ROUND ROCK, Texas -- No. 9-ranked UC Irvine scored six runs in the first two innings and cruised the rest of the way for a 13-0 shutout of Wake Forest in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament Friday afternoon at The Dell Diamond.

The loss drops the third-seeded Demon Deacons (33-28) into the loser's bracket of the Round Rock Regional. Wake will play an elimination game on Saturday at noon (Central) against the loser of tonight's matchup between top-seeded Texas and fourth-seeded Brown.

The Deacons could not get anything going against second-seeded UC Irvine (41-15-1) on Friday. Anteater starter Wes Etheridge held Wake to just four hits on the day. Wake Forest threatened in the first and the second innings but went down meekly the rest of the way.

The Anteater offense was just as effective at the plate as Etheridge was on the mound. UCI did not hit many balls hard but instead took advantage of well-placed singles to bury Wake early.

UC Irvine rallied for four runs in the first. Taylor Holliday led off with an infield single and then moved to second on Ben Orloff's sacrifice bunt. Four straight singles scored the first three runs of the inning. With runners at the corners, Bullock looked to have Ollie Linton picked off first, but his move was ruled a balk, allowing Bryan Petersen to score the fourth run.

UCI scored two more runs off Bullock in the second. Tyler Vaughn hit the first pitch of the frame to left for a double, and Holliday followed with a bloop single to right center. Ben Orloff drove in Vaughn with a slow groundout to second. Holliday stole third and then scored on Cody Cipriano's slow-rolling single up the middle, giving the Anteaters a 6-0 lead.

The Deacons threatened in the first and second innings against Etheridge, but inning-ending double plays silenced the rallies with no runs coming across. Wake loaded the bases in the first and had two on with one out in the second.

After Allan Dykstra walked in the third inning, Etheridge retired eight straight hitters until Dykstra singled in the sixth. Etheridge retired 15 of 17 hitters from the third through seventh innings.

The Anteaters went scoreless in the third and fourth innings before posting at least one run in each of the next four frames. UCI scored one in each the fifth and sixth, two in the seventh and three in the eighth to complete the rout.

Bullock (4-3) dropped his second straight decision for the Deacons. The lefty pitched five innings and allowed seven runs on 11 hits. He walked two and hit two batters. Bullock's outing was his shortest since throwing five innings against Virginia on March 11.

Joel Ernst pitched two innings of relief, while Sean Souders pitched one. Ernst allowed three runs on three hits, while Souders surrendered three unearned runs on two hits.

Offensively, Dykstra reached base three times on a hit and two walks. Ben Terry and Tyler Smith extended their hitting streaks to seven games apiece. Dustin Hood saw his five-game hitting streak come to an end, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in his Texas homecoming.

Etheridge (12-4) earned the win for the Anteaters. The righthander went eight shutout innings, allowing four hits. He struck out 10 and walked four.

Holliday went 3-for-5 with three runs scored, while Cipriano and Jeff Cusick drove in three runs each for UCI.

The win was UC Irvine's first in three NCAA Tournament appearances. Wake is making its 11th appearance and is now 36-22 in Tournament play.