UC Irvine Baseball Named Top 30 in Preseason Poll for Fifth Straight Year
December 20, 2011 | Baseball
IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine has been tabbed 29th in the Collegiate Baseball Fabulous 40 preseason poll.
The Anteaters, who were 43-18 last season, have been a media outlet's top-30 preseason pick every year since 2008. The baseball program, which was reinstated after being dropped in 1992, completed its 10th year of competition last season in which the Anteaters swept through the Los Angeles Regional to advance to the Charlottesville Super Regional for its sixth straight NCAA post-season appearance.
Hall of Fame coach, Mike Gillespie, returns three All-Big West honorees, including American Baseball Coaches Association Gold Glove catcher, Ronnie Shaeffer (Garden Grove/Pacifica HS). Shaeffer held opposing teams to a 43-percent stolen-base average while driving in 31 runs on 55 hits. Shortstop D.J. Crumlich (Irvine/HS), a Los Angeles Regional all-tournament choice, batted .300 with 70 hits and a team-leading 15 doubles. Crumlich owned a .476 average in the NCAA postseason with 10 hits and two RBI. Jordan Fox (Hacienda Heights/Bishop Amat HS) was ranked fourth in the nation in the "Toughest to Strikeout" category and struck out just six times in 186 at-bats. Fox owned a .323 average and drove in 25 runs on 60 hits while stealing nine bases. Also returning to the team is Los Angeles Regional all-tournament honoree, Tommy Reyes (Rancho Cucamonga/Bishop Amat HS). Reyes hit .289 with 29 runs batted in on 50 hits. The senior boasted a .476 average in the post-season, totaling 10 hits, including three doubles in six games.
Leading the pitching staff are junior Matt Whitehouse (Diamond Bar/Damien HS) and senior Crosby Slaught (Santa Barbara/HS). Whitehouse was 4-0 on the mound with a 2.12 ERA, setting down 63 batters in 72.1 innings and holding teams to a .207 batting average. Slaught was 7-2 on the hill with a 3.93 earned run average. The right-hander tossed 68.2 innings and struck out 47. Also shoring the Anteater arms are sophomores Andrew Thurman (Orange/Orange Lutheran HS) and Jimmy Litchfield (La Habra/Sonora HS). Thurman logged 75.1 innings in his freshman campaign, striking out 64 and posting a 4-3 mark on the mound. Litchfield earned three saves while registering a 2-1 record with a 2.89 ERA. Litchfield struck out 23 batters in 27.1 relief innings.
The Anteaters open the season in Houston, Tex., and will compete in the Urban Invitational (Feb. 17-19) before returning to Anteater Ballpark to take on UNLV in its home opener, Feb. 20. Highlighting the 2012 schedule is second trip the Texas, where the team will compete in a tournament (Mar. 2-4) hosted by Baylor as well as a single game against Pepperdine which will be played at Dodger Stadium, March. 13.
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