Anteaters, Seniors Finish at Home with UCLA, UC Davis
May 22, 2017 | Baseball
UPCOMING OPPONENTS
UCLA Bruins (28-23, Pac-12 17-10) at UC Irvine Anteaters
Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark (3,408) - Irvine, Calif.
Tuesday, May 23 - 6:30 PM
RHP Calvin Faucher (1-5, 4.01) vs. (2-4, 3.45) RHP Moises Ceja
KUCI | Live Stats | Tickets
UC Davis Aggies (20-28, Big West 9-12) at UC Irvine Anteaters
Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark (3,408) - Irvine, Calif.
* - Pitching probables
Thursday, May 25 - 6:30 PM
RHP Louis Raymond (4-5, 3.72)* vs. TBD
KUCI | Live Stats | Tickets
Friday, May 26 - 6:30 PM
RHP Jordan Bocko (1-4, 4.83)* vs. TBD
KUCI | Live Stats | Tickets
Saturday, May 27 - 1:00 PM
RHP Cole Spear (4-5, 6.50)* vs. TBD
KUCI | Live Stats | Tickets
Broadcast Information
Radio
KUCI 88.9 FM with Mark Roberts and Tim Becwar (All 4 games) All games also available live on the internet at kuci.org and ucirvinesports.com
Live Stats
Live stats are available for every Anteater baseball game through ucirvinesports.com and the UCI Sports Front Row app.
LAST WEEK RECAP
+ The Anteaters were flying high building on a big series win at Hawai'i with an early win at UC Riverside before the hosts punched back to win the final two games of the series.
+ UCI made the first of two ESPN3 broadcasts count putting up three first-inning runs and adding to it scoring 12 times on 19 hits led by a two-HR performance from Evan Cassolato and seven strong innings from Louis Raymond to win, 12-4.
+ Saturday night's performance started off well with a three-run third inning thanks to a mammoth Ryan Fitzpatrick home run, but the bullpen couldn't keep up with UCR's Angel Landazuri who shutdown the 'Eaters allowing one hit in five innings to swipe the second game from under the 'Eaters, 9-3.
+ The Anteaters laid a dud in Sunday's finale never recovering from a four-run Highlander first inning to drop the series, 12-2.
SEASONS GREETINGS
+ The final week of the season brings us to the final stage with records, both high and low, ready to be broken:
+ Keston Hiura leads the team in most every category beginning with his .411 batting average. The program has only had two .400-hitters in its existence - once in 1981 when Mike Nagle hit .402, and the all-time mark of .403 set in 1971 by Tom Spence. Since the program returned in 2002, the average leader is held by Ronnie Shaeffer (2009) and Jon Horwitz (2002) each hitting .388 in a season. The career average leader, .383 from Tom Baine, will not be reached by Hiura, but he can shoot for second as he sits one point behind Jeff Malinoff's .364 mark.
+ Hiura mashed his 50th double over the weekend becoming the second Anteater to reach that career mark. He's within striking distance to the program record of 52 set by Jeff Cusick.
+ The single season slugging mark of .673 held by Ken Washington is in jeopardy. Hiura enters the weekend slugging .669.
+ Hiura's 50 walks this season makes him the third Anteater with 50 in a season joining Fred Combs in 1990 and the recordholder Brady Anderson who drew 52 walks in 1988. Hiura has already demolished the intentional walk record with 22 in his career. His 12 this season are more than any other Anteater has ever gotten in their entire career.
+ Parker Coss's seven sacrifice flies are one away from the single season record of eight set by Jerry McClanahan in 2014. Keston Hiura jumps in on that record too as his next sac fly will tie D.J. Crumlich for the all-time mark at 15.
+ A pair of Anteaters are climbing the all-time games played list. Mikey Duarte will finish 13th in program history as he currently stands at 177 games played. Evan Cassolato could reach that 177-mark should he play all four games this week. His 173 career games played falls 17th, and he could pass Connor Spencer and Jaime Martinez over the course of the week.
+ Adam Alcantara being hit by 14 pitches this year gives his 40 over his Anteater career, and is approaching the all-time mark of 43 held by Ben Orloff.
+ Anteater hitters have eight triples on the year. No team in program history has been held below 10 triples in any season.
+ Anteater pitchers did not strikeout a batter in Sunday's loss for just the second time in program history matching the 1986 squad that did not register a punch out on March 1 vs. CSUDH. The pitching staff averages 6.61 strikeouts per game and will need 33 strikeouts over the next four games to rise above the 2012 squad that set a low of 6.73 Ks per game in a season.
+ Anteater starters are also without a complete game this season something no Anteater staff has been held without in any season. They have overtaken the single-season record for wild pitches (58) eclipsing the mark of 56 set in 2006.
