Anteater End Home Slate Against No. 9 UCLA, Travel to UC Davis
May 21, 2012 | Baseball
UCI ENDS HOME SCHEDULE AGAINST UCLA; TRAVELS TO UC DAVIS: UC Irvine (30-22, 12-9) hosts UCLA Tuesday (May 22) in its final home contest and travels to UC Davis to conclude the Big West Conference slate this weekend (May 25-27). All three games against the Aggies will be daytime affairs. The series opener is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. while the following games of the series start at 1:00 p.m.
FIREWORKS FOR FAN APPRECIATION: UC Irvine Athletics will stage a fireworks show following the conclusion of the baseball game against UCLA. For the duration of the show and a 10 minute safety check immediately following, cars will not be allowed in or out of the Mesa Parking Structure. Fans who do not wish to stay for the show should leave immediately following the game.
IN THE STANDINGS: UC Irvine is currently fourth in the Big West standings at 12-9. Cal Poly sits one game up on the 'Eaters at 13-8. Cal State Fullerton, which lost twice to UC Riverside, edges Long Beach State (14-7) at 15-6 with the two teams battling it out for the title this weekend.
200TH APPROACH-ETH: Mike Gillespie will go for his 200th win at UC Irvine when the Anteaters take on the Bruins Tuesday. Gillespie owns a 199-64 record in his fifth year at UCI for a .757 win percentage. In 41 seasons, the Hall of Fame coach boasts 962 wins over his career at the Division I level.
THURMAN JOINS GORGEN ON SHORT LIST: Andrew Thurman (Orange/Orange Lutheran HS) became just the second Anteater to deal three complete-game shutouts in a single season following a 7-0 win against Cal State Bakersfield. Thurman joins Scott Gorgen (2006-08), who first accomplished the feat in 2007.
Thurman, who has already pitched a no-hitter this year, gave up his only hit, a two-out triple, in the second inning. However the sophomore standout left two stranded that inning and went on to hold the Roadrunners hitless the rest of the way and now has logged complete games in four of his last five starts. Thurman retired the final seven batters and earned his eighth win of the year to climb to 8-2.
He has won six straight decisions and has pitched 92 innings with 64 strikeouts. Batters are hitting just .191 against the right-hander, who owns a 2.45 ERA.
BROCK GETS THE BALL: Redshirt sophomore Evan Brock (Chino Hills/Ayala HS) will take the mound Tuesday against UCLA. The right-hander made two appearances last week, pitching 4.2 shutout innings and striking out four while giving up just one hit. Brock ended a San Diego rally and struck out three while walking two in 2.2 relief innings.
He then made an appearance against CSUB, in which he logged two hitless innings, striking out one. Brock has 1-0 with a 1.57 ERA and has posted 20 strikeouts in 23 innings. He has allowed just four earned runs and is holding opposing teams to a .200 batting average.
NEWCOMERS HAVE CAREER WEEKENDS: Jeff Stephens (Novato/Sierra College), Taylor Sparks (Long Beach/St. John Bosco HS) and Chris Rabago (Riverside/Riverside Poly HS) led UCI to a season-high 20 hits to go along with 15 runs Sunday by posting career-highs.
Stephens drove in three runs on four hits, both personal-bests for the junior outfielder. Stephens singled in UCI's first run and doubled and scored in his next at bat. He then followed with consecutive RBI singles to end the day 4 for 5 with three runs scored.
Over the week, Stephens batted .333 and was 5 for 15 with four RBI and a double. He is currently hitting .287 with 41 hits and 19 RBI.
Sparks caught fire against the Roadrunners, going 5 for 9 (.556) in the three games series. The freshman infielder was held hitless in the first game but delivered a pinch-hit double Saturday. He then broke out with a career-high four hits Sunday, belting a triple, and a double to go with a pair of singles.
Sparks led UCI last week with a .462 average, posting six hits, including two doubles and two triples. On the season he has 22 hits, 10 of which are for extra bases, and has driven in 12 runs.
