College Update: Surrey goes distance for UC Irvine

The following are updates on local athletes at the collegiate level.

Elliot Surrey (Crescenta Valley High, 2012) UC Irvine pitcher sophomore: Surrey proved he could dominate on the mound at the high school level, earning All-Pacific League and All-CIF accolades multiple times.

Now, Surrey is looking to elevate his talent with an Irvine squad that’s gotten off to a strong start. Surrey’s last appearance proved to be his best thus far.

The left-hander tossed his first complete game of the season Saturday, striking out six and scattering four hits to help propel host Irvine to a 4-0 nonconference win against Grand Canyon University. It marked the first career shutout for Surrey, a former All-Area first-team honoree.

Surrey (2-2) faced 31 batters and didn’t allow a walk. Of Surrey’s 97 pitches, 69 were strikes. He retired the last nine batters.

Surrey’s first win came March 9 in a nonconference game against visiting Gonzaga. Surrey allowed two runs and struck out three in five innings in Irvine’s 11-2 win.

Overall, Surrey has made six appearances and sports a 3.09 earned-run average. In 32 innings, he’s allowed 30 hits and struck out 22.

The Anteaters (15-7) will begin Big West Conference action Friday against visiting UC Riverside. The three-game series will wrap up Sunday.

Alex Sarkissian (Glendale Community College, 2011) Pepperdine University men’s tennis, redshirt senior: Sarkissian, who went 35-0 en route to winning the 2011 California Community College Athletic Assn. state championship with the Vaqueros, hasn’t missed a beat with the Waves.

Having fully adjusted to the four-year collegiate level, Sarkissian was recently bestowed with West Coast Conference recognition for the fourth time this season. Sarkissian and teammate Francis Alcantara were selected as the conference’s doubles team of the week. Sarkissian has also been named the conference’s top singles player of the week twice this season.

Pepperdine had a three-match home series that included a contest against top-ranked Oklahoma on March 19. Sarkissian and Alcantara teamed up for an 8-5 victory against Dane Webb and Andrew Harris.

The tandem then registered an 8-4 victory against James Tallman and Germain Bahri of the University of San Francisco on March 21.

On Tuesday, Pepperdine recorded a 4-0 home victory against Santa Clara in a West Coast Conference match. Sarkissian and Alcantara had a 8-4 win against John Lamble and Ilya Osintsev.

Sarkissian and Alcantara improved to 16-5 on the season and are 4-2 against ranked opponents.

Pepperdine (11-11, 3-0 in conference) will next compete Saturday in a conference road match against Brigham Young University.

Erin Ashby (Crescenta Valley High, 2011), Stanford softball, junior: Ashby, a former All-Area Softball Player of the Year, and the Cardinal have encountered a rough stretch of late. Stanford has lost five games in a row, entering Friday’s nonconference road game against University of the Pacific. The Cardinal are 23-11 and 1-5 in the PAC-12.

Ashby, an infielder, is batting .333 (31 for 93) with three home runs and 24 runs batted in. Ashby also has five doubles, two triples and 23 runs in 32 games.

Ashby’s latest home run came Saturday in a conference road contest against Arizona State. She hit a three-run home run in the seventh inning to give the Cardinal a 15-13 lead. Unfortunately for Stanford, it suffered a 16-15 defeat in nine innings.

Antonio Garrett (Glendale Community College, 2012) College of Idaho basketball senior: Though the Coyotes were eliminated in the first round of the NAIA Division II Championships, it proved to be a successful season for Garrett and Co.

Garrett played a huge role in helping the Coyotes finish up at 28-6, the school’s best record since posting the same record during the 1987-88 season. College of Idaho saw its season conclude March 12 with an 88-84 defeat against College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Mo. Garrett finished with 13 points and three steals for the Coyotes, who captured the Cascade Conference championship and appeared in the postseason for the first time in seven years.

Garrett, a forward, averaged 13.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per contest.

Teammate Demetrius Perkins, also a former Vaquero who started for Idaho, likewise enjoyed a successful season. Perkins, a junior guard, contributed a team-high 21 points against College of the Ozarks.

Perkins averaged 14.1 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. Perkins finished with a team-high 59 steals and added 86 assists, good for second-best on the team.
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Follow Charles Rich on Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich .