Tuesday, April 3
San Diego, CA
6:00 PM
UC Irvine
at
San Diego
'Eaters Venture on Road to San Diego, Long Beach State
April 02, 2018 | Baseball
UPCOMING OPPONENTS
Game Notes
UC Irvine Anteaters (14-12, Big West 1-2)
at San Diego Toreros (13-15, WCC 4-5)
Fowler Park at Cunningham Field - San Diego, Calif.
Tuesday, Apr. 3 - 6:00 PM
*RHP Nick Anderson (1-1, 5.14) vs. (0-0, 12.51) RHP Louie Crow*
Video | Live Stats | KUCI 88.9 FM
UC Irvine Anteaters (14-12, Big West 1-2)
at Long Beach State Dirtbags (11-17, Big West 0-0)
Blair Field - Long Beach, Calif.
* - Probable Starters
Friday Apr. 6 - 6:00 PM
*RHP Andre Pallante (3-0, 1.36) vs. (5-2, 3.30) LHP Zak Baayoun*
Video | Live Stats | KUCI 88.9 FM
Saturday Apr. 7 - 2:00 PM
*RHP Taylor Rashi (3-1, 2.35) vs. (2-5, 3.16) LHP Clayton Andrews*
Video | Live Stats | KUCI 88.9 FM
Sunday Apr. 8 - 1:00 PM
*TBD vs. (1-3, 3.91) RHP Tyler Radcliffe*
Video | Live Stats | KUCI 88.9 FM
Game Notes
UC Irvine Anteaters (14-12, Big West 1-2)
at San Diego Toreros (13-15, WCC 4-5)
Fowler Park at Cunningham Field - San Diego, Calif.
Tuesday, Apr. 3 - 6:00 PM
*RHP Nick Anderson (1-1, 5.14) vs. (0-0, 12.51) RHP Louie Crow*
Video | Live Stats | KUCI 88.9 FM
UC Irvine Anteaters (14-12, Big West 1-2)
at Long Beach State Dirtbags (11-17, Big West 0-0)
Blair Field - Long Beach, Calif.
* - Probable Starters
Friday Apr. 6 - 6:00 PM
*RHP Andre Pallante (3-0, 1.36) vs. (5-2, 3.30) LHP Zak Baayoun*
Video | Live Stats | KUCI 88.9 FM
Saturday Apr. 7 - 2:00 PM
*RHP Taylor Rashi (3-1, 2.35) vs. (2-5, 3.16) LHP Clayton Andrews*
Video | Live Stats | KUCI 88.9 FM
Sunday Apr. 8 - 1:00 PM
*TBD vs. (1-3, 3.91) RHP Tyler Radcliffe*
Video | Live Stats | KUCI 88.9 FM
Broadcast Information
Video - All four Anteater games this week will be streaming live online. Tuesday at USD, UCI will be featured on TheW.tv while the entire series at LBSU will be streamed with all links found on ucirvinesports.com
Radio - KUCI 88.9 FM with Mark Roberts and Tim Becwar All games also available live on the internet at kuci.org and ucirvinesports.com
Live Stats available for every Anteater baseball game through ucirvinesports.com and the UCI Sports Front Row app.
Around The Horn
12:18 - UC Irvine and San Diego really liked to play baseball against each other last year. In 3 games, they played 12 hours and 18 minutes of baseball with the shortest game at 3:30. UCI's 8-7 win lasted 3:51 at Fowler Park, and then Anteater Ballpark one-upped that with a 4-hour, 57-minute, 14-inning marathon
4-0 - UC Irvine has found a rhythm in midweek games in 2018 going 4-0 so far with a pair of one-run wins. Overall, the 'Eaters have outscored Its midweek opponents, 33-18, and run out a 2.84 ERA with a nearly 4-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio
128 - UC Irvine and Long Beach State will play for the 128th time on Friday, most against one opponent in Anteater program history. UCI holds the 67-59-1 edge all-time, and even has the edge at Blair Field with a 32-30 record
UC Irvine will be featured on five ESPN3 broadcasts this season as announced by the Big West Conference on Monday. The first two broadcasts came in the past series against Hawai'i with the 'Eaters and Bows splitting the contests. ESPN3 returns to the call the 'Eaters again for three games of their April 13-15 series against UC Santa Barbara, also in Anteater Ballpark.
