University of Washington
UC Irvine
UW Falls To UC Irvine, 6-3, In Opener
February 12, 2005 | Baseball
Feb. 12, 2005
IRVINE, Calif. - UC Irvine ace Chris Nicoll out-lasted Husky All-America starter Tim Lincecum, holding the eighth-ranked Washington baseball team to a run over his seven inning of work as the Anteaters beat the UW, 6-3, in the first game of a doubleheader at Anteater Ballpark. The two teams were to start game two shortly after the conclusion of the opener.
Lincecum (0-1) allowed four runs on six hits over five and two-thirds innings. He struck out four and walked only one, but hit a batter and threw two wild pitches, both of which figured into the scoring.
Nicoll (2-0), who threw six shutout innings for a win last week at California, picked up his second victory in as many starts this season. The junior right-hander allowed one run on four hits and one walk while fanning eight in seven innings.
The Huskies cut a 4-1 Irvine lead to 4-3 with a pair of runs in the top of the eighth. Taylor Johnson got it started with a one-out solo home run. Later, with the bases loaded, Matt Lane reached on a fielder's choice to drive in another run.
However, the Anteaters stretched the lead back to 6-3 with two of their own in the bottom of the eighth. An errant throw on a sacrifice bunt attempt allowed one to come in and UCI's third sacrifice fly of the game capped the scoring.
Washington got the scoring underway with a two-out rally in the first. With two down and no one on base, Nick Batkoski singled and Kyle Larsen was hit by a pitch to put two runners aboard for sophomore DH Curt Rindal. Rindal followed with a single to left to send Batkoski around, giving the UW a 1-0 edge.
UC Irvine answered in their half of the first. Leadoff hitter Gary Dudrey walked, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and to third on a wild pitch. Catcher Mike Wagner's sacrifice fly to deep center plated Dudrey, tying the score at 1-1.
Neither team was able to score another run until the bottom of the fifth, when the Anteaters posted a run to take a 2-1 lead. Daniel Miramontes singled and stole a base before coming all the way around from second on a Lincecum wild pitch.
In the sixth, the Anteaters tacked on two more to chase Lincecum from the game. An RBI triple from Matt Anderson and a sacrifice fly from R.J. Brown increased the UCI lead to 4-1.
Batkoski led the Husky hitters, going 3-for-4 with a double.
The series wraps up Sunday with a 1:00 p.m. game.
LINESCORE Non-Conference Doubleheader Game 1 -- UC Irvine 6, Washington 3 Washington 100 000 020 -- 3 7 1 UC Irvine 100 012 02x -- 6 8 0 Tim Lincecum, David Dowling (6), Josh Conover (8) and Matt Lane. Chris Nicoll, Steve Schroer (8), Blair Erickson (8) and Mark Wagner. W - Nicoll (2-0). L - Lincecum (0-1). Sv - Erickson (1). 2B - UW, Nick Batkoski. 3B - UCI, Matt Anderson. HR - UW, Taylor Johnson (1). T - 2:38.
