today at 4 p.m. (ESPN2) against Arizona State.

UCI, which lost its College World Series debut, 5-4, to No. 3-ranked Arizona State Saturday, rallied to tie the score three times against the Titans (38-25).

UCI finally gained the lead when Petersen, who hit a game-winning double in the bottom of the ninth inning to clinch a super regional sweep at Wichita State and propel the Anteaters to Omaha, came through again.

UCI’s Taylor Holiday hit a two-run home run to erase a 3-1 deficit in the sixth inning.

Cipriano, a senior second baseman, hit the 14th pitch of his at-bat into a similar spot in the right-center-field bleachers in the seventh to forge a 4-4 deadlock.

UCI relievers Tom Calahan and Dylan Axelrod combined for seven scoreless innings, in which they allowed just two Fullerton hits. Axelrod, who struck out seven in 4 2/3 innings, earned the win.

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at [email protected].