No. 24 UC Irvine Hosts San Diego, Battles No. 4 Cal State Fullerton On ESPNU, Fox Sports West

May 15: UC Irvine (31-16) vs. San Diego (31-21) - Anteater Ballpark
May 17-19: UC Irvine (31-16, 13-8) at No. 4 CS Fullerton (41-8, 17-4) - Goodwin Field

Game 48:  RHP Kyle Hooper (1-2, 3.79) vs. TBA
6:30 PM - KUCI 88.9 FM/Mark Roberts & Tim Becwar

Game 49:  RHP Andrew Thurman (5-3, 2.98) vs. RHP Thomas Eshelman (9-2, 1.42)
TV: ESPNU - Roxy Bernstein/Paul Lo Duca
8:00 PM - KUCI 88.9 FM/Mark Roberts & Tim Becwar

Game 50: LHP Matt Whitehouse (4-6, 3.30) vs. RHP Justin Garza (11-0, 2.12)
TV: Fox Sports West
6:00 PM - KUCI 88.9 FM/Mark Roberts & Tim Becwar

Game 51:  RHP Andrew Morales (10-0, 1.79) vs. RHP Grahamm Wiest (8-3, 3.14)
1:00 PM - KUCI 88.9/Mark Roberts & Tim Becwar

Game Notes: The Friday and Saturday games against Cal State Fullerton will be televised by ESPNU and Fox Sports West, respectively. First pitch Friday has been moved to 8:00 p.m. while Saturday's contest is slated for 6:00 p.m. The series finale will begin at 1:00 p.m.

  • The Anteaters currently stand alone in third at 13-8 and are two games behind second-place Cal State Northridge. One game back of UCI are Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara, tied at 12-9. Sitting in sixth is Long Beach State at 11-10.
  • UCI continues to flash the leather and tops the conference in fielding percentage at .980.
  • The Anteaters improved to 5-3 against ranked opponents after taking two of three games against No. 22 Cal Poly. The team faces its fourth ranked opponent this weekend when UCI travels to No. 4 Cal State Fullerton.
  • With eight games remaining in the regular season, head coach Mike Gillespie is six victories away from reaching the 1000-win milestone. He entered the season 16th among Division I active coaches in victories. 

MORALES, SPARKS SWEEP BIG WEST AWARDS THIS WEEK: Andrew Morales and Taylor Sparks were named the Big West Pitcher and Player of the Week after helping UCI to a series win against No. 22 Cal Poly.

  • Morales posted a career-high 10 strikeouts against the Mustangs, recording all 10 in the first four innings.
  • The right-hander owns a 10-0 record and team-best ERA at 1.79, which is the second-best earned run average in the conference.
  • At one point Morales posted a 26.1 scoreless inning streak.
  • This is the third Big West Pitcher of the Week award for Morales, who is sixth in the nation in victories and 44th in earned run average.
  • Sparks batted .538 and boasted a 1.077 slugging percentage to earn his first Big West Player of the Week honor.
  • He hit for the series cycle, banging out seven hits with two doubles, a triple and a home run.
  • Sparks leads the team with 11 multiple-RBI games and is tied for second with 20 multiple-hit games.
  • The third baseman is currently on a six game hitting streak and jumped into the national rankings in slugging percentage to No. 53.

HOOPER GETS THE BALL: Right-hander Kyle Hooper will take the mound Wednesday against San Diego.

  • Hooper, 1-2 with a 3.79 ERA, has been solid out of the bullpen for the 'Eaters, allowing just three earned runs in the last  seven appearances.
  • The right-hander dealt three scoreless innings of one-hit baseball against Cal Poly Saturday .
  • Hooper has 24 strikeouts in 25 innings and made three starts this year.
  • His last start came against Portland in which he pitched 5.2 innings with four strikeouts.

THURMAN TAMES MUSTANGS IN SERIES OPENER: Andrew Thurman was given a 2-0 lead and made it stand, holding Cal Poly to one run in an eventual 7-1 win last weekend.

  • Thurman logged his second complete game of the year and sixth of his career while picking up his fifth victory of the season.
  • The right-hander yielded the lone run in the second and went on to face just one over the minimum in the final seven innings.
  • Thurman, who will start Friday, is eighth in the Big West in ERA at 2.98 and fourth with 72 strikeouts.
  • He is holding opposing teams to a .244 batting average.

