Broadcast Information
 
Radio: KUCI 88.9 FM with Mark Roberts and Tim Becwar. KUCI will broadcast the games on Tuesday and Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be internet only broadcasts. All games also available live on the internet at kuci.org and ucirvinesports.com
 
Live stats are available for every Anteater baseball game through ucirvinesports.com and the UCI Sports Front Row app.
 
Around The Horn
 
28 - Anteater pitchers struck out 28 hitters over the three-game set including 11 each on Friday and Saturday. UCI's staff produced back-to-back 10+ strikeout performances just once in 2017 (May 26-27, 10 & 11 vs. UC Davis)

11 - The Anteater defense, after committing just 48 errors in 2017, did not register one over the series against Nevada, 1 of 11 schools to stay errorless over their opening three games. UCI's 109 chances are the fifth-most totaled of those 11 schools

4 - UCI's Sunday battery of Trenton Denholm and Jacob Castro were 1 of 4 true freshman duos to start over the opening weekend joining freshman batteries from Delaware, Utah, and Notre Dame
 
The 'Eaters took two of three to open the season at home against Nevada. In 12 weekend series last season that went three games, UCI was 4-8 in them. It's the first opening series win since 2013 when the 'Eaters swept No. 23 Baylor.

UCI's 4-0 shutout win in the opener was its first shutout in 73 games dating back to April 29, 2016, a Friday night shutout of Cal State Fullerton. It's the fourth season opener UCI has won with a shutout joining 2008 vs. Nevada, 1992 vs. LMU, and 1972 vs. UCLA

Anteater hitters finished the weekend batting .245 with more than seven hits in a games just once with 10 on Saturday. Anteater Ballpark kept the ball in the yard with neither team registering a home run, and the 'Eaters with just four of their 23 hits for extra bases

Christian Koss led all players in hits with four extending his hit streak to five games dating back to 2017. He also stole his first career base in Friday night's win

Nick Anderson went 3-for-7 matching Cole Kreuter for the team lead with two RBI. Anderson had a pair of hits in Friday night's win and added a PH sac fly on Sunday. He made his pitching debut as well earning the save with a scoreless ninth Saturday behind two strikeouts to help stranded the tying and go-ahead Nevada runs

Konnor Zickefoose made his Anteater debut starting in RF and batting third in each. He reached base in each game scoring a run on Friday and adding singles on Saturday and Sunday

Freshman Jacob Castro began his career with a bang hitting a go-ahead, 8th-inning double off the RF wall on the first pitch he saw in his collegiate debut driving home Jake Hazard. Castro would earn the start Sunday catching for fellow freshman Trenton Denholm making the duo 1 of 4 freshman batteries nationwide over the weekend to start a game joining freshmen from Delaware, Utah, and Notre Dame

A bevy of other freshman hitters made their debuts in the series including:

Brendan Brooks launched a game-tying sac fly in his first career action on Saturday following that up with a single. He started and led off on Sunday as a left fielder reaching on an error in the eighth inning and scoring the Anteaters' only run

Jake Palmer was the leadoff left fielder on Friday and Saturday earning a hit in his first career at-bat finishing with a pair of hits and runs and a stolen base in the Friday win

Mike Peabody made his debut as a defensive replacement Saturday, and got the start in CF on Sunday singling in the fifth inning for the first in his career

Catchers Matt Reitano and Griffin Mazur made their returns to the field after injury-plagued 2017 seasons. Reitano started on opening night and later had a pinch-hit single on Sunday. Mazur started Saturday's contest, his first action since 2016, and scored a hit

UC Irvine registered three sacrifice flies on the weekend to lead all Big West schools. UCI hitters also struck out just 15 times on the weekend, second-least behind LBSU's 14.

Five Big West hitters earned multiple hit-by-pitch numbers  on the weekend, two of which were Anteaters Jake Palmer and Ryan Fitzpatrick.

The team hit .274 a year ago, second-highest in the Big West, and posted the conference's best on-base percentage of .364, but had a .371 slugging percentage that ranked as the lowest. The Anteaters finished near the top in many offensive categories placing top three in runs, hits, walks, sacrifice flies, and hit by pitch recording the most plate appearances of any Big West squad.

Anteater pitching finished the weekend with a 3.67 team ERA allowing Nevada hitters to bat .237

Anteater starters accounted for 16 of the team's 28 strikeouts. Relievers allowed just eight hits in 12.2 innings recording a 2.13 ERA amongst them and stranding four of five inherited runners

Andre Pallante started on opening day for the second straight season. He had a career performance going 6.1 shutout innings

allowing five hits, no walks, and striking out seven. His previous career highs were 3.2 innings pitched and six strikeouts as he returns as the team's wins, strikeouts, and appearance leader among UCI returners. His Friday start was also his first career quality start. His seven Ks matched the game high for any 2017 UCI pitcher

Taylor Rashi scored a win in his UCI debut going four innings of one-hit ball without a walk and four strikeouts.

