The fourth-seed Fresno State baseball team knew going into an NCAA regional that it had a tough road to the super regionals.

After losing 19-4 to top-seed UCLA on Friday, the Mountain West champion Bulldogs fell 8-3 to second seed UC Irvine 8-3 on Saturday in an elimination game of the Los Angeles regional.

James Castagnola hit a two-out three-run homer in the second inning off Bulldogs starter Aidan Cremarosa, and UC Irvine never looked back.

Cremarosa yielded five runs in six innings. Drew Townson followed and gave up three runs while retiring four batters.

Fresno State finished the season with a 31-29 record.

UCLA Advances to Super Regionals

On Sunday, host UCLA (45-16) clinched its first trip to the super regionals since 2019 by jumping to a big lead and then prevailing 8-5 over UC Irvine (43-17).

Earlier on Sunday, the Anteaters dropped Arizona State 11-6 in an elimination game.

Mulivai Levu hit a three-run home run, and Dean West and Payton Brennan added two RBIs apiece in UCLA’s victory over UC Irvine.