IRVINE — It took the fourth game of his fifth season to finally find the cleanup spot in the UC Irvine baseball team's batting order. But Ronnie Shaeffer may just linger a while in the four hole, after helping key the Anteaters' 5-3 nonconference win over visiting Cal on Friday.
Shaeffer, a former freshman All-American who has since had his ups and downs at the plate, went three for five with the go-ahead run batted in to help No. 25-ranked UCI improve to 4-0.
Shaeffer, who redshirted last season after breaking a finger in the 11th game, entered Friday hitting .462. He lined a 1-0 pitch, on a hit-and-run play, into center field with runners at the corners to break a 3-3 deadlock in the bottom of the seventh inning. It was the only one of UCI's four RBIs that came on a base hit.