The 'Eaters finished March with an 8-10 record matching its win total for the month in 2017. UC Irvine did not win any of its five series losing four and splitting once with Portland.
UC Irvine has yet to be part of a sweep both during a weekend series and an entire week on the year. UC Irvine's series against Hawai'i saw the teams split the first two games for the third time in a UCI series this year. UCI has been unsuccessful in those rubber games now 0-3. In seven weeks this year, UCI has won multiple games five times and also lost multiple games five times
Andre Pallante seemed a little more human last week making his first start of the season on Thursday. Pallante still worked five innings striking out five and allowing three earned runs. It was the first outing all year Pallante has failed to reach the sixth inning, strike out at least seven hitters, and register a quality start. Following the start, Pallante's ERA ballooned from 0.87 to 1.36 which continues to lead the Big West and is 22nd-lowest in the NCAA.
Taylor Rashi matched Pallante in his first weekend start allowing three runs, one earned, in five innings on Saturday.
Jordan Bocko worked 1.2 scoreless innings on Friday and earned the win after UC Irvine came back from deficits of 3-0 and 4-3. Bocko would record the win, his fourth career and third this season. In fact, Bocko now has earned each of UC Irvine's last three wins
Ryan Fitzpatrick hit .500 for the week and led UCI with a .455 average against Hawai'i. He also led with five hits, 10 total bases, four runs scored, two doubles, and hit the team's only HR. Fitzpatrick also extended his on-base streak to 34 games as well.
Fitzpatrick is in the top 10 in the conference with his .360 average (4th), .628 slugging percentage (2nd), 23 RBI (3rd), four HRs (T3rd), nine doubles (T4th), 54 total bases (4th), 16 walks (T4th), 22 runs scored (T4th), seven hit by pitch (T3rd), and leads the Big West with his on-base percentage of .491
Jake Palmer found his groove in March hitting .355 with 12 RBI. He has driven in a run in five straight games and just had a five-game run scored streak snapped. He's either scored a run or driven one in in nine straight games.
Brendan Brooks was clutch over the weekend driving home two on Friday to complete a five-game RBI streak which included the go-ahead run. His eight games with multiple hits on the season is tied for the team lead. Brooks has recorded a hit in six of his last seven games including his first three doubles. An even more impressive streak has been his 28 straight at-bats over his last seven games where he has not struck out.
UC Irvine has already seen the return of four players that missed all or a considerable amount of the 2017 season:
Pitchers Alonzo Garcia and Sean Sparling were shut down after their first few outings in 2017 - Sparling pitched in his 60th career game on Sunday becoming the 22nd Anteater all-time to reach that mark. Garcia has been effective in two midweek starts earning the win in the midweek victory over San Diego State.
Catcher Griffin Mazur struggled through a foot injury in 2017, but has returned to see action in 18 games this season earning five starts and recording four hits, three walks and three RBI
Reliever Dylan Riddle was also on the shelf after injuring his shoulder in an offseason accident prior to the 2017 season. He's been flawless in four appearances this season allowing a hit, two walks, and a hit by pitch over 4.1 innings of work and still yet to allow a run
The 'Eaters continue to lead the Big West with a .976 fielding percentage despite errors in three of four games during the week.
