No. 20 UC Irvine Takes On Trojans, Hosts No. 24 Gauchos To Open Final Month Of Big West Action

Los Angeles / Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark

Apr. 29
Game 43 - 6:00 PM
at USC
(L) Evan Manarino vs. (R) Brooks Kriske
Live stats
KUCI 88.9 FM
Mark Roberts
Tim Becwar

May 2
Game 44 - 6:30 PM
vs. UCSB
(R) Andrew Morales vs. (L) Justin Jacome

Live stats
ESPN3
Sam Farber
Internet Only
Mark Roberts
Tim Becwar

May 3

Game 45 –1:00 PMvs. UCSB
(L) Elliot Surrey vs. (R) Austin Pettibone
Live stats
KUCI 88.9 FM
Mark Roberts
Tim Becwar

May 4
Game 46 - 1:00 PM
vs. UCSB
(R) Evan Brock vs. (R) Shane Bieber
Live stats
KUCI 88.9 FM
Mark Roberts
Tim Becwar

QUICK HITS

  • The final 15 games of the regular season begin Tuesday at USC.
  • UCI is 2-1 against Pac-12 teams this year.
  • Friday's game against UC Santa Barbara will be aired on ESPN3.
  • With a .917 win percentage in Big West games, UC Irvine sits at the top of the conference with Cal Poly holding the top spot in league wins with 12.
  • The Anteaters are ranked third in the nation in walks allowed per nine innings at 2.01 and are fourth in strikeout to walk ratio (3.51).
  • The pitching staff also is the 11th in the nation with a 1.10 WHIP and 17th in ERA (2.53).
  • UCI's formidable starting rotation of Andrew Morales, Elliot Surrey and Evan Brock currently own a combined ERA of 1.92 and have won 20 games.
  • The Anteater offense is fourth in the Big West with a .275 average and leads the league in triples with 17.

MANARINO ON THE MOUND AGAINST TROJANS

  • The Anteaters will look to improve on a 3-5 record on Tuesdays as they travel to USC.
  • Taking the mound will be lefty Evan Manarino, who will be making his eighth start of the year.
  • Manarino's last start was against Pepperdine in Malibu, where he pitched three innings and allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits.
  • Since the start, the junior has made three relief appearances and has not allowed an earned run.
  • Manarino's best outing this year was a six-inning stint against Bakersfield in which he struck out nine and held the Roadrunners to two runs (one earned) on six hits.

MOORE RECORDS HAT-TRICK

  • Junior Sam Moore tied and rewrote UCI's single-season save record on the same day after logging two saves against UC Davis Saturday and then added a third in the series finale Sunday.
  • Moore struck out one and gave up a hit in each game of the series to go 3 for 3 in opportunities.
  • He now has 19 saves on the year after erasing the previous mark of 17, set by Blair Erickson in 2004 and matched by Eric Pettis in '08 and '09.
  • Moore is now a save away from tying the Big West mark of 20, currently owned by Gabe Gonzales of Long Beach State, who set the record in 1995.
  • With 15 regular-season games remaining, also within reach is the NCAA record of 24, held by UCLA's David Berg.
  • Moore remains the national leader and has a 1.53 ERA with 30 strikeouts in 35.1 innings.

'EATER BULLPEN BLANKS AGGIES

  • UCI's bullpen figured heavily in the sweep of UC Davis with four Anteater arms combining for 5.2 shutout innings.
  • Mitch Merten and Matt Fielding each earned their first wins of the year, and the first win of Fielding's Anteater career, after logging shutout innings.
  • Fielding picked up for Andrew Morales in the eighth and gave up a hit before setting down three straight.
  • The Anteaters came through with a four-run ninth and Fielding improved to 1-0. The lefty has 10 strikeouts in 18.1 innings and has walked just one batter in 16 appearances.
  • Merten entered in relief of Elliot Surrey in the seventh and inherited a runner on second with one out but handled the final two batters to leave the runner stranded on third.
  • Merten is 1-2 and has 11 strikeouts in 14.2 innings.
  • Jimmy Litchfield made his 109th career appearance to move into a second-place tie with Eric Pettis (2007-10) and is four appearances away from tying all-time leader, Blair Erickson (2004-07) who has 113.
  • Litchfield gave up a pair of singles in the second game Saturday and bounced back with two fly-ball outs to leave two stranded.
  • The senior lefty is 3-1 with a 3.07 ERA and has 18 strikeouts in 29.1 innings of work.

BROCK EARNS SEVENTH WIN, LOGS SEASON-HIGH INNINGS

  • Evan Brock pitched a season-high eight innings and held UC Davis to one run on four hits to earn his seventh win and move into a tie for third in the Big West in wins with Andrew Morlaes and Cal Poly's Justin Calomeni.
  • Brock allowed one run in the first and then fired off seven shutout frames before ending the outing by setting down nine straight batters.
  • Brock dropped his ERA to 3.15 and has pitched 68.2 innings while striking out 45.

ANTEATERS COME UP BIG IN LATE INNINGS

  • The Anteaters used late-inning runs in all three games last weekend to sweep the Aggies.
  • Jonathan Munoz put the Anteaters on the board Saturday in game 1, Jerry McClanahan, who has been clutch for the Anteaters, singled in the game-tying run and Grant Palmer delivered a sac fly to bring in the game-winner. Evan Cassolato's pinch-hit single drove in McClanahan for an insurance run.
  • It was Palmer again in the second game with the game-winning RBI as the sophomore singled in Taylor Sparks in an eventual 4-1 decision.
  • Palmer hit .300 in the series last week, going 3 for 10 with two RBI and a run scored.
  • Renae Martinez muscled a full-count pitch to right Sunday in the top of the ninth to drive in two runs and break a 1-1 tie in a 3-1 win.
  • Munoz  led the team by hitting .455 with five hits, two runs scored and a RBI. Munoz is second on the team with a .333 average in 33 games played.

ABOUT THE TROJANS

  • USC, 24-17 on the year and 12-9 in the Pac-12, is riding a nine-game win streak.
  • The Trojans have played four ranked teams and are led by Jake Hernandez,  who is batting .367.
  • Holding the team lead in hits is Kevin Swick, who has 50 and Timmy Robinson paces USC with 26 RBI.
  • USC is batting .275 as a team with nine different players reaching double-digits in runs batted in.
  • The pitching staff has an ERA of 3.39 and right-hander Brooks Kriske will oppose Evan Manarino
  • Kriske is 1-0 with a 3.68 ERA and has 18 strikeouts in 29.1 innings. The sophomore has allowed 12 earned runs in 10 appearances and makes his third start this week.
  • UCI posted a 6-4 win earlier this year at Anteater Ballpark but trail USC in the series, 31-27.

ABOUT THE GAUCHOS

  • UC Santa Barbara is 26-11 overall and 7-8 in the Big West and is ranked 24th in the country by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.
  • The Gauchos are second in the Big West in batting average at .295 and fifth in ERA at 3.43.
  • The team is led by Joey Epperson, who is hitting .392 and is second in the conference. Epperson is also fourth with 57 hits while Connor Spencer is tied for second with 57.
  • Tyler Kuresa is the team's RBI leader with 35 and sits tied for third in the league.
  • UCI holds a 50-47 edge against the Gauchos but looks to avenge a series loss last year at UCSB.

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