UPCOMING GAMES

Game Notes

Loyola Marymount Lions at UC Irvine Anteaters

Tuesday, March 22 - 6:30 PM
RHP Alonzo Garcia vs. RHP Blake Redman
Live Stats | Radio | Game Program

ELITE LATE

+ UC Irvine won all four games last week in the matter of five days. In each game, the team was either tied or losing at some point from the fifth inning on:

+ UCI and Maryland traded blows on Wednesday with three different ties in the first five innings. UCI finally took a 6-5 lead into the bottom of the sixth and held on eventually building their lead into a 9-5 win.

+ UCI and Seattle were scoreless through 7 1/2 innings before UCI got into the bullpen and put up four runs in the eighth inning.

+ The teams were tied 2-2 entering the ninth inning before UCI loaded the bases with nobody out and drew the game-winning, pinch-hit walk.

+ The finale saw the schools trade leads until the eighth when SU held a 4-2 lead. The Anteaters caught fire scoring six times with two outs to charge ahead and finish the sweep with an 8-4 win.

FIRE ANTS

+ Keston Hiura continues to roll on having reached base in 36 consecutive games. His hit streak has hit 10 games giving him two hit streaks of 10+ games thus far.

+ Parker Coss has reached base in 18 straight games despite going 0-for-7 last week in three games.

+ In addition to eight straight games with a hit, John Brontsema has scored a run in six consecutive.

+ Adam Alcantara had streaks of nine games on base, seven games with a hit, and four games with an RBI all broken. He was hit by a pitch twice on Sunday and remains second in the nation and conference having been hit 10 times on the year.

+ Mitchell Holland had a nine-game home hit streak snapped. Hiura currently leads the team with hit streaks of seven at home and eight on the road.

+ The defense has come a long way from 14 errors in its first eight games. The 'Eater fielding went the entire weekend series without committing an error. Its gone 31 innings of clean fielding, and have bumped up its season fielding percentage to .977, 38th-best in the country.

HIURA WE KIDDING

+ Keston Hiura's name remains plastered among the best in the nation offensively. He currently leads the Big West in all three phases of the slashline (AVG / OBP / SLG) as well as total bases, and triples. He's also second in hits, sac flies, home runs, and RBIs.

+ Nationally, he flashes up 5th in batting average, 9th in hits, 10th in OBP, 15th in total bases, and 19th in slugging.

+ All these numbers resulted in a week where he batted .467 with a double, four RBIs, four stolen bases, and five runs scored to earn Big West Field Player of the Week honors. It's the first for the 'Eaters this season and his third overall in his career.

+ He reached base in all five plate appearances in a Saturday night win over UTSA with two singles, a walk, and two hit by pitch. This was right on the heels of his performance against Nevada when he reached on all seven plate appearances: single, double, triple, two-out bunt single in the ninth, and three walks. He also scored three times and drove home a run in the club's only 4-hit and 3-BB games on the season.

Head Coach Mike Gillespie became UCI's all-time winningest coach with a 5-1 LMU win on March 1. He currently has 321 career wins at UC Irvine.

The last 2 wins for the 'Eaters came with less hits than their opponent including needing just four hits to beat Seattle on Saturday.

Alonzo Garcia is making his third midweek start vs. LMU. His two previous he went 4 solid innings in each allowing just three runs and striking out 11.

Elliot Surrey threw eight innings in his Friday night 4-0 win over Seattle. It was the 9th time he's gone at least eight which includes two complete games.

The 'Eaters are hitting .301 in their four midweek games this season including 10 or more hits in all three of their midweek victories.

ANALYZING THE ANTEATERS

During the 'Eaters' four-win week, they scored six runs a game and outscored opponents 24-11. Hitters had eight more extra-base hits than their opponents while posting an on-base percentage 137 points higher than its opponents.

The 'Eaters return for its fifth midweek contest of the season and fourth in Anteater Ballpark. Overall, the team is 3-1 midweek with two wins coming at home in which they've scored nine runs in each. The offense is also hitting .301 during the week.

The catching position was solidified a little bit more with Alex Guenette and Griffin Mazur each making two starts. Together, they managed a pair of hits, both for doubles, with Mazur adding an RBI. Guenette finally struck out for the first time in his 23rd at-bat. The pair each have been a part of eight wins on the season, and each have three wins in games they've played wire-to-wire. The catching position as a whole has 13 hits and 10 RBIs with the bat while throwing out six of 20 base-stealers (30%).

Some players used their opportunities to their fullest during the week:

Adam Alcantara had just two hits, but brought home four RBIs for the 'Eaters.

Cameron Bishop batted Saturday and recorded one official at-bat, but drove in two RBIs that both came on a squeeze play. Bishop had not been called upon to lay down a sac bunt his freshman season, but laid down two in consecutive at-bats on Saturday.

Parker Coss went 0-for-7 last week. He had a game where he went 0-for-7 in. The difference this time was he reached base five times (3 BB, 2 HBP), scored three times, and even drove in a run - the game-winner Saturday on a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth.

Saturday's win was even odder thanks to Bishop and Coss: the duo drove home all three runs in the game, both from the No. 7-spot in the order, and neither produced a hit.

UCI has had seven games where a player has hit two doubles in a game this season. The two players that have done it twice, Mitchell Holland and Jonathan Muñoz, each did it for a second time over the weekend.

LION LESSONS

The 'Eaters and Lions met to begin the month in a Tuesday night affair going UCI's way, 5-1.

LMU at the time had fallen to 3-5. Since then, they're 5-7 to run their overall record to 8-12. The Lions took three of four at Florida International, and stopped by Nebraska for four more losing all of them.

Following a midweek stop at LBSU and losing 6-4, LMU opened WCC play with its first home series of the year dropping the opener to Portland before finishing the weekend with a pair of wins, 8-1 and 3-0.

Tuesday's game begins another stretch of eight straight away from home that includes BYU, USC, and USD as part of 23 road games in its first 28 games of the 2016 season.

The Lions are led by its pitching staff who ranks 51st in the nation with a 3.41 ERA. It boasts some quality control walking just 2.43 batters a game, seventh-best in the nation, and its 2.53 strikeout-to-walk ratio also stands within the top 50. In the last meeting, Anteater hitters drew three walks, with only one coming around to score, and struck out six times.

Junior transfer Blake Redman will get the start, his third of the season. He allowed two earned over 5.1 innings in the backend of a Saturday doubleheader losing, 6-0, at FIU. His last start came midweek against LBSU allowing two earned over four innings, but did not factor in a decision. Overall, he's allowed nine ER over 18 innings spanning seven appearances. He's also earned a win and two losses in relief.

Offensively, the Lions have struggled plating just 3.9 runs a game and hitting .244, collectively. They mirror the 'Eaters with exceptional sacrifice and hit-by-pitch skills.

Jamey Smart punished the 'Eaters last time out with a pair of doubles after entering in the fourth inning, but he had one of the four Lion errors that helped UCI plate a pair of unearned runs.

Cassidy Brown and Niko Decolati pace the hitters each batting over .338 with a couple homers each and at least 12 RBIs.