Season Rolls On at San Diego, vs. Rice

Tuesday, February 18

San Diego, CA

6:00 PM

UC Irvine

San Diego

Season Rolls On at San Diego, vs. Rice

February 17, 2020 | Baseball

By: Alex Croteau

THIS WEEK IN ANTEATER BASEBALL

Game Notes

UC Irvine Anteaters (1-2)
at San Diego Toreros (2-1)
Fowler Park at Cunningham Field (3,000) - San Diego, Calif.

Tuesday, February 18 - 6:00 PM
LHP Nick Pinto (UCI debut) vs. TBA
Watch Online | Live Stats | KUCI 88.9 FM

UC Irvine Anteaters (1-2)
at Rice Owls (0-3)
Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark (3,408) - Irvine, Calif.

Friday, February 21 - 6:00 PM
RHP Trenton Denholm (0-1, 4.76) vs. TBA
Live Stats | KUCI 88.9 FM | Buy Tickets | Game Program

Saturday, February 22 - 6:00 PM
RHP Peter Van Loon (0-0, 6.75) vs. TBA
Live Stats | kuci.org | Buy Tickets | Game Program

Sunday, February 23 - 1:00 PM
TBD vs. TBA
Live Stats | kuci.org | Buy Tickets | Game Program

Broadcast Information

Radio
KUCI 88.9 FM with Mark Roberts
All games also available live on the internet at kuci.org and ucirvinesports.com

Game Updates
All UC Irvine baseball games can be followed via live stats with links found on ucirvinesports.com and the UCI Athletics app. Each game is also live tweeted at @UCIbsb

Around The Horn

T2nd - UC Irvine finished with a 17-7 record in the Big West good for a tie for 2nd in the standings with Cal Poly. Its just the sixth season in 27 years with the Big West finishing second or higher. The 17 Big West wins mark a tie for the second most the team has won behind only the 2009 Big West champion team that won 22 games. The preseason coaches poll projected the 'Eaters to finish 5th

11 - Of the 18 new Anteaters on the roster, 11 made their debuts over the weekend. Other firsts came from Nathan Church and Riley Kasper each blasting their first HRs, Gordon Ingebritson earning his first victory, and a veteran, John Vergara, scoring his first career save

107 - Tuesday's game against San Diego is the 107th meeting between the two squads, fourth-most in program history against any one school and most against a non-conference opponents. UCI has a 57-48-1 record against USD with 30 wins coming at San Diego

UC Irvine dropped two of three games to Fresno State, the first opening series loss for the 'Eaters since 2015, also at Fresno State. The 'Eaters were 1 of 2 Big West schools unable to win their opening series along with UC Riverside who was swept by UCLA

The Anteater offense impressed scoring 23 runs, the most by any Big West school in their opening weekend series. The 'Eaters are tied for the most hits so far with 35 (UC Davis) and is 1 of 3 teams to hit multiple HRs (CSUN 3, Hawai'i 2).

Jake Palmer had a successful opening weekend with seven hits and a .467 average, both leading the team and fourth-best among Big West players. Palmer also extended his hit streak and on-base streak from last season up to 11 games. Mike Peabody had just one hit which drove in a run, but extended his on-base streak through all three games to put it at 17. Adrian Damla had his first career four-hit game on Saturday scoring twice and driving in two.
New Anteaters had impressive weekends led by Nathan Church whose five runs are top three in the conference. He had four RBI along with Riley Kasper who each had four RBI, fifth-best in the conference, and accounted for the first two Anteater home runs of the year and first of their careers. The team as a whole struck out just 15 times, among the conference lows with just one for Palmer, Kasper, and Church each in 16 PAs. All three also had three-hit games on the weekend joined by Jacob Castro's on Saturday and Andre Antone's on Sunday.

Other Anteater debuts were from Jake Cosgrove with two hits, two runs, and an RBI, Connor McGuire, who put up the same numbers, and Taishi Nakawake, who started at shortstop the first team games, but was unable to register a hit.

