Recap: 2026 Live Like Lou Las Vegas Classic - Game 3 - Oregon vs UC Irvine

CONTACT: Jeffrey Seals

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February 28, 2026

UC Irvine rallies in the eighth to hand Oregon its first loss of the 2026 campaign.

LAS VEGAS - The UC Irvine Anteaters rallied for an 8-6 win over the Oregon Ducks Saturday at the Live Like Lou College Baseball Classic at Las Vegas Ballpark.

With the win, the Anteaters improved to 8-3 on the year and remained perfect at 2-0 this weekend in Las Vegas. The Ducks, on the other hand, saw their streak of nine straight wins to open the season come to a close. Oregon, who is ranked No. 24 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll, sits 9-1 overall and 1-1 at the Classic.

Through six innings of play the game was a low-scoring affair with a total of four runs, as UC Irvine led 3-1 after scoring once in the first, third and fifth, and Oregon recorded its only tally in the second, but got its high-powered offense revving in the seventh.

The Ducks began to turn things around with the long ball in the seventh and eighth with a solo home run from Drew Smith and a two-run blast from Dominic Hellman, respectively. Smith pulled Oregon within one at 3-2 through seven, while Hellman stepped up and smashed a 1-1 offering from Anteaters’ reliever Tim Grack (1-0) 372 feet off the left-field foul pole. Smith added a would-be insurance run two batters later with an RBI single.

UC Irvine turned it around in its half of the eighth with timely hitting and discipline at the plate. Tommy Farmer and Dylan Hillman got the comeback bid started with singles, while Efren Ortega helped load the bases by getting hit by a pitch thrown by Ducks’ reliever Devin Bell (0-1). Zach Fjelstad took advantage of the situation and laced a two-run single up the middle to knot the game at 5-all. The Anteaters managed to push across two more runs with help from walks and hit batters by Bell and fellow reliever Ryder Edwards.

Oregon attempted to mount a rally in the top of the ninth, but the bid fell short with only one run off a bunt single and a throwing error.

The Anteaters early offense came from Auggie Gutierrez who opened the game’s scoring with a sacrifice fly in the first and later added an RBI single in the fifth. Fjelstad was responsible for the team’s second tally, which came off a one-out double in the third. Oregon’s early run was a result of a one-out groundout by Angel Laya in the second.

Grack picked up the win for the Anteaters in 1.0 inning of relief. He allowed three runs (two earned) off three hits with one strikeout against one walk.

The Anteaters’ Ricky Ojeda was handed a no-decision after going 7.0 innings. Ojeda only surrendered two runs off four hits, with four strikeouts and one walk.

Hunter Manning earned his first save of the season, striking out two, while giving up one run off one hit.

Oregon’s Collin Clarke got the start and was touched for three runs off six hits, with two strikeouts and three walks in 4.2 innings. He was followed by four relievers who combined for 3.1 innings, five runs, three hits, three strikeouts and three walks.

Both teams close out their stay in Las Vegas Sunday. Oregon returns to the Las Vegas Ballpark diamond first for a 11:00 am game against the Vanderbilt Commodores, while UC Irvine closes out the tournament against the Arizona Wildcats at 3:00 pm.

All games of the Live Like Lou College Baseball Classic will be streamed exclusively on D1Baseball.com, with Mike Ferrin handling play-by-play duties and Mike Rooney providing color commentary.

NOTES:

-Entering Saturday, Oregon had only trailed by one run through nine games - a 1-0 deficit against George Mason on February 14; a game Oregon won 14-5.

-Fjelstad has recorded at least one hit in 10 of 11 games this season, and has produced his second five-game hit streak in the process.

-Fjelstad’s current five-gamer has consisted of three three-hit games and two two-hit affairs, and produced a 13-for-23 (.565) stretch with four extra-base hits (all doubles). Additionally, he’s added nine RBI and four runs.

-Through two games at the Classic, Fjelstad is hitting 6-for-11 (.545) with two doubles, and contributed five RBI and three runs.

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