UC Irvine baseball fails to capitalize on chances in NCAA regional loss

Los Angeles Times

5 days ago

Jacob McCombs had been arguably UC Irvine's best hitter all season. The sophomore transfer from San Diego State transformed into an all-Big West selection with his .350 batting average and team-high 1.070 on-base-plus-slugging percentage.
So when he came up to the plate in the bottom of the fifth, down one run and against a taxed Arizona State southpaw in Ben Jacobs — McCombs provided a real chance to break open the game in favor of the second-seeded Anteaters with runners on first and second.
Coach Ben Orloff called for McCombs to bunt. A picture-perfect tap toward third base sent both runners into scoring position with one out — and the Irvine dugout into raucous cheers. When his team needed it, one of its stars stepped up.
It didn't matter to Jacobs. Facing the pressure, the former UCLA Bruin — pitching back at Jackie Robinson Stadium, where he played in 2023 — shut down Chase Call with a strikeout and forced Blake Penso — his former battery mate at Huntington high — to weakly fly out to right field on the 105th pitch of the lefty's night.
McCombs' small-ball heroics were for naught. When Irvine's offense worked another opportunity to score in the bottom of the eighth after Penso placed down a sacrifice bunt, Alonso Reyes hit into a 4-6-3 double play with the bases loaded to end the rally. It was one of those nights for the Anteaters, at a time of year when it matters most, as UC Irvine fell 4-2 to third-seeded Arizona State in the Friday nightcap of the Los Angeles Regional.
UC Irvine moves to the loser's bracket where it'll face fourth-seed Fresno State at noon Saturday. To win the Los Angeles Regional, the Anteaters will have to win out — four games across Saturday, Sunday and Monday — if they want to reach the NCAA super regionals.
While UC Irvine's offense could only produce one run and mustered just five hits, Trevor Hansen — their ace — tried his best to put the Anteaters on his back. Despite giving up solo home runs in the second inning to Jacob Tobias and Isaiah Jackson, the right-hander settled down to toss 6⅓ innings, giving up six hits and three earned runs while striking out eight and walking two.
Hansen turned the ball over to Big West Pitcher of the Year Ricky Ojeda with runners on first and second in the seventh. Ojeda made quick work — inducing a ground out and a strikeout — to escape the inning. The lefty pitched through the ninth, giving up one run on 40 pitches overall, which could impact his availability in Saturday's win-or-go-home contest against the Bulldogs.
Ojeda threw on back-to-back days just once in 2025, tossing 32 and 35 pitches against UC San Diego on May 3-4.