College Baseball : UC Irvine Avoids Sweep With Victory Over Santa Barbara

UC Irvine averted a sweep of a three-game series against UC Santa Barbara with a 4-2 win in the second game of a Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. doubleheader Saturday in Santa Barbara.

Brady Anderson was 3 for 3 with a home run and two runs scored to lead the Anteaters to the victory in the series finale after the Gauchos had rallied for a run in the bottom of the ninth inning to win the first game, 6-5.

Craig Brink went the distance to record the win for the Anteaters (6-5, 17-16-1), striking out three without allowing a walk. Brink was working on a shutout until Tony Zavala broke it up with a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh. Odie Hallowell took the loss for UCSB (6-4, 25-16-2).

Erik Johnson singled down the third-base line to score Bill Geivett with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to give the Gauchos the win in the opener. Irvine third baseman Mike Sugar knocked the ball down, but couldn’t make a play to save the run. Johnson and Geivett were both 3 for 4 for Santa Barbara and Joe Kmak was 2 for 4 with a home run and double.

Bo Kent (1-4) took the loss. Mike Tresemer (3-2) was the winning pitcher.

In other college action:

Miami 6, Cal State Fullerton 3--The Hurricanes, the nation’s top-ranked team, rebounded from a 7-1 loss to second-ranked Oklahoma earlier in the day to beat the Titans in the Sooner Shootout Tournament in Oklahoma City.

Don Rowland was 3 for 5 with two RBIs for Miami (39-7), including a two-run double that broke the game open in the seventh inning. Rick Raether, a sophomore right-hander with a 1.37 earned-run average, gained his 12th save in relief of Miami starter Kevin Sheary (1-1).

Kevin Reimer was 2 for 4 and drove in all three runs for the Titans (18-22-1). Shane Turner was 3 for 4 and scored twice. Mike Belanger went the distance for Fullerton, taking the loss that dropped his record to 7-2.

Fullerton, 0-3 in the round-robin tournament, meets Oklahoma today at 1 p.m. PST.