UC Irvine Opens College World Series Action Saturday Against Texas
June 10, 2014 | Baseball
Omaha, Neb. / TD Ameritrade Park
June 14-25, 2014
Game 1 | UC Irvine vs. Texas
Sat., 12:00 PM PT/2:00 PM CT
QUICK HITS
- UC Irvine makes its second College World Series appearance in its Division I history and takes on Texas in the CWS opener Saturday.
- The Anteaters punched their ticket to Omaha after defeating No. 1 national seed Oregon State in the Corvallis Regional and then winning the first two games against Big 12 champion, Oklahoma State in the Stillwater Super Regional.
- UCI's first trip to Omaha was in 2007 after winning the Austin Regional and Wichita Super Regional.
- The 'Eaters have won five of the last six games after losing eight of the last nine of the regular season.
- The UCI-Texas broadcast will be aired on the Internet-only stream and will switch to KUCI following the President Obama's speech at commencement.
GILLESPIE RETURNS TO OMAHA
- Coach Mike Gillespie returns to the College World Series for the first time since 2001 when he took USC to back-to-back appearances.
- He has led the Anteaters to four super regional appearances and five regional berths in his seven years at UCI.
- Gillespie earned his 1000th win earlier this year on Feb. 23 against Long Beach State, becoming the 16th active coach to reach the milestone.
- He currently has amassed 1036 wins.
UC IRVINE TAKES CENTER STAGE IN OMAHA, PRESIDENT OBAMA TO TAKE CENTER STAGE IN FRONT OF UCI GRADUATES
- As the Anteaters kick off the College World Series this Saturday at 12:00 PM PT/2:00 PM CT, the President of the United State will be speaking at UC Irvine's commencement being held at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.
- The President is scheduled to speak to the 2014 graduating class between 11:30 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. PT.
- His speech will be carried live on KUCI 88.9 FM in Irvine.
- The UCI-Texas broadcast will begin on the Internet stream and will be aired in progress on KUCI following the conclusion of President Obama's speech.
- UCI Baseball's graduating seniors are Evan Brock, Justin Castro, Jimmy Litchfield, Mitch Merten and Andrew Morales.
MORALES NEARS TOP 10
- Andrew Morales (11-2) is a win away from cracking the top 10 of the UC Irvine single-season records.
- He pitched his third career complete game to clinch the series against the Cowboys.
- With 11 wins, Morales is currently 11th in the record books. Should he collect a win this week, he would move into a seven-way tie for the No. 5 slot, currently shared by current pitching coach, Daniel Bibona (2009).
- The right-hander is also 11th in the career records with 21 victories.
- Morales is tied for first in the country with 136 strikeouts.
- He is expected to make the start against Texas Saturday.
SPENCER TOPS TEAM IN STILLWATER
- Connor Spencer hit .571 against Oklahoma State to lead the Anteaters.
- The first baseman, the Most Outstanding Player of the Corvallis Regional, had four hits with an RBI and a run scored.
- Spencer is batting .370 overall with 88 hits and is ranked 18th in the nation.
- The junior, who was drafted by the New York Yankees, is currently tied for fifth in the UCI single-season records in hits.
- He is three hits shy of tying for the No. 3 spot in the record books, held by current assistant coach Ben Orloff (2009) and former alum, Matt Anderson (2002).
SPARKS STELLAR IN LEADOFF ROLE
- Taylor Sparks batted .556 in the Stillwater Super Regional, recording five hits, including two doubles.
- The third baseman is now hitting .307 with 74 hits.
- He leads the team with 16 doubles, eight triples and tied for first with five home runs.
- He is tied for fourth in the school's season records in triples and needs one to move into a three-way tie for the No. 2 spot.
SURREY TAMES COWBOYS
- Sophomore Elliot Surrey opened the Stillwater Regional by stunning the Cowboys and holding OSU to two unearned runs in seven innings.
- The crafty lefty had to contend with an early error in the first that led to an unearned run and then blanked the Cowboys over the next six innings.
- Surrey improved to 8-4 and dropped his ERA to 1.99
- Surrey got off to a rough start this year going 1-2 in his first five starts and logging a 4.30 ERA.
- After UCI's series loss to Nebraska, Surrey has been stellar, posting a 7-2 record with a 1.37 earned run average over 12 starts.
- He also picked up his first career save, pitching the final inning of the ninth of the series clincher against the Beavers.
EVAN THE MAN-arino
- Transfer Evan Manarino has been a key figure out of the bullpen.
