Another national seed goes down.
UC Irvine 9, #4 Texas 6 - Round Rock Regional title game
After their game was suspended last night, some might have figured upstart Irvine might not be able to hold up against one of the most storied programs in college baseball history.
Not at all.
Irvine held a 6-5 lead in the 7th last night when the game was suspended. The Anteaters came out swinging today, and added three more runs to their lead in the bottom of the eighth. Things got a little nervy in the ninth when Texas scored a run and had the bases loaded with one out, but UCI's Wes Etheridge came in and got the last two outs to preserve a historic win for the Anteaters.
Irvine dropped baseball in 1992 for financial reasons, but restarted the program in 2002, and has been steadily rising since. But, this season has been the biggest ever for the program, and now UCI has not only its first regional victory, but first regional championship. And for it to happen against one of the biggest names in all of college sports is no doubt a pretty special accomplishment.
And this special season is going to continue for at least one more week.
Elsewhere, Louisville is on its way to making some history as well. The #3 seed Cardinals knocked off top-seed Missouri 4-3 last night to force a deciding game today in Columbia, and they came out swinging today, scoring eight runs in the bottom of the first. It's 9-5 Louisville in the top of the 4th. Louisville has already won a school-record 43 games this season, and like Irvine, just picked up their first regional win this weekend. Win #44 would be their biggest ever, and send them into a super regional matchup with Oklahoma St.
Also, in Chapel Hill, #3 seed Western Carolina leads top-seed and #3 national seed UNC 5-4 in the top of the ninth. A win by the Catamounts would force a deciding title game tonight.
After their game was suspended last night, some might have figured upstart Irvine might not be able to hold up against one of the most storied programs in college baseball history.
Not at all.
Irvine held a 6-5 lead in the 7th last night when the game was suspended. The Anteaters came out swinging today, and added three more runs to their lead in the bottom of the eighth. Things got a little nervy in the ninth when Texas scored a run and had the bases loaded with one out, but UCI's Wes Etheridge came in and got the last two outs to preserve a historic win for the Anteaters.
Irvine dropped baseball in 1992 for financial reasons, but restarted the program in 2002, and has been steadily rising since. But, this season has been the biggest ever for the program, and now UCI has not only its first regional victory, but first regional championship. And for it to happen against one of the biggest names in all of college sports is no doubt a pretty special accomplishment.
And this special season is going to continue for at least one more week.
Elsewhere, Louisville is on its way to making some history as well. The #3 seed Cardinals knocked off top-seed Missouri 4-3 last night to force a deciding game today in Columbia, and they came out swinging today, scoring eight runs in the bottom of the first. It's 9-5 Louisville in the top of the 4th. Louisville has already won a school-record 43 games this season, and like Irvine, just picked up their first regional win this weekend. Win #44 would be their biggest ever, and send them into a super regional matchup with Oklahoma St.
Also, in Chapel Hill, #3 seed Western Carolina leads top-seed and #3 national seed UNC 5-4 in the top of the ninth. A win by the Catamounts would force a deciding title game tonight.
posted by Eddie G. at
2:03 PM
