No. 1 UCI continues winning ways at Utah

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Top-ranked UC Irvine matched a season-high with its sixth consecutive win after recording an 8-3 nonconference victory against Utah Thursday.

Catcher Francis Larson led the Anteaters (29-10) with three runs batted in on one for four hitting, while Casey Stevenson and Tommy Reyes combined for four runs with two RBIs apiece.

Jeff Cusick paced UCI with three hits and a run scored, while Eric Deragisch and DJ Crumlich added two hits each. Ben Orloff was one for five, extending his hit streak to a season-best 10 games.

Starter Daniel Bibona held Utah to two runs on seven hits while striking out three and walking two in seven innings of work to improve to 7-1. Brock Bardeen provided a shutout inning in relief in the eighth. Matt Dufour closed out the game in the ninth, allowing a run on two hits.

Nonconference

UC Irvine 8, Utah 3

SCORE BY INNINGS

Bibona, Bardeen (8), Dufour (9) and Larson; Budrow, Andersen (6), Chimpky (8) and Walker. W – Bibona, 7-1. L – Budrow, 4-3. 2B – Reyes (UCI); Shimada (U), Kuroczko (U). 3B – Deragisch (UCI), Larson (UCI); Hussey (U). HR – Cron (U).