- Initially, the fourth starter for the 'Eaters, he has found his niche in relief as well.
- In the last 13 appearances, Manarino has held the opposition to two runs or less.
- In his last 12 outings, Manarino has gone 3-0 with a 1.82 ERA.
- He also earned his first save of the year after pitching the final two innings in relief of Elliot Surrey last Friday.
- With UCI leading 8-4, Manarino entered with two runners on and no outs and struck out one and induced a double-play ball to end a Cowboy rally.
ALCANTARA MAKES THE PLAYS
- Freshman Adam Alcantara has provided some solid defense in outfield, including making the play of the game against Oklahoma State Friday.
- With runners on first and second and two outs, the outfielder robbed Aaron Cornell of extra bases by making a diving catch at the wall in the sixth inning.
- Alcantara has worked his way into the starting lineup and had his name penciled in in the last seven consecutive games.
- To kick off the streak, he batted a career-high 3 for 4 against Long Beach State in the series finale.
- In Stillwater, Alcantara was 2 for 7 with two RBI and a sacrifice hit.
- His two run single in the fourth, gave UCI a 2-1 lead and the 'Eaters would go on to open the super regional with an 8-4 win.
RABAGO MOVING UP RECORD BOOKS
- Captaining the infield as the shortstop, Chris Rabago has also been the most effective in UCI's game of "small ball."
- The junior has sacrificed 22 times and is third in the UCI season annals.
- He is four shy of tying asst. coach Ben Orloff (2006), for the number two spot with 26.
- Rabago was 2 for 6 in Stillwater with an RBI and two sacrifice hits.
- He scored one and squeezed home a run in the team's 8-4 decision.
- On the season, Rabago is batting 252 with 58 hits and 19 RBI.
'EATERS VERSUS THE CWS FIELD
- UC Irvine met Texas for the first time in 2007 when the 'Eaters went 3-0 at the Round Rock Regional and had to take on the Longhorns twice and won 3-1 and 9-6 to improve to 2-0 all-time.
- UCI is 1-4 against Virginia. The Cavaliers defeated UCI twice in the 2009 Irvine Regional and then eliminated the 'Eaters in the 2011 Charlottesville Super Regional.
- Five Anteaters on the 2011 roster are currently on the 2014 team: Evan Brock, Justin Castro, Jimmy Litchfield, Jerry McClanahan and Mitch Merten.
- Litchfield was the only one of the five to see action in Charlottesville.
- The Anteaters met Texas Tech once in 2005, losing 14-10 at a tournament held by USC.
- UCI has never met Louisville, Vanderbilt, TCU or Ole Miss.
BIG WEST IN THE CWS
- This is the 18th year that the Big West has had at least one representative at the College World Series. Previous appearances were made in 1975, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2009.
- The Big West has won at least one CWS game in 13 of the 17 previous years. Only 0-2 trips occurred in 1975, 1989, 1990 and 2009.
- UC Irvine snapped the Big West's four-year College World Series drought, the longest in conference history. Previous longest hiatus was three years (1985-87).
- The Anteaters are the first Big West representative to play in TD Ameritrade Park Omaha in the CWS.
- UC Irvine is one of four Big West schools to have played in the CWS. Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State and former member Fresno State are the others.
- The Big West is 33-37 all-time at the CWS. UCI went 2-2 in its last appearance in 2007.
ANTEATER ALUMS HELP BRIDGE GAP
- UCI, which missed out on the NCAA postseason in 2012 and 2013, is back on the national stage. Connecting the current Anteaters to their recent NCAA past are three members of the coaching staff.
- The Anteater arms are under the guidance of second-year pitching coach, Daniel Bibona (2007-10), a two-time Big West Pitcher of the Year. Bibona, who earned All-America honors, is UCI's record holder in strikeouts with 332 and lost just seven games in his four-year career.
- All-American Ben Orloff (2006-09), is in his first season on the Anteater staff. Orloff was the first Anteater to be named Big West Player of the Year in 2009 and holds the top UCI marks in games played (241), at bats (877), runs scored (178) and hits (281).
- Eric Deragisch, an all-conference performer at UCI from 2008-09, is the Director of Operations. Deragisch was an All-Big West first-team choice in '09 and was voted to the Irvine Regional All-Tournament Team that same year.
- Both Bibona and Orloff helped the Anteaters to four NCAA post-season berths and were on the '07 team that went to the College World Series. Deragisch, a junior transfer, was a member of two NCAA regional teams.
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