+ On the defensive side, Anteater fielders have committed just 43 errors and have a chance to become the second squad in program history to commit less than 50 errors joining the record-setting team of 2013 to make just 39 errors.
+ The defense has also turned 49 double plays. The 2006 and 2009 programs each turned a record 56 double plays in those seasons.
GREATEST AMERICAN HIURA
+ Baseball America's most recent mock draft release slotted Keston Hiura to go 12th overall in the upcoming MLB Draft. He jumped from 20th in the most recent mock, and was projected as high as No. 10 in the initial Baseball American mock draft in March. Baseball America's John Manuel went as far as saying Keston is "pound-for-pound the best college hitter in the draft" last month on MLB Network.
+ Keston Hiura leads the nation in on-base percentage (.554), third in batting (.411), sixth in walks (50), and 23rd in slugging (.667) along with conference lead in walks, doubles (20), and total bases (120).
+ 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 Midseason Watch List as the only Big West member of list of 40 players marking the second straight year he's appeared on both the midseason and preseason lists.
+ 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 161 career games, Hiura has failed to reach base in just nine while producing 222 hits, 92 walks, 50 doubles, 22 HR, and 128 RBIs. He recently became the 23rd Anteater all-time to drive in 100 career RBI, the 15th Anteater all-time to record 200 hits, and is second in program history in HR, hitting, and slugging. He drew his 50th walk of the season, only the third Anteater to reach that mark, and with three walks in the final four games will become the program's single season recordholder. He also became the second Anteater all-time with 50 career doubles. Three doubles in the final four games will make him the program's all-time doubles leader.
+ 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
+ Keston 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 early this season 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. He has continued to take ground balls in the infield and fly balls in the outfield in batting practice, but does not have any plans to play the field in a game remaining the team's DH.
+ Cameron Bishop has yet to play in 2017 with an oblique issue.
+ Matt Reitano will be out for an extended period of time after reinjuring his knee in Tuesday's win at USC, an injury that kept him out for most of the fall and winter. His teammate at the backstop Griffin Mazur is officially done for the year after having surgery on his foot. He is also slated to return over the summer.
+ The Anteaters have lost the services of pitchers Alonzo Garcia, Sean Sparling, Ben Ritchey, and Dylan Riddle for the remainder of the 2017 season.
PRESEASON PATROL
+ The Anteaters were picked to finish in fifth place in the Big West, the lowest preseason projection under Head Coach Mike Gillespie
+ 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.
UCLA BRUINS
Tuesday night's game is immense for at least one team as the Bruins are hard-charging for a spot in the NCAA Tournament. UCLA has won seven of its last 10 and most recently swept Utah to move to 28-23 and third place in the Pac-12. Their RPI reads 50 which is close, but not safe to bump them into the at-large field so every win down the stretch is precious for their hopes, and just as important that every loss is that much more detrimental.
Premier reliever Moises Ceja will get the start as he's moved into the starters role for nine games this season. His 3.45 ERA is still intact and he's walked just 17 batters in 57.1 innings. He tossed 2.2 scoreless innings in the previous meeting this season, a 5-3 Anteater victory, where Kyle Cuellar, who has become the team's hitting leader, went 3-for-5 with 3 RBI
UC DAVIS AGGIES
UC Davis continues their climb back into the Big West in 2017 following a 17-win campaign in 2016. The Aggies are currently 20-28 following five straight non-conference games with midweek wins over Nevada and Pacific around a series loss to Grand Canyon. UCD has also picked up wins over UConn and Creighton, and also challenged top-ranked Oregon State losing all three.
The Aggies are 9-12 in Big West play with a chance to finish at .500 with a sweep this weekend. They've taken series from CSUN, Hawai'i, UC Riverside, and UC Santa Barbara, nearly took a game from Cal State Fullerton, and pushed around LBSU's pitching despite being swept, so the Aggies are volatile. UCD could also drop near the bottom should the tables be turned. The Anteaters have won each of the last four series and 11 of 12 series all-time save for a UCD series sweep in 2012. In Anteater Ballpark, however, the Aggies are just 15-3.
The offensive end doesn't tout too much aside from one of the best at stealing bases in the conference. They matchup with UCI each batting .270 led by a .328 mark from Ryan Anderson who also leads in RBI (37), doubles (14), and walks (16).
The pitching has really carried the Aggies with a 4.16 team ERA and four different pitchers with a complete game. Justin Mullins (4-3, 3.76), Orlando Razo (5-3, 4.34), and Robert Garcia (2-7, 4.08) have each thrown over 70 innings while holding opposing hitters under a .260 average. Garcia gave UCI fits last year winning the opener allowing two unearned runs over 6.1 innings. The bullpen is a weak spot with four pitchers appearing in more than 17 games, and all with multiple losses, but each have kept the walks down.
