Broadcast Information
 
Radio
KUCI 88.9 FM with Mark Roberts for Sunday's game vs. MO State. All games also available live on the internet at kuci.org and ucirvinesports.com
 
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Around The Horn
 
2 & 8 - The Anteaters offense has ebbed and flowed all season. The team is 8-2 in 2020 when scoring at least 2 runs in a game and 6-1 when scoring more than 2 runs. On the flip side, over half (8) of the team's 15 games have finished with a team scoring 8 or more runs. UCI offense has been steady scoring 6 or more runs in nearly every inning this year

2014 - Nick Pinto's Tuesday night performance was the first quality start in a midweek for the Anteaters since 2014 when Evan Manarino fired one on February 19 against Bakersfield. It's the first time an Anteater midweek starter completed even five innings since May 12, 2015. Pinto joins UCI's weekend starters who each have a quality start this year. UC Irvine had 25 starts register as quality starts in the 2019 season

11.4 - All of Jake Palmer's numbers are impressive with a .479 on-base percentage, team highs in hits, runs, doubles, stolen bases, and walks, but he's added a low number in 5 - the amount of times he's struck out as he ranks 82nd nationally and 3rd in the Big West striking out once every 11.4 at-bats and once every 14.4 plate appearances
 
Overall, a successful week for the Anteaters winning the first three before falling Sunday via shutout. The team won a couple of tough contests, got their first midweek victory on the road, and took home its second weekend series win of the season
The offense is down in March despite a record of 3-2, they're hitting .185. Jake Palmer continues his assault from the leadoff spot with six hits this month and team highs with three runs, a .381 on-base percentage, and two stolen bases coming from his first career 2-SB game Friday

Mike Peabody was another with a big weekend pounding four hits this month including an RBI double and a game-tying solo HR on Saturday, however his 28-game on-base streak was ended on Sunday. Josh Sheck was finally silenced as well after reaching base in his first eight career games and recording hits in each of the last seven, he failed to do either Saturday. The top streak now are Palmer's streaks of 23 on base, 5 with a hit, and 12 straight home games with a hit.

Adrian Damla came through with a big 2-out, 2-RBI single to provide the only runs in Friday's win. He appeared again with a booming double Saturday and eventually scored the game-winning run. Konnor Zickefoose drove him in on a weekend where he saw his first action at third base as an Anteater starting all three matchups. John Jensen got his first start of the season Sunday coming off the heels of his booming, 3-run HR on Tuesday in UCI's big road win at USC

The pitching highlights started Tuesday with Nick Pinto's breakout performance of six, two-hit innings to collect his first win outdueling USC's Brian Gursky. Pinto reappeared Sunday in relief allowing a run, but his Tuesday effort was the first quality start by an Anteater in a midweek game since 2014 as he now stands third on the team in innings and strikeouts

Pinto set the table for the weekend rotation as Trenton Denholm and Peter Van Loon each dished out quality starts in their games. Denholm shutout Sac State through six innings Friday night allowing four hits and striking out five. Van Loon kept pace Saturday with six innings allowing two runs as each secured their second wins of the season. Michael Frias made his second career start and first on the weekend lasting just 1.1 innings and taking the loss

The bullpen was stellar allowing a single run in the first three games of the week. Josh Ibarra saw extended action nearly closing things out Tuesday after 2.2 innings, but returned Saturday for his first career save in three shutout innings with seven strikeouts. John Vergara continued to roll appearing in three of four contests collecting his third save Friday and extending his scoreless inning streak to 7.1 innings. Troy Wentworth added a second straight promising outing allowing a solo HR, but now with three innings in March allowing two hits, a walk, and striking out five

'Eaters rank high top three in the Big West in batting, on-base percentage, doubles, and home runs as well as fielding percentage (3rd - .973). Pitching has the third-most shutouts capped by John Vergara's two saves, third in the Big West. Palmer stands fifth in batting average, fourth in hits, and is the third-toughest to strikeout (1 over 11.4 ABs).

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

MISSOURI STATE BEARS
Missouri State is getting back in the saddle after a year they'd like to forget going 20-36, only their sixth losing season in coach Guttin's 38 years in charge and the least amount of wins in a season under his tenure that has seen him build a record of 1,287-819-0, fourth-winningest active coach, with 13 Coach of the Year awards, 12 40-win seasons, and 11 NCAA tournaments

In 2020, Missouri State is 8-7 coming off its second series win against Maine. They've also beaten Central Arkansas, lost a series at Rice, and took part in the Turface Classic in Tennessee. After playing their first 12 games on the road, they return this week with their third trip to California in the last two seasons once they finish up a five-game homestand vs. ORU and SIUE

The Bears hosted UC Irvine in 2019 in their second-ever trip to the state. The stay was shortened due to a Winter storm, and the teams played only a Friday doubleheader. UCI won the 7-inning opener, 3-2, and took the second game that was extended to 11 innings and won by a Brandon Lewis HR. Now the Bears head to California, a place they neglected from the 1983 until last year.

The 2020 Bears average less than four runs a game crafting their game around the long ball (11 home runs) and defense (top 60 nationally in double plays and fielding percentage). Freshman Drake Baldwin is the toughest to strikeout in the conference, and leads the team with a .321 average. His 10 RBIs with 3 HR and 16 RBIs from sophomore Dakota Kotowski power the bats

Pitching has been key for the Bears with a strong starters in senior Logan Wiley (2-1, 3.09) with 2 walks to 23 strikeouts and freshman Hayden Minton (1-2, 3.48) on the weekend. Sophomores Forrest Barnes and Matt Russell have made appearances as starters or relievers while Trey Ziegenbein (10 gms, 3.52) and Hayden Juenger (4 saves, 2.00) are horses out of the pen