Irvine outlasts Fullerton to survive

They played the longest game in College World Series history Monday, but still it wasn’t enough for UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton.

Old friends and bitter rivals, the two schools ground through five hours and 40 minutes of an emotional 13-inning elimination game that included a hint of controversial gamesmanship, yet still they wanted more.

It featured laughing and crying, close plays at the plate and no-doubt-about-it home runs, errors and defensive gems. There was a 14-pitch at-bat that turned into a home run and an 11-pitch at-bat that ended with a groundout.

The teams used seven pitchers who threw 417 pitches and went through more than 100 baseballs, yet few wanted it to end.

Eventually, however, it did end. Bryan Petersen lined a two-out single to center, scoring Cody Cipriano from third base for a 6-5 UC Irvine victory that sent Cal State Fullerton home and allowed the Anteaters to advance to another elimination game today at 4 p.m. against Arizona State. The Sun Devils were routed by defending champion Oregon State, 12-6, Monday night.

“That was about as fun as baseball gets,” Petersen said. “That kind of game, you wish you could keep playing. You put so much into it and invest so much emotion that nobody deserves to lose a game like that.”

The emotional roller coaster for UC Irvine (46-16-1) hit its lowest and highest points within three pitches in the bottom of the 13th inning. Taylor Holiday led off the inning when he was hit by a pitch and went to second on a sacrifice bunt.

After an intentional walk to Cipriano, Matt Morris ripped a single to left and Holiday tried to score, but Fullerton left fielder Josh Fellhauer unleashed a laser-like throw to catcher John Curtis, who applied the tag on Holiday for the second out.

Cipriano advanced to third on the throw then scored on Petersen’s single, and the Irvine players, dejected by the play at home moments earlier, erupted in celebration as the game ended after lasting 40 minutes longer than any other in College World Series history.

“This will be a day that I remember for a long time,” Fullerton Coach George Horton said.

The emotions were intensified by the relationship between the teams and the coaches of the teams. Irvine Coach Dave Serrano was one of Horton’s players at Cerritos College in 1985, and became one of his assistant coaches at Cerritos and then at Fullerton.

The two laughed and jabbed with each other throughout the game, even playfully congratulating each other on the field when the public-address announcer announced they had broken the record for the longest game -- a record set in 1981 in a 15-inning game between Oklahoma State and Arizona State.

They shared a long, emotion-filled embrace on the field after the game. “The bad news is that I had to say goodbye to my mentor, my coach, my friend, second father -- whatever you want to call him -- a guy that I love a lot,” Serrano said.

Horton couldn’t control his emotions when speaking about Serrano after the game.

“I told him I love him and he told me that he loves me,” Horton said, fighting back tears. “And I do. I think the sorrow was that we knew somebody was going to walk away disappointed.”

The teams also tied the College World Series record for most batters hit by pitches, with eight.

Six of those were Anteaters batters, and Horton argued in the 13th inning that Holiday had intentionally stuck his arm out to get hit when he led off the inning.

Horton argued so vehemently that he eventually was ejected, but later he applauded Holiday’s move.

“Tip your hat to Holiday,” said Horton, whose team finished 38-25. “That’s a good baseball play. He did it and we didn’t. He got away with it, and it won the game for them.”

Holiday acknowledged that he was trying to get hit by the pitch.

“The ball was in and I just kind of turned into it and luckily it caught a little piece,” said Holiday, who hit a solo home run in the sixth inning. “I knew we needed to get someone on base and that’s what I was trying to do.”

But even in defeat, even though he was ejected, Horton said he wouldn’t have traded the experience.

“If I’m not having fun today, then I’m retiring,” Horton said. “It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but this is the pinnacle of college baseball and I was having a blast. I would have had a lot more fun if we had won, but it was a blast.”

peter.yoon@latimes.com