UPCOMING OPPONENTS 

Game Notes

UC Irvine Anteaters at UCLA Bruins (6-8, Pac 12 Conference)
Jackie Robinson Stadium - Los Angeles, Calif.

Tuesday, March 14 - 6:00 PM
RHP Jordan Bocko (0-1, 6.28) vs. LHP Justin Hooper (0-0, 4.30)
Live Stats | KUCI Radio 

UC Irvine Anteaters at Seattle U Redhawks (11-1, WAC Conference)
Bannerwood Baseball Park - Bellevue, Wash.

* - Weekend Probables

Friday, March 17 - 5:00 PM
RHP Louis Raymond* vs. RHP Janson Junk*
Live Stats | Radio (Internet only) 

Saturday, March 18 - 2:00 PM
RHP Cole Spear* vs. LHP Nick Meservey*
Live Stats | KUCI Radio 

Sunday, March 19 - 12:00 PM
TBD* vs. LHP Jake Prizina*
Live Stats | Radio (Internet only)

Broadcast Information

Radio

KUCI 88.9 FM with Mark Roberts and Tim Becwar (Tuesday and Saturday only). All games also available live on the internet at kuci.org.

Live Stats

Live stats are available for every Anteater baseball game through ucirvinesports.com and the UCI Sports Front Row app.

LAST WEEK RECAP

+ UC Irvine was the talk of the college baseball world last week winning in dramatic fashion midweek followed by a colossal series victory over the No. 1-ranked team in the nation.

+ Tuesday at LMU, the 'Eaters lost a 2-0 edge by walking in five straight runs, but completed the comeback on the back of Evan Cassolato's four-hit, five-RBI day capped by a go-ahead, three-run HR in the ninth to snatch the 7-6 win.

+ UCI began the series with No. 1 TCU on another level scoring eight runs in the first inning on Friday night, and rode stellar pitching from Louis Raymond to shock the Horned Frogs out of the gate with an 11-2 victory.

+ Saturday started off right with four in the first inning thanks to a two-run HR from Cole Kreuter, and Cole Spear partnered with a stingy bullpen for the 6-3 win to take the series.

+ The Frogs came to their senses Sunday despite allowing two more first inning runs with 11 runs in the middle innings to salvage a win in the series dropping the 'Eaters, 16-7.

+ UCI has crept up on the national rankings entering the top 25 as No. 25 according to Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. It has also received votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll.

WHO SHOWED OUT

+ The 'Eaters were led by junior Cole Kreuter who earned Big West Field Player of the Year honors behind six hits, five runs, and five RBI saving his best for the two wins over TCU. He also bounced around the infield playing second and third base.

+ The pitching sparkled allowing five runs on Friday and Saturday behind clutch starting efforts by Louis Raymond and Cole Spear each pitching into the sixth. Raymond allowed just three hits and Spear just four to each score a win in consecutive weekends.

+ The bullpen rounded into form beginning with Andre Pallante throwing 2.2 shutout innings behind six strikeouts helping close Saturday's game and earning his first collegiate win Tuesday.

+ Calvin Faucher worked a scoreless inning Tuesday and Saturday to earn saves No. 5 and 6 tying him for the national lead.

+ The offense hit .319 over the week getting contributions from guys like Adrian Damla who has reached base in nine of his 11 career games and hit .400 with three RBI last week, and Jake Hazard mashed batting .7-for-17 with two doubles, three RBI, and an extraordinary coverage of the OF to track down outs.

+ Evan Cassolato continued to pace the 'Eaters at the top of the order with seven hits and five runs last week highlighted by a four-hit, five-RBI night at Tuesday that included the game-winning home run in the ninth

+ Ryan Johnston rebounded from a dreadful midweek outing to strike out three of the four Horned Frogs he faced.

+ Sean Sparling was perfect for the final 2.1 innings Friday

+ Redshirt freshman Matt Marini made his much-anticipated debut on the mound Wednesday against Korean professional squad NC Dinos going two innings allowing an unearned run and striking out three. He made his collegiate debut during Sunday's game tossing 17 pitches in his 0.2 of an inning.

+ Can't leave out Keston Hiura who had six hits and three RBI. Three of his hits went for doubles as he continues to lead the nation tied with 11 doubles, and his solo HR Friday night was his fifth of the season and 19th all-time good for fourth place in Anteater history.

RANKED GRAVEYARD

+ The Anteaters are now 8-2 in Anteater Ballpark against non-conference ranked opponents winning two of three against No. 1 TCU this year and No. 25 Cal in 2006, and earning sweeps of No. 23 Baylor in 2013 and No. 8 Washington in 2005.

+ Since Head Coach Mike Gillespie took over in 2008, UCI has played 100 games against ranked opponents, 78 coming during the regular season, and the 'Eaters have won 46 of those games.

+ Anteater Ballpark specifically has seen UCI go 23-14 against ranked squads and 3-3 against No. 1 teams.

