Surrey blanks Titans
During the UC Irvine baseball program’s rise from extinction to a perennial postseason contender with two trips to the College World Series, its penchant for first impressions had more to do with its series-opening success than its unique mascot.
This was particularly so during Big West Conference play, in which the Anteaters were an impressive 52-10 in series debuts from 2007 until 2014, an .839 winning percentage.
UCI was, however, a mere 4-4 in inaugural Big West series contests last season and had opened 2016 with four straight Friday-night conference losses.
Senior left-hander Elliot Surrey however, helped UCI enjoy the conference-series-opening credits for the first time this season, blanking visiting Cal State Fullerton on five hits in a 2-0 victory.
Senior first baseman Mitchell Holland singled in a run in the first inning and senior center fielder Evan Cassolato tripled in another in the fourth for the Anteaters (25-14, 7-6 in conference), who have won five straight.
Surrey, who had not won since March 18, allowed triples to start the second and eighth innings. But each time, he left the Titans holding the bag. He also yielded a one-out double and stranded two in the first inning to post his first conference triumph of the season.
“He has never been better,” UCI Coach Mike Gillespie said of Surrey, who recorded 14 outs on ground balls, including five comebackers, struck out seven and got three additional outs on foul pop-ups. “And he was a pretty spectacular athlete out there tonight.”
Surrey, who pitched well in a loss at home against UC Riverside and a no decision at Long Beach State earlier this month, earned his first win of his career against Fullerton (25-14, 7-3). It was the second complete-game shutout of his career. His first was a home win against Hawaii in 2015.
“This might rank up there in the top three [of his career victories], with the regional and the super regional [in 2014],” said Surrey, who threw a season-high 118 pitches, 79 for strikes. “The changeup, the slider and the fastball were all working tonight and I had good sink on the fastball. The biggest thing was taking every pitch one at a time, just really focusing and trying not to get ahead of myself.”
Surrey walked two and retired 15 of 16 he faced during one stretch from the third inning to the eighth. His earned-run average dipped from 4.00 to 3.43.
Surrey outdueled Titans’ sophomore ace Connor Seabold, a Newport Harbor High product who struck out nine before exiting with one out in the seventh. Seabold, who took the loss and is now 5-3, saw his ERA rise from 2.26 to 2.33 as the leader of a staff that entered with an NCAA-best 2.25 ERA.
The win snapped a five-game winning streak for the Titans at Anteater Ballpark, dating back to 2012. It was only the second Fullerton loss in its last nine games.
It was the fifth time UCI has shut out and opponent this season and the sixth time the Titans, who came in hitting .257 as a team to rank seventh in the Big West, have been blanked in 2016.
“There is nobody that doesn’t want to win on Friday,” said Gillespie, whose team won four of five Friday games before conference play began. “And everyone knows our history with [the Titans] has been a lot of close but no cigars. To win any time against them is good, but to get a Friday win is great.”
UCI sophomore designated hitter Keston Hiura, who entered with a Big West-leading .406 average, was hitless in three at-bats. He was hit by a pitch in the fifth inning to extend his consecutive-games streak reaching base to 52.
Sophomore second baseman Cole Kreuter, who singled and stole second before scoring the first run, joined senior right fielder Wyatt Castro and Cassolato as Anteaters with two hits apiece.
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Big West Conference
UC Irvine 2, Cal State Fullerton 0
SCORE BY INNINGS
CSF 000 000 000 – 0 5 0
UCI 100 100 000 – 2 9 0
Seabold, Chambers (7) and Bravo; Surrey and Reitano. W – Surrey, 3-4. L – Seabold, 5-3. 2B – Richards (CSF). 3B – Cardenas (CSF), Cassolato (UCI), Vargas (CSF).