On the pitching side, two Anteaters made their starting debuts in Peter Van Loon, allowing four runs but striking out a team-high seven in 5.2 innings, and Cole van den Helder, lasting just 2.2 innings in the finale. Other first-time pitchers included Gordon Ingebritson who earned UCI's lone win recording 2.1 IP in two appearances, Josh Ibarra who also appeared twice , and brief stints from Troy Wentworth and Jacob King who got his first two outs on strikeouts. Anteater pitching allowed seven home runs on the weekend accounting for 11 of the 21 Fresno State runs and his just over a quarter of the amount the staff surrendered as a whole in 2019

Anteater baseball is back for its 42nd season of existence. Friday night's season opener will mark 50 years to the day of the first UCI baseball game played in 1970. The Anteater 50th Anniversary will be celebrated all season highlighted by an Alumni Reunion Weekend Game on May 9 in Anteater Ballpark when UCI will host Cal State Fullerton and honor their 1970 squad and the entire "Golden Era" of UC Irvine Baseball from the 1970s.

The team is projected to finish 5th according to the Big West Preseason Coaches Poll gathering one first-place vote. UCI was projected to finish second last you and did, and hauled in the most first-place votes with four. Finishing atop the preseason poll is Cal State Fullerton with Cal Poly and Long Beach State tied for second and UC Santa Barbara settled in fourth. Hawai'i was one vote behind UCI projected to finish sixth. CSUN stands in seventh with UC Riverside just edging out UC Davis for eight at the bottom of the preseason Big West projections

SAN DIEGO TOREROS
San Diego had a little better opening weekend winning two of three games in Arizona at the Angels College Classic in Tempe with wins over Oregon and Minnesota while falling at rival Pepperdine to start the year.

The 2019 Toreros finished just outside the postseason with a 32-21 record and a majority of their games at home going 20-12. The Toreros and 'Eaters split their midweek games with each team winning at home

UC Irvine and San Diego are meeting for the 107th time in their histories with UCI up slightly, 57-48-1. The 106 meetings are the fourth-most for UCI against any one opponent behind LBSU, Cal State Fullerton, and UC Santa Barbara, and the most against any non-conference foe.

Two of their top four hitters return in Shane McGuire, who had five RBI over the weekend, and Paul Kunst, who went 5-for-11 with a team high four runs. Adam Kerner has also been garnering some buzz, mustering just two hits in Tempe. The offense showed its wheels stealing 10 of 12 attempts successfully in three games

The staff held its own with a 3.81 ERA over the weekend without allowing a HR. The bullpen allowed six runs, four earned, in 14 innings.

RICE OWLS
Rice and UC Irvine reprise their matchup from last year as the 'Eaters went in to Houston and put away the Owls handily with the first sweep of Rice in their home since 1992. The Owls started 2020 that way as well being swept by Texas in three games where Rice did not lose by more than four runs

The Owls in their second season under Matt Bragga look to right the ship coming off a 26-33 record and 6 wins in 20 road games. The 'Eaters welcome a sixth Texas school to Anteater Ballpark joining TCU, Houston, Baylor, UTSA, and Dallas Baptist. UCI is 11-10 all-time in Anteater Ballpark against Texas schools

A lot of familiar faces return to the Owls led by Braden Comeaux who topped Rice with five hits and three RBIs along with a HR in the opening weekend. Draft hopeful Trei Cruz is also back with his brother, Antonio, in a lineup full of returns like Justin Collins, Bradley Gneiting, and Cade Edwards

The staff is a complete makeover with the departures of all three starters - Evan Canterino, Evan Kravetz, and Jackson Parthasarthy. Blake Brogdon, Alex DeLeon, and Kel Bordwine toed the rubber to open up with the staff posting a 5.33 ERA and just 15 strikeouts. The Rice bullpen showed up with four runs allowed in 12.2 innings