UC Irvine baseball clinches triumph over Fresno State in NCAA regional, thanks to James Castagnola's stellar performance.
UC Irvine Bounces Back After Regional Loss, Advances in NCAA Baseball Tournament
After suffering an opening loss in the NCAA regional tournament, UC Irvine faced a challenging path to win the Los Angeles Regional, needing to win four consecutive games on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.
In their first game after the loss, UC Irvine showcased their resilience, securing an impressive 8-3 victory over Fresno State on Saturday at UCLA's Jackie Robinson Stadium. James Castagnola led the way at the plate for the Anteaters, recording a home run and driving in three RBIs. Winning pitcher Riley Kelly delivered a strong performance, tossing 52 strikes, while limiting Fresno State to four hits and two runs in four innings.
Eddie Saldivar homered and scored twice for Fresno State in the season-ending loss.
Following their victory over Fresno State, UC Irvine will face the loser of the late UCLA-Arizona State game in another elimination game at 3 p.m. PDT Sunday. A win for the Anteaters would position them to face either the Bruins or Sun Devils in another elimination contest. UC Irvine must win their next three games if they hope to capture the Los Angeles Regional title.
In their opening game of the tournament, UC Irvine came up short against Arizona State, losing 4-2. Despite strong pitching performances from Trevor Hansen and Ricky Ojeda, the Anteaters struggled to capitalize on scoring opportunities[3]. In another elimination game, UC Irvine bounced back, securing an 11-6 victory over Arizona State to reach the Los Angeles Regional final[4].
However, their tournament run came to an end when they faced UCLA in the championship game. Despite a strong comeback effort, UC Irvine lost 8-5 to UCLA, who went on to win the regional title with three consecutive victories[1][5].
[1] Source: NCAA.com[2] Source: NCAA.com[3] Source: Mercury News[4] Source: Daily Bruin[5] Source: Daily Bruin
- UCLA successfully defended their Los Angeles Regional title by beating UC Irvine 8-5 in the championship game, securing three straight victories.
- Prior to the championship game, UC Irvine had bounced back from an opening loss against Arizona State by winning an elimination game, securing an 11-6 victory.
- In the regional tournament, UC Irvine also faced USC, but the outcome of that game was not mentioned.
- UC Irvine's run in the NCAA Baseball Tournament took place in California, where the state is facing a severe drought.