Two Anteater pitchers made their triumphant return to the mound over the weekend after extensive times being injured. Sean Sparling went 2.1 innings of relief Sunday allowing one run and striking out one. His 2017 season was cut short after four appearances. Dylan Riddle made his first appearance since 2016 after missing the entire 2017 season with an injury. He stranded a pair of runners in the ninth in his 0.2 innings including a strikeout.

Along with Trenton Denholm's Sunday start, two other freshman made their UC Irvine debuts. Left-hander Brian Marquez entered for one hitter on Sunday allowing him to reach on a double. Jake Lachemann followed him keeping Nevada from scoring and finishing out a scoreless 0.2 innings pitched.

UC Irvine's 28 strikeouts featured 11 strikeouts in each of their Friday and Saturday performances. The 9.3 strikeouts per nine innings ranks second in the conference thus far behind only LBSU at 10.3.

The staff also stands second in the Big West and 53rd in the nation with a 1.19 WHIP behind Hawai'i's 0.96

On the pitching end, UCI struggled with the highest ERA in the conference at 5.35 in 2017 and opponent batting average of .299 while issuing 253 walks, highest in the Big West and the program's third-most in a single season.

Anteater defense did not commit an error in the weekend series one of 11 schools to complete its three-game series without an error. The 109 chances without an error are the fifth most of those 11 squads.

The defense did stand out committing just 48 errors, the second season in program history where the 'Eaters were charged with less than 50 errors, while leading the conference in putouts and chances finishing with a .978 fielding percentage. The team also turned 55 double plays, second-most in the conference and in program history, and had the second-best percentage of throwing out basestealers throwing out a Big West-best 29 runners.

The Anteaters finished 2017 seventh in the Big West Conference going 9-15, and a 23-33 overall record marks just the second losing season since the program returned in 2002.

Head Coach Mike Gillespie returns for his 31st and final Division I season and 11th with the Anteaters where he is currently the program's winningest coach holding at 363 UCI wins, 1,126 overall

The Anteaters were picked to finish sixth in the Big West according to the preseason coaches poll, however they did land a first-place vote.

The 2017 Anteater schedule included six NCAA Tournament teams and two programs to reach the College World Series. The 2018 schedule has five tournament teams from a year ago on the slate as well as four conference champions overall. Three schools show up in the Baseball America Top 25 to start out the season including perennial midweek foe UCLA at 13, No. 11 Cal State Fullerton who will visit Anteater Ballpark for a series, and TCU at No. 7 that UC Irvine will travel to after winning their series in 2017 with TCU ranked No. 1 in the nation.

The Anteaters are 10-2 in Anteater Ballpark against non-conference ranked opponents winning two of three against No. 1 TCU this year adding to the series win over No. 25 Cal in 2006 and 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 103 games against ranked opponents, 81 coming during the regular season, and the 'Eaters have won 47 of those games. Since 2002, UC Irvine is 32-41 overall against ranked Big West programs

LMU LIONS 
LMU's 2018 season has begun with frustration losing all three games out at the Marucci Desert Classic in Las Vegas after a 38-win campaign in 2017 that featured 20 conference wins to tie for the regular season title. LMU was dashed Sunday falling in 10 innings to UNLV, 11-10, on the heels of an 8-2 loss to Indiana State and 6-1 loss to Oregon.

Junior transfer Ryan Ruley led the offense with four hits, two for extra bases, and four RBI through the opening weekend despite a .231 team average. Six starter return alongside Ruley including speedster Billy Wilson in CF and clutch-hitting 1B Jamey Smart.
The staff was dented by a 7.86 team ERA over the weekend with the Lion starters allowed 14 runs over 11.1 innings after being dealt a hefty blow from losing all three weekend starters. True freshman left-hander Holden Christian will take the mound Tuesday night looking to avenge last year's meeting at Page Stadium where the 'Eaters came back from a 6-2 deficit behind Evan Cassolato's 9th-inning 3-run HR and 5-RBI game which gave UCI a 7-6 victory

GONZAGA BULLDOGS
Gonzaga is among a handful of schools to get four games in in its opening weekend finishing with a split at 2-2 as part of the Surprise Tournament in Arizona. The Bulldogs started rough with a 10-inning loss to Cal Poly and a one-run loss to No. 2 Oregon State before turning it around with one-run wins against New Mexico and Cal Poly.

The 2017 Bulldogs won 33 games and earned a share of a WCC title falling in the WCC Championship game and ending up being one of the notable snubs from the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs lose their top five hitters from a year ago along with their Friday starter, Eli Morgan, and closer Wyatt Mills, but return capable players including Jake Vieth, who hit .400 with four RBI in his first four games, and have some new impact faces like redshirt freshman Ernie Yake, who delivered seven hits in his first four games, and Carson Breshears, a transfer from Oregon, who's already 5-for-12 at the plate for the team hitting .279.

The pitching was up to the task against some formidable first-weekend opponents tossing a team ERA of 3.00 behind Mac Lardner, Daniel Bies, and Alek Jacob who all allowed two earned runs over at least 5.1 innings. The bullpen also allowed just five earned runs over 15.1 innings with Michael Spellacy and Casey Legumina teaming up in the closer role with a save each