Broadcast Information
 
ESPN3 - The entire weekend series against UC Santa Barbara will be featured on ESPN3 called by Sam Farber and Chris Rix (Friday) and by Rahshaun Haylock and John Jackson (Sat. & Sun.)
 
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 are available for every Anteater baseball game through ucirvinesports.com and the UCI Sports Front Row app.
 
Around The Horn
 
0.49 - The Anteater pitching staff put up an ERA of 0.49 last week (2 ER in 38 IP), and even lower in the LBSU series at 0.35 and enter Tuesday with a 14.1-inning  shutout streak intact. UC Irvine pitchers issued just 6 walks (2 vs. LBSU) and an opposing batting
average of .186 (.189 vs. LBSU).

1,012 - UC Irvine's Anteater Ballpark got a sizable facelift over the past couple weeks upgrading its scoreboard for the first time since the ballpark's creation in 2002. The scoreboard takes up a total of 1,012 square feet standing 22x46 complete with a video board that's 12' x 21.6' front and center

9th - Andre Pallante lowered his ERA down from 1.36 to 1.16 last week which puts him atop the Big West and 9th in the NCAA. He's also allowing opponents to hit .203 on the year which is behind Taylor Rashi's .184 mark, 2nd in the conference. He isn't far behind with a 2.03 ERA, third in the Big West
 
UC Irvine will be featured on three ESPN3 broadcasts down the stretch of the season all coming this weekend at Anteater Ballpark. UC Irvine and Hawai'I had the first two games of their series broadcasted on ESPN3. It returns this weekend with Sam Farber and Chris Rix on the call Friday night followed by Rahshaun Haylock and John Jackson commentating on Saturday and Sunday

The 'Eaters have started April off right going 3-1 over the first week coming off of an 8-10 record in March. The 2017 Anteaters won just five games in the month of April. UCI also won its first series of the month coming off a March where they went 0-4-1 in series and dropped each series last April.

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 Long Beach State saw the teams split the first two games for the fourth time in a UCI series this year, and the 'Eaters won the Sunday rubber game for the first time this year. In eight weeks this year, UCI has won multiple games six times and lost multiple games five times

Anteater pitching was scalding last week with an overall ERA of 0.49 allowing two earned runs, four runs total, in four games. Opposing hitters hit .186 for the week and .189 at LBSU alone. Anteater pitchers also issued just two walks to LBSU hitters and they did not attempt a stolen base, and only walked six batters all week.

Taylor Rashi made his second start as an Anteater and tossed his first career complete game allowing one run and three hits in eight innings. The complete game is the second for the 'Eaters this season joining Louis Raymond's 83-pitch CG vs. Gonzaga. Rashi entered the Big West rankings in ERA (3rd) and opposing average (2nd).

Andre Pallante returned to form with his fourth win of the season pitching through two first-inning unearned runs to pitch into the ninth inning for the first time in his career. After his ERA jumped from 0.81 to 1.36 last week, it settled back downward to 1.16. Pallante leads the conference in ERA along with strikeouts (63), and ranks third in opposing average, innings, and wins
UC Irvine's bullpen was just as brilliant dealing 16.2 innings on the week allowing just a single run and eight hits. In the Long Beach series alone, the bullpen did not surrender a run and walked one batter over 7.2 innings.

Jordan Bocko did allow the lone run on Tuesday from a solo HR, but picked up the win, his third in just over a week, and added a 3.1-inning save on Sunday, the first of over three innings for UCI since Pallante in 2017. He picked up his fifth career save making him just the 15th Anteater all-time with as many over his career

Matt Reitano garnered the offensive headlines for the week starting with the game-winning home run Tuesday in his hometown of San Diego to defeat USD in the 11th inning. Reitano had a hit in each game of the series leading to his career-long hit streak of four games. He also led the squad with three RBI during the week, and to top it off, he played LF for the first time in his career on Tuesday and followed that with his first career LF start on Friday.

Ryan Fitzpatrick continues to represent the 'Eaters in the Big West rankings despite failing to extend his on-base streak which ended Saturday at 36 consecutive. His .454 on-base percentage is second only to teammate Jake Palmer (.465), and also sits in the top 10 in batting (8th), slugging (5th), runs (T4th), RBI (3rd), doubles (T5th), HR (T3rd), walks (T2nd), HBP (T4th), and defensive chances (1st).

Jake Palmer found his groove in March hitting .355 with 12 RBI. Along with his inclusion in the Big West rankings for on-base percentage, he sixth in hitting, tied for fourth in runs, and third in HBP.

Other Big West leaders include Cole Kreuter (T5th in doubles), Nick Anderson (T1st in sac flies), and Parker Coss (T7th in sac bunts and T4th in sac flies).

Christian Koss was held out of action last week after being diagnosed with a concussion as the result of being hit by pitch in the back of the head in the second inning on Tuesday. Louis Raymond also missed his second straight weekend start with back discomfort

The 'Eaters continue to lead the Big West with a .976 fielding percentage committing just two errors during the LBSU series. Overall the team is 38th nationally. UCI's catchers have caught 12 basestealers, third in the conference, with eight from Castro which is tied for second

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 378 UCI wins, 1,141 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

UC Irvine took the series at Long Beach State giving the Anteaters five points toward the Black and Blue Rivalry Series this season, and taking back the lead from LBSU now up 19-17 on the season series. Remaining sports left to tangle in the series including Big West Championship matchups for men's golf (Apr. 29-May 1), women's golf (Apr. 15-17), men's and women's track and field (May 11-12), and women's tennis (Apr. 26-29), and the women's water polo squads who meet at UCI on April 19 and then return for the Big West Championships at UCI, April 28-30.
 
SAN DIEGO STATE AZTECS
San Diego State welcomes UC Irvine on Tuesday for the return affair in the midweek series. UCI handled SDSU, 9-4, back in late February, but the Aztecs are a different team now having spent some time in the national rankings and winners of five straight midweek games. They won a series at Cal Poly, won both midweeks over LBSU, and won a series at a ranked UNLV squad.

The Aztecs do everything well - top 100 nationally in 16 different statistical categories highlighted by their 32 double plays turned (13th), 335 hits (16th), .300 batting average (19th), and .441 slugging percentage (35th).

The offense has the nation's leader in doubles, Jordan Verdon, with 18, and the conference's leader in walks, Matt Rudick (25), and triples, Chase Calabuig (3).

UCI jumped on the Aztecs early last game with five 1st-inning runs after starter Ray Lambert gave four free passes to start. Rudick had two hits and two RBI as SDSU close the game late on unearned runs.
 
UC SANTA BARBARA GAUCHOS
For the second weekend in a row, the 'Eaters square off with a Big West opponent coming off their non-conference weekend. UCSB recent swept UTRGV at home to raise their record back above .500 to 14-13-1.

Despite finishing in a tie at the bottom of the Big West a year ago, the Gauchos were picked to come in fourth in preseason, however they trudged through the non-conference portion at 12-12-1, and even have a game suspended in the 11th inning vs. Pepperdine that needs to finish.

After beginning the season with seven of their first eight games away from home, UCSB has played almost exclusively in Santa Barbara with 19 of their last 20 games coming at home. This weekend at UC Irvine will be their first weekend series on the road since February, and the Gauchos are just 1-6 away from UCSB and 0-5 in true road games.

The Gauchos are playing well of late since being no-hit by Cal State Fullerton on March 29. UCSB turned that series into a win over the Titans, and have now won five of six and still have another home matchup with LMU prior to their trip to Irvine. Last year's series at UCSB was topsy-turvy as the final two games were won in come-from-behind fashion in the ninth inning for each team.

The Gauchos are low in the conference hitting .252, but they have managed to score over five runs a game and lead the Big West with nine triples. Their 19 home runs also sit second in the conference, and have been replenished by the return of SS Clay Fisher who tops the team in hits, and stolen bases while driving in 17. Five Gaucho hitters have put up at least nine extra-base hits making them dangerous up and down the order.

UC Santa Barbara has made their hay on the mound with a 3.80 ERA with a 7.9 strikeout-to-walk ratio and allowing less than three walks per game. Freshman Jack Dashwood has been the consistent rock starting all eight weekend series with two wins and a 3.89 ERA. Chris Lincoln is second in the Big West with a 2.02 ERA, and is 1 of 6 other Gauchos to make multiple starts on the season. The bullpen has been fairly reliable as well headed by Shea Barry who has walked one to 16 strikeouts picking up a pair of wins and saves, and other relievers Alex Patterson, Luke Andrews, Kevin Chandler, and Chris Troye all sport ERAs under 4.00