Jacob Castro sits atop the conference alongside CSUN's Trevor Casanova having caught eight runners attempting to steal. Ryan
Fitzpatrick also leads with 213 chances and is second in putouts. SS Christian Koss' 84 assists ranks second in the Big West
Andre Pallante has taken home two Big West Pitcher of the Week awards thus far in the season. He struck out 12 Gonzaga Bulldogs over seven one-hit innings to score the first. His second come in a 3-0 win at Portland where he struck out eight over a career high eight scoreless innings scattering five hits
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. The 'Eaters added a second shutout to begin the Portland series.
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.
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.
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 375 UCI wins, 1,138 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 106 games against ranked opponents, 84 coming during the regular season, and the 'Eaters have won 48 of those games. Since 2002, UC Irvine is 32-41 overall against ranked Big West programs
SAN DIEGO TOREROS
UC Irvine and USD renew their midweek rivalry with their 93rd all-time meeting. The teams met up three times last year for only the second time since 2003. USD blew out the 'Eaters in the Tony Gwynn Classic early in the season. UCI returned the favor with an 8-7 win at USD. The rubber match went to USD, but took 14 innings at Anteater Ballpark after Ryan Fitzpatrick hit a game-tying HR with two outs in the ninth.
USD is 13-15 so far after 35 wins a year ago, and 4-5 in WCC play. The Toreros had early-season wins over Cal, Arizona, and No. 3 Arkansas, but are 6 for their last 13 losing series to Indiana, Houston, Santa Clara, and San Francisco.
USD excels on the diamond with a top-15 fielding percentage and 28 double plays turned this season. The Toreros also hit with a .285 batting average and 275 hits to both lead their conference, but still score less than five runs a game. The staff pumps home nearly 10 strikeouts a game, but have struggled to a 5.11 ERA and the fifth-most hit batters in the nation at 47
LONG BEACH STATE DIRTBAGS
For the second weekend in a row, UC Irvine will be a conference opener for someone as Long Beach State hosts the 'Eaters at Blair Field. LBSU was the lone Big West squad left out of the opening weekend of conference play left to travel up to Fresno State where they started well winning 24-10 on Thursday, but stalled with 15-7 and 2-0 losses to drop the series.
The Dirtbags have run out to an 11-17 start never winning or losing more than three games in a row this season. The only sweep has come in a loss at Texas A&M a month ago. The 2017 LBSU squad was a game from the College World Series falling to Cal State Fullerton in the supers after 20 conference wins and a Big West regular season title.
LBSU's rise back to prominence has brought with it a hefty schedule with ranked non-conference opponents TCU, Mississippi, Texas A&M, and Vanderbilt as well as a non-conference series at Cal State Fullerton which it won. LBSU appears on UC Irvine's schedule for the 128th time, most in UCI program history, with UCI leading 67-59-1 overall and at Long Beach (31-28).
Long Beach State is still dangerous with an ERA of 4.09 and the best strikeout rate in the conference out of its pitchers led by Zak Baayoun with 50 of them a five wins assuming the Friday night role. Chris Rivera remains a menace in the pen with seven saves already as well.
The LBSU offense has been the curious case early on however. Yes the Dirtbags have scored 16 vs. Arizona State, 13 vs. Tulane, and 24 vs. Fresno State, but over its other 35 games, have scored more than four runs just four times, and more than five runs just twice which came in 10-6 and 15-7 losses. The Dirtbags are hitting just .236 with even worse numbers of on-base (.323) and slugging (.305) percentages relying on little ball to get things done with the second-most sacrifice bunts in the nation (29) and a Big West best 30 stolen bases.
The Dirtbag to keep an eye on is 5-6, 160-lb junior transfer Clayton Andrews at the plate and on the mound. Andrews has struck out twice all season in 99 at-bats, the toughest to set down in the NCAA, and has added a .303 average, the ninth-most triples in the nation at four, eight steals, nine sacrifice bunts of his own, and is second on the club in RBI, BB, and hits. He will then turn around and fire from the mound where he's started every weekend striking out 47 in 42.2 IP with a 3.16 ERA despite a 2-5 record.
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