The Box Goes Out in Style

I'll let Poseur drop real knowledge on you about this game and this series, but right now I just have a series of observations.

• Even in a complete route, a few plays stand out as important.  The balk call in the first inning was arguable, and if Stowell gets that out there he may settle down and pitch a little better, avoiding the big inning.
• UCI's vaunted defense really played poorly in the 3rd game.  In particular, the 2nd baseman made a costly defensive mistake that prevented them from getting a critical out in the 1st inning.  Misplays in the outfield also hurt them.  This was a team that lived by defense throughout the season (I hear) and played good defense through the first two games, but the glove abandoned them here when facing elimination.
• For all the talk of big-ball versus small-ball, UCI hit as many home runs as we did through the first two games.  The third game was different, however.
• Our bullpen didn't have a lot of bullets in it, and neither did theirs.  The difference was that we got to their starter early and got them into their bullpen well before they were ready for it, and our big lead allowed us to go a little deeper into our pen than we would have in a close game.