DARRAH PITCHES GEM AS BASEBALL SPLITS DOUBLEHEADER WITH NO. 16 UC IRVINE

3/13/2010

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Sacramento State sophomore righthander Jesse Darrah pitched a complete game, allowing just one run on seven hits in a 2-1 game one victory over No. 16 UC Irvine. The Anteaters won game two by a score of 5-3.

With the split of games, Hornets move to 5-7 on the season, while the Anteaters move to 8-6.

Game one was an absolutely pitchers duel between Darrah, a freshman All-American in 2009, and the Anteaters' Daniel Bibona, a first team All-American a season ago. The Anteaters scored a run in the top of the first, as Casey Stevenson hit a one-out solo home run to right field, giving his team a 1-0 lead.

The score would remain 1-0 entering the bottom of the eighth, when the Hornets would finally have a run cross home plate. Junior Kirby Young led off the inning with a single through the right side, only the second Hornet hit in the contest, and then advanced to second on a passed ball. Sophomore Justin Lamb then laid down a successful sacrifice bunt, and UC Irvine tried unsuccessfully to throw out Young advancing to third, giving the Hornets runners on the corners with nobody out. After a strike out, junior Trevor Paine pinch-hit and drew a walk, loading the bases. With a 1-0 count, freshman Blake Miller laid down a perfect suicide squeeze bunt, scoring Young to tie the score at 1-1.

After UC Irvine was unable to score in top of the ninth, the Hornets took advantage of some wild Anteater pitching, as two UC Irvine relievers combined to walk the bases loaded, and Andy Lines uncorked a wild pitch, scoring junior Derrick Chung to give the Hornets the 2-1 victory.

Darrah (1-2) pitched his best outing of the season, a complete game allowing just one run on seven hits while striking out seven. Bibona allowed just two hits and one unearned run in his eight innings of work, striking out 10 while walking just one. Evan Brock (2-1) picked up the loss, allowing one run, walking both batters he faced in the ninth.

Game two saw UC Irvine score four runs over the first three innings to take a commanding 4-0 lead. Sacramento State would strike back, but not until the bottom of the sixth inning, when they scored three runs. Miller led off with a single up the middle, and following a sacrifice bunt and a groundout, senior Josh Powers was hit by a pitch, giving the Hornets runners on first and second. Junior Trevor Bloom then connected on a RBI single, and Young blasted a two-run double to the center field wall, scoring Powers and Miller to pull the Hornets to within one.

UC Irvine got an insurance run in the top of the ninth on a RBI sacrifice fly, and shutdown the Hornets in order in the bottom half of the inning to split the doubleheader.

Christian Bergman (1-0) picked up the victory, pitching a complete game while allowing three runs on seven hits. He struck out six Hornets without surrendering a walk. Senior Tommy Elrod (0-1) picked up the loss, allowing three runs on three hits in 1.2 innings of work.

For the day, Bloom, Chilton, and Young each connected on two hits, with Young leading the club with two RBI.

The three-game series closes out on Sunday, March 13 at 1 p.m. from Hornet Field.