UC Irvine Ends Season With Sixth Straight 30+Win Season
May 29, 2013 | Baseball
UC Irvine posted its 11th 30+win season after concluding the year at 33-22 overall (15-12 Big West).
- The Anteaters boasted a 25-9 home mark, kicking off the schedule by winning 11 of the first 13 games.
- UCI swept ranked teams Baylor (23rd) and won two of three against No. 22 Cal Poly while winning 10 of 14 weekend series.
- The team finished first in the Big West and fourth in the nation in fielding percentage at .981
- UCI also owned the second-best batting average in the conference at .285 and led the league in doubles with 97.
- The pitching staff under first-year coach, Danny Bibona, was fourth in the country with a 3.27 strikeout-to-walk-ratio and finished the regular season 18th with a 1.19 WHIP average.
BIG WEST HONORS SEVEN
- Seven Anteaters were honored on the All-Big West Conference teams with Taylor Sparks earning a share of Field Player of the Year honors
- Andrew Morales, Ronnie Shaeffer and Dominique Taylor joined Sparks on the first team
- Andrew Thurman and Connor Spencer were second-team selections while Chris Rabago was voted honorable mention.
COLLEGE SPORTS MADNESS HONORS 'EATERS
- Taylor Sparks and Andrew Morales came away with top honors on the College Sports Madness Baseball Big West All-Conference team.
- Sparks was voted the Field Player of the Year while Morales was selected as the Pitcher of the Year.
- Connor Spencer and Dominique Taylor joined Morales and Sparks as first-team honorees.
MORALES MAKES HISTORY
- Andrew Morales became the first Anteater to conclude the season undefeated on the mound after finishing with a 10-0 record.
- Morales pitched 95.1 innings and struck out 85 while allowing 20 earned runs.
- The right-hander held opposing teams to a .227 batting average and ended the season with a 1.89 ERA to finish third in the UCI single-season records as well as second in the Big West.
- Morales was a three-time Big West Pitcher of the Week.
SHAEFFER DOTS RECORD BOOKS
- Ronnie Shaeffer concluded a sparkling collegiate career last week, batting .333 in four games with five hits, a double, an RBI and a run scored.
- The senior catcher currently sits 40th in the nation in the "Toughest to Strikeout" category after being fanned just 15 times in 220 at-bats.
- He drove in a run on two hits in the series opener against the Dirtbags and added two hits and two runs scored in the middle game before scoring once in the series finale.
- Over his career, Shaeffer amassed 766 at-bats to move into third in the UCI career annals and 240 hits to take over the No. 5 spot and surpass former teammate Jeff Cusick (2007-10).
- With 39 career doubles, Shaeffer tied Mark Wagner (2002-05) and Al Rodriguez (1988-91) for 10th in the records.
- Shaeffer also drove in 133 runs to finish sixth in the all-time RBI records.
THURMAN EYEING DRAFT
- Andrew Thurman, projected as a first-round draft pick, punctuated his junior season with a complete-game win over Long Beach State.
- The right-hander, who went the distance in the series opener against the Dirtbags in back-to-back years, tied a career-high with 11 strikeouts while surrendering four runs on seven hits.
- Thurman did not walk a batter in the outing en route to climbing to 6-4 overall with a 3.23 ERA.
- In three seasons Thurman has struck out 224 to move into eighth in the records and passing Chris Nicoll's (2003-05) three-year total of 221.
- Holding a .642 win percentage and a 3.19 career ERA, Thurman is 12th and 13th, respectively, among UCI's career leaders.
- Thurman has tossed seven career complete games at UCI.
- With 91 strikeouts in 2013, Thurman climbed to second in the Big West at the end of the regular season.
SPARKS TOPS BIG WEST
- Taylor Sparks posted a stellar turnaround from his freshman campaign, finishing the year with a .360 average and a team-high 80 hits, 10 home runs and 50 RBI.
- The sophomore boasted a .956 fielding percentage at the hot corner and led the Big West in slugging at .581.
- In Big West games only, Sparks led the league in batting (.422), slugging (.697), hits (46), RBI (32), home runs (7) and total bases (76).
- Sparks uprooted Jeff Cusick (2010) in the UCI single-season records with a .581 slugging average and his 10 round-trippers put him in a third-place tie with alumnus Bryant Winslow, who posted 10 in 1991.
- With 13 career home runs in two season, Sparks is tied for 10th with three Anteater alums. The most recent is Matt Anderson, who played from 2002-05.