Rabago batted .444 in three games last week, driving in a career-high three runs Sunday. The freshman catcher went 2 for 2 Saturday, executing twice on sacrifice bunt attempts while driving in UCI's third run of the game.
Sunday he was penciled in as the designated hitter and drove in a personal-high three runs on a two-run double that tied the score and chipped in a run-scoring single in the eighth. Rabago raised his average to .310 and has 22 hits with nine RBI.
SLAUGHT TIES FOR EIGHTH WITH WIN: Crosby Slaught (Santa Barbara/HS) earned his 23rd career victory after pitching six innings of three-run baseball Sunday. The right-hander struggled in the first, giving up all three runs in the top of the inning but then rebounded by yielding just one hit through the next five innings. Slaught struck out six and walked three and is now tied with Christian Bergman (2007-10) and Bob Barlow (1970-73) in career victories.
Slaught, who leads the Big West in starts with 17, was handed the ball last Tuesday against San Diego. The right-hander had to deal with an error that allowed an unearned run to score, which would prove to be the game-winning run, handing the senior the loss.
Slaught is 7-6 with a 3.46 ERA. He has pitched 75.1 innings with 55 strikeouts and 29 earned runs. He is holding the opposition to a .217 average.
REYES WALKS HIGHER INTO RECORD BOOKS: Tommy Reyes (Rancho Cucamonga/Bishop Amat HS), drew six walks in four games last week to move into fourth in the UCI career records. Reyes also batted .429 with six hits, including three doubles and three RBI.
Reyes singled and scored in the loss against San Diego and added a double, a walk and two runs scored in the series opener against the Roadrunners. The second baseman drove in a run on a double and drew two walks Saturday before going 3 for 3 with two walks, two RBI and two runs scored in the series finale.
Reyes upped his average to .290 and has 49 hits and 29 RBI. He is second on the team with 13 doubles and eight steals and tops the 'Eaters with 33 walks.
CRUMLICH TOPS CHARTS IN HITS: D.J. Crumlich (Irvine/HS) batted .412 with a team-leading seven hits in four games last week. The senior had two hits and a run scored against the Toreros and tacked on two hits Friday. Crumlich drove in a run on a sacrifice, singled and walked in the middle game of the series and closed out the series with two hits, an RBI and a run scored on Senior Day.
Crumlich tops UCI with 66 hits and is hitting .320 on the year. He also holds the lead in doubles with 15 and runs scored with 36.
CRUMLICH IN THE RECORDS: Crumlich currently dots the UCI career annals in several categories. Crumlich played in his 200th and 201st career games last weekend and now is eighth among the all-time leaders at UCI. His 716 at-bats puts him sixth and he also sixth with 44 career doubles. He has amassed 95 career walks to take over fourth place and Crumlich is also fifth with 136 runs scored.
ABOUT UCLA: No. 9 UCLA is 38-14 overall and boasts an 18-4 road record. Jeff Gelalich tops the team with a .376 average to go along with a team-high 76 hits and 15 stolen bases. Trevor Brown is the team's RBI leader with 40.
Lefty Grant Watson will face Evan Brock Tuesday. Watson is 8-2 with a 4.67 ERA and has 42 strikeouts in 79 innings. He has allowed 41 earned runs on 83 hits. Watson made the start against UCI last month and pitched four innings, holding the Anteaters to three runs on five hits in a no-decision.
THE SERIES: UCLA leads the all-time series 45-27-1. The two teams have split the home-and-home series the last five years.
LOOKING AT UC DAVIS: UC Davis is 24-29 overall and 10-11 in the Big West. The Aggies, who sit two games behind the Anteaters in the league standings, are led by Paul Politi, who is hitting .333 with 29 RBI. Politi tops the team with 72 hits and is second with 12 doubles.
THE SERIES: UCI leads the series against UC Davis, 20-4.
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