UC Irvine first baseman James Castagnola, shown here playing against Long Beach State in March, hit a home run in an 8-3 win over Fresno State in the Los Angeles Regional on Saturday.
(Kyusung Gong / Associated Press)
UC Irvine bounced back from an NCAA tournament regional opening loss, rolling to an 8-3 win over Fresno State on Saturday at UCLA’s Jackie Robinson Stadium.
James Castagnola led the Anteaters at the plate, delivering a home run and three RBIs. Winning pitcher Riley Kelly tossed 52 strikes, allowing four hits and two runs during four innings.
Eddie Saldivar delivered a home run and scored twice in the season-ending loss for the Bulldogs.
UC Irvine will face the loser of the late UCLA-Arizona State game in another elimination game at 3 p.m. PDT Sunday. If the Anteaters win, they would face the winner of the Bruins-Sun Devils game in another elimination contest. UC Irvine needs to sweep its next three games to win the Los Angeles Regional.