- In four games last week, Sparks batted .385 with five hits and four RBI. He drove in a run against USC and then added two hits and an RBI in each of the team's wins against the Dirtbags. Thursday, Sparks drove in the team's first run and plated the game-tying run and gave UCI the lead Friday with a solo home run.
- Sparks posted a career-high five RBI against Hawaii to tie for 10th in the single-game records.
SPENCER VYING FOR BATTING TITLE
- Sophomore Connor Spencer batted over .300 for the second straight year after hitting .373 and currently leads the Big West in batting.
- The first baseman finished with 79 hits and a team-high 19 doubles to sit in a sixth-place tie with five 'Eater alums in the single-season records.
- Spencer finished the year tied for first on the team and tied for fifth in the conference with 42 runs scored.
- Spencer led the team with 25 multiple-hit games and reached safely in 22 consecutive games for a team-high.
- In two seasons, he holds a .343 career batting average and is ninth in the records.
WHITEHOUSE ENDS TERM IN RECORD BOOKS
- Matt Whitehouse, who suffered his first career losses this season, ended the season ranked seventh in the UCI career records with a 2.84 ERA.
- The lefty took over the spot held by Steve Schroer, who logged a 2.85 mark in four years (2002-05).
- Whitehouse, who is draft-eligible, is 49th in the country with a 4.67 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
- With 84 strikeouts, Whitehouse is 87th in the country and fifth in the Big West.
- He ended the year with a victory after pitching 6.1 innings and striking out five while allowing four runs (three earned).
- Whitehouse did not walk a batter and gave up the fewest free passes among the weekend starters with 18.
RABAGO RAKES IN FINAL WEEKEND
- Chris Rabago put together one of his best weeks, batting .389 with seven hits and six RBI in four games.
- The sophomore drove in five runs in the two wins against Long Beach State.
- To kick off the week, Rabago scored the first run of the game against USC and also drove in a run.
- He then went 3 for 5 with two runs scored Thursday and followed it by driving in three runs on three hits Friday.
- Rabago finished the year with a .269 average, 59 hits and 27 RBI.
- He was fifth on the team with 10 doubles and tied for second with three triples.
STEPHENS ENDS COLLEGIATE CAREER WITH SOLID WEEK
- Jeff Stephens, who was the anchor in the outfield, wrapped up his collegiate career by batting .333 with five hits and two RBI.
- He posted one hit against the Trojans and then tied a season-high with three hits in the opening game against the Dirtbags.
- He drove in a pair of runs on one hit Friday and finishes the year with a .273 average, 35 hits and 16 RBI.
- After two seasons, Stephens owns a .282 lifetime average and drove in 36 runs on 80 hits, including 14 doubles.
TAYLOR STANDS OUT FOR 'EATERS
- Transfer Dominique Taylor made his mark in his first year with the program after finishing third on the team with a .309 average.
- The centerfielder was third with 71 hits and second with 14 doubles. He tied for first with 42 runs scored to go along with 34 runs batted in.
- He hit in 14 consecutive games for a team-high and was second with 24 multiple-hit games and nine multiple-RBI games.
- Taylor drove in a career-high five runs in a win against Baylor which also tied for 10th in the UCI single-game records.
LITCHFIELD LOGS SUB-2 ERA
- Jimmy Litchfield proved to be a consistent presence out of the bullpen for the Anteaters. The lefty was the only other pitcher to finish with an ERA below 2.00 at 1.99.
- Litchfield posted 17 strikeouts in 31.2 innings and made a team-leading 27 appearances, third-best in the Big West.
- With 27 games in relief, Litchfield was tied for second in the conference and he held opposing teams to a .203 average while walking just eight and allowing seven earned runs.
- Litchfield picked up one save and pitched in two combined shutouts.
- In three seasons, Litchfield owns a 2.92 ERA and moved to ninth in the UCI career records.
- In three years he has struck out 81 batters in 120.1 innings to go along with five saves.
PARMENTER FINISHES IN TOP 10
- Race Parmenter posted seven saves this year and recorded 15 in two seasons at UCI to finish fourth in the career records.
- The right-hander was 2-4 this year with a 3.52 ERA. Limiting the opposition to a .200 batting average, Parmenter struck out 23 in 23 innings and allowed just nine earned runs on 17 hits.
- He made 21 appearances this year and pitched in two combined shutouts.
- Parmenter finishes his collegiate career with a 2.84 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 50.2 innings pitched.
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