AMERICAN HIURA STORY

+ Keston Hiura ranks among the top 20 nationally in doubles (1st), slugging (4th), RBI per game (9th), total bases (12th), and RBI (25th). He is the leader in the Big West in nine different offensive categories

+ Hiura earned the spotlight early on being named to five Preseason All-American lists from publications such as Baseball American, the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association, D1Baseball.com, Collegiate Baseball News, and Perfect Game USA. He received Preseason All-American status by three publications heading into his sophomore season.

+ Hiura's most recent accolade was a return to the Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List for the second year in a row. USA Baseball's list of 55 players also includes two high school players, one of which is Royce Lewis who signed his NLI to UCI back in November. Hiura was named to the Golden Spikes Award Midseason and Preseason Watch Lists in 2016.

+ He spent the summer with the U.S. Collegiate National Team on their global trip to play national teams in Taiwan, Japan, and Cuba. Hiura hit .289 hitting three homers and driving in six including a go-ahead HR in Cuba to give the team its first-ever series win at Cuba

+ In 123 career games, Hiura has failed to reach base just eight times while producing 171 hits, 41 doubles, 19 HR, and 113 RBIs. He recently became the 23rd Anteater all-time to drive in 100 career RBI, is currently fourth in program history in HR, and second in slugging.

+ Hiura was named Big West Freshman Field Player of the Year, a first for the program, and made the All-West Region team, the third straight season an Anteater made it, following a 2015 campaign where he landed near the top of many Anteater freshman records including second in doubles (18), hits (75), and at-bats (227) while setting new marks with seven home runs and 52 RBIs.

INJURY REPORT

+ Hiura's arm issues have drawn the interest of many in the college and professional ranks alike. Baseball America's John Manuel wrote of it prior to the season, and Aaron Fitt touched on it this past week about Hiura's offseason dealing with a partial tear in his elbow. Hiura was completely shut down for a majority of it, and underwent platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatment in January to aid in the recovery. For now, he will be limited to DH duty early in the season while the progress of his arm is monitored.

+ Mikey Duarte had to leave Friday's game after being hit by a pitch on his throwing wrist. He did not return to the lineup the rest of the weekend, but is eyeing a return this week.

+ The bullpen will be without the services of left-hander Dylan Riddle in 2017 as he recovers from a fractured collarbone.

+ Cameron Bishop has yet to make his 2017 debut after dealing with an oblique issue.

PRESEASON PATROL

+ The Anteaters were picked to finish in fifth place in the Big West, the lowest preseason projection under Head Coach Mike Gillespie

+ Every season that UCI has been projected to finish worse than second, it has finished higher (2008, 2014, 2015)

+ The Anteaters received one first-place vote, the other eight went to projected champion Cal State Fullerton. UCI has received at least one first-place vote in five of the last six seasons

+ Gillespie claims the toughest schedule they've put together in his 10 seasons at the helm. UCI's opponents boast an overall winning percentage of .524 from last season

+ UCI's non-conference schedule includes the unanimous preseason No. 1 program in TCU along with Seattle, San Diego, all chosen to win their respective conferences, and Houston, picked for second.

BEYOND IRVINE

+ UCI's ties to the World Baseball Classic return in 2017 as Dylan Axelrod represents on the pitching staff for Team Israel as the first Anteater to play in the actual tournament. Team Israel swept the opening round with Dylan tossing 1.1 scoreless innings.

+ Alum Dominique Taylor played for Team Germany this past fall in the qualifiers. Associate Head Coach Ben Orloff also played for Team Israel back in the qualifiers ahead of the 2013 tournament.

After a disappointing 2016 campaign, UCLA is off to a 6-8 start to 2017 taking series against Gonzaga and San Jose State with losses to USD and UC Riverside. UCLA has played three extra inning games so far losing all three. Sean Bouchard powers the offense leading the team in average, HR, and RBI as the team averages four runs a game while the pitching staff's microscopic ERA of 2.01 keeps them in games.

The Redhawks and Anteaters met in 2016 for a series dominated by pitching. Starters combined for both teams went 38.2 innings allowing just 10 runs, and the 'Eaters managed a sweep thanks to a walkoff walk and a 6-run eighth in Saturday and Sunday games.

SU hits in the middle of the pack batting .268 and averaging 5.6 runs a game. Outfielders Dalton Hurd and Aaron Stroosma are each hitting over .350 and driving in 1/3 of the runs. The Redhawks are patient ranking 14th in the nation with 87 walks.

The pitching is what has carried Seattle, but outside of starters Jake Prizina and Nick Meservey, the team ERA of 6.37 has been an obstacle. Without the services of ace Tarik Skubal, the Redhawks have reached into the bag for starters in their four-game weekend sets tossing less than seven strikeouts a game and a 1.33 strikeout-to-walk ratio, one of the lowest in the nation.

_________________________________________________________________

For UC Irvine Athletics ticket information, please call (949) 824-5000 or e-mail athletics.tickets@uci.edu. For more information click here.

For information on how you can help support UC Irvine Athletics, please call (949) 824-6933 or e-mail aaf@uci.edu. For additional information, click here.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and by downloading the UCI Front Row app, available free to all Anteater fans through iTunes and Google Play, to view schedules, results, and up-to-the-minute news.