ANTEATERS TRAVEL TO No. 18 TOREROS, MATADORS: UC Irvine (27-17, 11-7) takes on the 18th-ranked San Diego Toreros Tuesday (May 8) at 3:00 p.m. and then travels to Cal State Northridge for a series beginning Friday (May. 11-13), also at 3:00 p.m. First pitch for the final two games of the series are both scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
THREE OF A KIND FOR THURMAN: Andrew Thurman (Orange/Orange Lutheran HS) dealt his third consecutive complete game, shutting out UC Santa Barbara, 2-0 Friday and was named the Big West Pitcher of the Week for the third time this year. The right-hander struck out six and limited the Gauchos to four hits to earn his sixth win (6-2) of the year and lower his ERA to 2.61. Thurman has now allowed just two earned runs in 35 innings and has tossed 76 innings with 55 strikeouts. He is holding hitters to a .193 batting average.
Thurman becomes just the second Anteater to win the award three times in a year, joining Scott Gorgen who collected three conference weekly awards in 2008.
A LOOK AT THE STANDINGS: The Anteaters moved into third place in the Big West at 11-7 with six conference games to play. Cal State Fullerton tops the league at 12-3 with Long Beach State sitting in second at 11-4. Cal Poly is fourth at 10-8 while UC Santa Barbara is in fifth at 9-9. Cal State Northridge (7-9) is sixth in the conference and is followed by UC Davis (6-9), UC Riverside (5-10) and Pacific (1-14).
SLAUGHT BLANKS OPPONENTS FOR ANOTHER SEVEN: Senior Crosby Slaught (Santa Barbara/HS) pitched seven shutout innings for the second straight week to extend his scoreless streak to 14. The right-hander struck out five and walked three while scattering four hits to improve to 6-4. The right-hander holds a 3.36 ERA and has struck out 46 in 64.1 innings of work and is holding opposing teams to a .218 batting average.
Slaught was faced with a first-inning threat following a one-out double and a wild pitch on swinging strike three to put runners on first and third but struck out the next two batters to leave the Gauchos stranded. Following the wild pitch, Slaught retired 15 straight batters before finding himself in a base-loaded jam with two outs. However, Slaught received defensive help from junior Jeff Stephens (Novato/Sierra College), who made a diving catch on a flare to left-centerfield to end the threat.
PARMENTER SAVES TWO: Race Parmenter (Huntington Beach/Golden West College) saved two games for the Anteaters to help the team post its third sweep against a Big West opponent.
Saturday, the right-hander was handed the ball with a runner on third with two outs in the eighth and struck out the final batter of the inning. He then faced four in the ninth, striking out two for the save.
Sunday in the eighth, Parmenter stepped to the mound with runners on first and second with two outs and induced a groundball to short. After giving up a leadoff hit in the ninth, Parmenter retired three straight to leave the tying run at second.
Parmenter has seven saves and is 1-1 with a 2.28 ERA. He has struck out 26 in 23.2 innings and allowed just six earned runs. Opposing teams are hitting .217 against the junior.
RAMIREZ JUMPS TO THE TOP: Christian Ramirez (Santa Ana/Cypress College) used a .667 average in three games last week to vault to the top of the stats and is now batting .341. Ramirez posted eight hits (8 for 12), including a double and three RBI. The centerfielder now has 47 hits and 19 RBI.
Ramirez matched a personal best with four hits in the win at San Diego State, going 4 for 5 with two RBI. He then added a hit in the series opener against UC Santa Barbara and capped the series by going 3 for 4 with a double and an RBI single.
TRENTACOSTA PITCHES CAREER-HIGH IN FIRST CAREER START: Mark Trentacosta (Orange/Golden West College) impressed in his first start as an Anteater, logging a career-high six innings and striking out six against San Diego State last week. The junior lefty held the Aztecs to a run on three hits and fanned three of the first six batters he faced before giving up consecutive hits in the third. After giving up his second hit, Trentacosta retired 12 of the next 13 he faced before handing the ball off to the Anteater bullpen.
Trentacosta also made an appearance out of the bullpen Sunday, pitching 2/3 innings and walking one while yielding a hit.
Trentacosta, who will make the start Tuesday against San Diego, is 1-0 with a 2.11 ERA and has 20 strikeouts in 21.1 innings of work.
GOTTSCHLING DELIVERS BLOW TO GAUCHOS: With UCI trailing 2-0 in the series finale against the Gauchos, the Anteaters loaded the bases on a single and two walks to set the scene for Scott Gottschling (Orange/Villa Park HS), who laced a bases-clearing double to give the 'Eaters a 3-2 lead. It was the third time this year Gottschling has posted a three-RBI game.
On the week, Gottschling had three hits, two for extra bases and drove in five. He has 19 hits this season with 15 RBI.
FOX TROTS INTO TIE WITH CRUMLICH: Jordan Fox (Hacienda Heights/Bishop Amat HS) batted .385 with five hits, two walks and an RBI. Fox now has 55 hits to tie for first on the team with D.J. Crumlich (Irvine/HS), who is the team's leader in doubles with 13.
Fox posted a hit against San Diego State and added two against UC Santa Barbara in the series opener. The first baseman singled in the Saturday game and then tripled in the fifth run Sunday in UCI's 5-4 win over the Gauchos.
Fox is hitting .327 with 29 RBI and leads the team with eight stolen bases.
LITCHFIELD EARNS WIN: Jimmy Litchfield (La Habra/Sonora HS) made three appearances in relief for the 'Eaters last week and posted three strikeouts in four innings.
The lefty struck out two in a scoreless inning at SDSU. He entered in the eighth Saturday and retired two of three batters before handing the ball off to Race Parmenter.
He was called again Sunday in relief of Phillip Ferragamo (Orange/Canyon HS) and picked up the win after pitching 2.1 innings of one-run relief.
Litchfield is 3-2 with a 3.13 ERA and has made a team-leading 23 appearances. He has struck out 27 batters in 37.1 innings and allowed 13 earned runs.
STEPHENS MATCHES PERSONAL BEST, TOPS TEAM FOR THE WEEK: Jeff Stephens (Navato/Sierra College) tied a career-high with three hits against UCSB Saturday and posted at least one hit in four games to lead the team with six on the week.
Stephens singled in the win against the Aztecs and added a hit in the fourth Friday to load the bases for the Anteaters. Saturday the outfielder went 3 for 4 with a double and drove in the game-winning run in the sixth before capping the series off with a single and a run scored as part of the team's four-run fourth inning Sunday.
Stephens is hitting .299 with 35 hits and 15 RBI.
LOOKING AT USD: San Diego is ranked No. 18 by Baseball America and owns a 36-11 overall record. The Toreros are led by Corey LeVier, who is hitting .383 with 67 hits. Kris Bryant tops the team with 51 RBI while Bryan Haar is USD's leader in doubles with 17. San Diego is hitting .322 as a team .
Right-hander Dylan Covey will take the mound Tuesday. Covey is 6-3 with a 3.41 ERA and has 45 strikeouts in 71. 1innings. He has walked 36 and allowed 27 earned runs.
THE SERIES: UC Irvine leads San Diego 49-41-1 in the all-time series.
LOOKING AT CSUN: Cal State Northridge is 20-23 overall and 7-8 in the Big West. The Matadors, hitting .260 as a team, own a 10-9 home mark. The team is led by Cal Vogelsang, who has 47 hits. Miles Williams leads the team with 24 RBI.
THE SERIES: UCI leads the series 31-26.
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