University of Washington
UC Irvine
Lincecum Wins 10th As UW Beats UCI, 5-4
May 29, 2004 | Baseball
May 29, 2004
SEATTLE - Tim Lincecum became the first Husky freshman ever to win 10 games in a season as the 13th-ranked Washington baseball team beat UC Irvine, 5-4, Saturday afternoon at Husky Ballpark.
The win gave the Huskies a two-games-to-none lead in the non-conference series and increased their season record to 36-18-1. Irvine fell to 34-20-1 overall.
Lincecum, the UW ace from Renton's Liberty High, threw seven innings to pick up the victory, improving his record to 10-2 on the season. He joined a list of 11 other Husky pitchers ever to win double-digit games in season. The school record is 11, held by both Jake Kringen (1997) and Shawn Kohn (2002).
Lincecum allowed four runs on four hits while walking four and striking out 10 in his seven innings. He already holds the Huskies' single-season records for both walks (75) and strikeouts (151). Husky junior Will Fenton earned his ninth save, throwing a scoreless ninth.
The Anteaters scored two runs in the first, both with two outs. Jordan Szabo drew a two-out walk to get it started. After a single from Cody Cipriano, catcher Mark Wagner belted a double to left- center, driving in two runs to give UCI a 2-0 lead.
The Huskies answered back quickly in the bottom of the first, scoring three, all with two outs. With two on and two down, Zach Clem singled to center. The hit drove home Brent Lillibridge from second and Greg Isaacson scored when center fielder Jordan Szabo had trouble fielding the ball. That error also moved Clem to second and, after he moved to third on a wild pitch, Clem scored on a single from John Otness to put the UW on top, 3-2.
Irvine went back on top in the third, taking advantage of some Lincecum control troubles to post two runs. Matt Fisher walked and eventually came around on a single from Cody Cipriano and, after Lincecum walked to load the bases, a run came home when strike three to Tim Stewart was wild.
The UW again came back quickly, tying the game at 4-4 with one in the third. Isaacson was hit by a pitch with one down. He moved to second on a balk and then scored when Larsen lined a double to right-center field.
The Huskies got the lead back in the seventh, posting a run off of reliever Chris Nicoll (7-5). With one out, Lillibridge walked, stole second and scored on a single from Isaacson, who finished the game, 2-for-2 with two runs, an RBI, a walk and a hit by pitch. Clem finished the game 2-for-4.
UCI starter Glenn Swanson didn't figure in the decision. The junior lefty threw six innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits and three walks to go with four strikeouts.
Saturday afternoon in Palo Alto, No. 2 Stanford secured sole possession of the Pac-10 championship with a 10-3 win over Arizona State.
The regular season comes to an end Sunday when the Anteaters and Huskies play at 1:00 p.m. Monday, the UW team will gather at the Don James Center in Husky Stadium to watch the NCAA selection show, which airs at 9:00 a.m. PDT on ESPN2.
LINESCORE Non-Conference #13 Washington 5, UC Irvine 4 UC Irvine 202 000 000 -- 4 5 1 Washington 301 000 10x -- 5 9 0 Glenn Swanson, Chris Nicoll (7), Steve Schroer (7) and Mark Wagner. Tim Lincecum, David Dowling (8), Will Fenton (9) and Aaron Hathaway. W - Lincecum (10-2). L - Swanson (6-4). Sv - Fenton (9). 2B - UCI, Wagner; UW, Kyle Larsen. T - 2:58. A - 543. Records: UCI 34-20-1, UW 36-18-1.
