IRVINE, Calif. (Interstat) — Ryan King threw seven no-hit innings and Cal State Bakersfield defeated UC Irvine 4-0 on Friday night at Anteater Ballpark, evening the Big West series after the Anteaters had won the opener a day earlier.

King, a right-hander who had struggled in his previous start against UC San Diego, allowed no hits and no runs over seven innings, striking out five and walking two. He faced 25 batters and retired 10 of the first 11 he encountered, with only a walk to Efrain Ortega in the second inning and a single to Dawsen Polasek in the third — though that single was later erased on a double play — the only blemishes before he exited after the seventh.

Jacob Gutierrez closed the shutout with two hitless innings of relief, striking out two and allowing only a hit batsman and a walk.

Cal State Bakersfield scored all the runs it needed in the first inning. Taison Miller led off the game with a single to third base, advanced to second on a groundout and scored on a single up the middle by Devon Wilkes, who drove in the run to make it 1-0. The Roadrunners added three more runs in the fifth inning, capitalizing on a throwing error by UC Irvine pitcher Finnegan Wall.

With one out, Jaxon Mascaro walked and Darnell Vela singled through the left side. Brody Thompson then reached on a sacrifice bunt that Wall threw away, allowing Mascaro and Vela to score on the error. Thompson advanced to third on the play and later scored when Miller walked and stole second, though the run was ruled unearned.

Miller finished 2-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base. Wilkes went 1-for-4 with the RBI.

UC Irvine’s offense managed only five hits but could not push across a run. Frankie Carney doubled in the first inning, Zach Crandall doubled in the fourth and Dawsen Polasek singled in the third, but each time the Anteaters stranded the runner. Crandall’s double in the fourth put runners on second and third, but Efrain Ortega was thrown out at home trying to score on the play. Ortega reached twice — once on a walk and once on a single — but was left on base both times.

Ryder Brooks pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings for UC Irvine, allowing no hits and striking out five, but the damage had already been done in the first and fifth. Wall took the loss, giving up four hits and two earned runs over 4 2/3 innings with four strikeouts.

The Anteaters loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth on a hit batsman, another hit batsman and a walk, but reliever Jacob Gutierrez induced a groundout from Crandall and struck out pinch-hitter Ryan Felsch to end the game.

Cal State Bakersfield improved to 22-30 overall, while UC Irvine fell to 24-25.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of UC Irvine 6, Cal State Bakersfield 5, and its ELO system gave the Anteaters an 85.00 percent probability to win. The two teams close the series Saturday.