UC Irvine Shocks Arizona State
After win, UC Irvine must play a third straight elimination game tonight.
OMAHA, Neb. -- June 20, 2007— -- I thought UC Irvine was done. Down by four runs, with lights-out closer Jason Jarvis on the mound, it seemed as though the Anteaters' Cinderella run through their first College World Series would have an uneventful end.
After a marathon 13-inning elimination game with Cal State Fullerton on Monday, no one could have blamed Irvine for hanging it up. Short on pitching and not known for putting up many runs, the Anteaters seemed an unlikely candidate to generate the comeback of the year.
Freshman Scott Gorgen held off the Sun Devils for two innings.UC Irvine, however, had other ideas. The Anteaters weren't ready to take off their jerseys. And the near-record crowd of 29,234 didn't want to see them go, either.
The door opened for an Anteater rally in the eighth inning, when Jarvis loaded the bases on walks and a hit batter to bring in the first Irvine run of the eighth. Irvine is a scary team when it thinks it has a chance, and that's exactly when Cody Cipriano, UC Irvine's postseason hero, came up to bat. Cipriano's home run after 14 pitches Monday was textbook. But his at-bat in the eighth, when he saw eight pitches before driving a shot up the middle to bring home Luis Tovar was just as impressive and important for Irvine.
Cipriano's plate patience and sound fundamentals are hardly unique on this team. Coach Dave Serrano has a team full of Ciprianos. Their approach is the same; they wear out opponents.
Cipriano's poise under pressure extended Irvine's postseason life. But the Anteaters never saw themselves as down and out. Left-fielder Matt Morris proved that, following Cipriano's hit with a double to right-center that brought home two more runs to tie the game.
In the top of the ninth, with the score tied and the Anteaters' season on the line, Serrano made a gutsy call in bringing in freshman pitcher Scott Gorgen. The Sun Devils had touched up the rookie on Saturday for eight hits and five earned runs in seven innings. But Gorgen looked like a different pitcher on the mound Tuesday night, attacking the Sun Devils and allowing just one hit and striking out two in two innings of work.
Related Stories
ABC News Live