UC Irvine fails to capitalize on chances in NCAA | College News

Jacob McCombs had been arguably UC Irvine’s best hitter all season. The sophomore switch from San Diego State remodeled into an All-Big West choice with his .350 batting average and team-high 1.070 on-base-plus-slugging share.

So when he got here up to the plate in the underside of the fifth, down one run against a taxed Arizona State southpaw in Ben Jacobs — McCombs offered a actual likelihood to break open the sport in favor of the second-seeded Anteaters with runners on first and second.

Coach Ben Orloff referred to as for McCombs to bunt. An image-perfect faucet toward third base despatched both runners into scoring place with one out — and the Irvine dugout into raucous cheers. When his group needed it, one of its stars stepped up.

“I thought it was real impressive,” Orloff stated. “McCombs has zero sacrifice bunts on the season, zero attempts on the season, to execute there, left on left… puts pressure on the other team. You can score a run with an out in that situation where you’re down 3-2.”

It didn’t matter to Jacobs. Facing the stress, the previous UCLA Bruin — pitching back at Jackie Robinson Stadium, where he performed in 2023 — shut down Chase Call with a strikeout and pressured Blake Penso — his former battery mate at Huntington Beach High — to weakly fly out to proper area on the one hundred and fifth pitch of the lefty’s evening. “Full circle,” Jacobs stated.

McCombs’ small-ball heroics had been for naught. When Irvine’s offense labored one other alternative to rating in the underside of the eighth after Penso positioned down a sacrifice bunt, Alonso Reyes hit into a 4-6-3 double play with the bases loaded to finish the rally. It was one of those nights for the Anteaters, at a time of 12 months when it issues most, as UC Irvine fell 4-2 to third-seeded Arizona State in the Friday nightcap of the Los Angeles Regional.

“I thought it was a well played college game,” Orloff stated, including he would have referred to as the sport the very same means in retrospect. “We’d like to come out on the top, on the other end of it obviously.”

UC Irvine strikes to the losers bracket where it’ll face fourth-seed Fresno State at midday Saturday. To win the Los Angeles Regional, the Anteaters can have to win out — 4 video games across Saturday, Sunday and Monday — if they need to attain the NCAA tremendous regionals.

While UC Irvine’s offense may only produce two runs and mustered just 5 hits, Trevor Hansen — their ace — tried his best to put the Anteaters on his back. Despite giving up solo home runs in the second inning to Jacob Tobias and Isaiah Jackson, the right-hander settled down to toss 6⅓ innings, giving up six hits and three earned runs while putting out eight and strolling two.

“I think just using the mix more was something that I talked to [assistant coach Daniel Bibona] about,” Hansen stated when requested about working into the seventh after the 2 home runs. “Not terrible pitches [on the home runs]. I mean, the fastball, 3-2, got hit a little bit, but the curveball and change up were working good after that.”

Hansen turned the ball over to Big West pitcher of the 12 months Ricky Ojeda with runners on first and second in the seventh. Ojeda made fast work — inducing a groundout and a strikeout — to escape the inning. The lefty pitched through the ninth, giving up one run on 40 pitches total, which may affect his availability in Saturday’s win-or-go-home contest against the Bulldogs.

Ojeda threw on back-to-back days just once in 2025, tossing 32 and 35 pitches against UC San Diego on May 3-4. Orloff stated Ojeda typically badgers him about getting into video games on days that are supposed to be off days. Now, going through a must-win state of affairs, it’s all fingers on deck, the Anteaters coach stated — Ojeda included.

“I think that you kind of manage stuff as conservatively as you can throughout the course of the season,” Orloff stated. “So when it gets to this point, you can push, and with [Ojeda] on 40 pitches, him being back tomorrow would not be egregious.”

UC Irvine will flip to redshirt sophomore right-hander Riley Kelly against Fresno State on Saturday. Kelly is 4-1 with a 3.92 earned-run average but has not pitched past the fifth inning in his final 4 appearances.