SPENCER, SPARKS TOP CONFERENCE: Connor Spencer, who leads the Big West in batting at .385 has been joined by teammate, Taylor Sparks, who moved into the No. 2 slot at .363.

  • Spencer batted .417 last week, driving in a team-high five runs on five hits.
  • He was responsible for the game-winning runs in both of UCI's wins last weekend. His grounder to short Friday scored Chris Rabago in the first which proved to be the winning run.
  • Spencer added another RBI to extend the 'Eater lead to three and scored twice.
  • Saturday he had a hit, a walk and a run scored and Sunday his two-run double in the first drove in the winning runs.
  • He finished the series 3 for 5 and recorded three RBI, tying a career-high for the sophomore. Spencer recorded three, three-RBI games in his freshman campaign.
  • He leads the team with 21 multiple-hit games and has reached safely in 11 consecutive contests.

SHAEFFER NABS TWO MORE: Ronnie Shaeffer halted two of three stolen-base attempts to move into fourth in the Big West with 16.

  • Shaeffer is just one behind the conference leaders who tops the league with 17.
  • There have been only 30 steal attempts against the senior, less than half of the high mark of 64, held by Pacific. Shaeffer sits eighth in the conference in attempts against.
  • Offensively, the catcher batted .333, driving in three runs on four hits.
  • He was 2 for 4 Friday and came up clutch Saturday with an two-run single to cut Cal Poly's lead to one at 3-2.
  • He drove in one run on one hit in the series finale.
  • Shaeffer is third on the team with a .311 batting average and second with 34 RBI.
  • He is 32nd in the country in the "Toughest to Strikeout" category and has been fanned just 12 times in 190 at-bats.

TOUGH LOSS FOR WHITEHOUSE: Matt Whitehouse suffered his second consecutive loss despite a six-inning effort against the Mustangs.

  • The junior allowed two early runs in the first but after giving up the two-run double, set down 16 consecutive hitters.
  • The southpaw yielded back-to-back one-out hits in the sixth and both runs scored on a pair of errors.
  • He did not walk a batter and struck out five while scattering five hits.
  • Whitehouse will look to get back into the win column this Saturday against the Titans.
  • He is tied for second in the Big West in strikeouts with 74.
  • Whitehouse is 46th in the country in strikeout-to-walk ration at 4.93.

TOREROS INVADE CICERONE FIELD: San Diego is 31-21 on the season and travels to UC Riverside Tuesday before traveling to Anteater Ballpark Wednesday.

  • The Toreros are led by Kris Bryant, who is batting .346 with 66 hits and leads the nation with 28 home runs. Bryant tops the team with 70 runs scored and owns a .880 slugging percentage.
  • Bryant has been walked 56 times and posted 58 RBI.
  • San Diego is tied for second at 15-9 in the WCC after sweeping Portland and outscoring the Pilots, 47-10.
  • UCI holds a 50-43-1 lead in the series records after winning 11-3 in San Diego in early April. The Anteaters were swept by the Toreros in 2012.

TITANS TOP BIG WEST: No. 4 Cal State Fullerton is 41-8 and leads the conference with a 17-4 mark.

  • CSF took two of three games at UC Riverside, out-scoring the Highlanders, 32-14.
  • UCI is tied with the Titans in batting at .288 to lead the Big West while the Titans are first in ERA at 2.54.
  • The team hosts UCLA before taking on the Anteaters in a four-game homestand.
  • Carlos Lopez leads the team with a .340 average and has 65 hits.
  • Michael Lorenzen owns the top marks in RBI (43) and saves with 15, which is also the best mark in the conference.
  • Thomas Eshelman brings a 9-2 record and 1.42 ERA to the mound and will match-up against Andrew Thurman Friday. Eshelman has 59 strikeouts in 88.2 innings and has walked just two batters.
  • Justin Garza will face Matt Whitehouse Saturday. The right-hander is undefeated at 11-0 and sports a 2.12 ERA. Garza has 70 strikeouts in 89 innings, walking just 14 while giving up 21 earned runs.
  • Grahamm Wiest is expected to close out the series Sunday. Wiest is 8-3 with a 3.14 earned run average and tops the pitching staff with 71 strikeouts in 83 innings of work.
  • CSF owns a 74-38 series lead against UCI. The Anteaters lost two of three games at home in 2012.

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