IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine baseball completes its crop of 16 newcomers to the program ahead of the 2021-22 season with nine additions to the seven from NLI signing day. 

 

Student-Athlete	Ht / Wt	B/T	Year	Position	Hometown	School
Ben Fitzgerald	6-1 / 195	L/R	Senior	Utility	Mason City, Iowa	University of Louisiana
Jacob Odle	6-5 / 200	R/R	Freshman	RHP	San Diego	St. Augustine HS
Blake Penso	6-3 / 215	R/R	Freshman	Catcher	Huntington Beach	Huntington Beach HS
Nick Rincover	6-2 / 200	L/L	Junior	LHP	Studio City	L.A. Pierce College
Cooper Robinson	6-4 / 215	R/R	Freshman	RHP	Folsom	Folsom HS
Jake Spillane	6-2 / 195	R/R	Junior	RHP	Mission Viejo	UC Davis
Troy Taylor	6-0 / 195	R/R	Junior	RHP	Rancho Cucamonga	Cypress College
Evan Vasiliou	6-1 / 180	R/L	Freshman	LHP	El Cajon	Grossmont HS
David Vizcaino	6-3 / 215	R/R	Sophomore	RHP	Chino	Riverside City College

Ben Fitzgerald | Senior, UT - The left-handed bat is making his third college stop with the Anteaters in his senior year. Fitzgerald grew up in Iowa as a top prospect in high school hitting .524 and driving in 71 as a senior. He began at North Iowa Area Community College continuing his trajectory with 11 HR and 50 RBI by his sophomore season to earn a spot with the University of Louisiana in 2020. As a first baseman and designated hitter, he flashed some hitting skills before the 2020 season was cut short, and really took off in 2021 where he hit .293 in 51 games. He launched 12 home runs and was among the leaders in the Sun Belt conference in slugging percentage and hit by pitch.



Jacob Odle | Freshman, RHP - An imposing figure out of San Diego, Jacob Odle stands 6-5, 200 lbs joining the 'Eaters. The right-hander appeared in eight games in 2021 winning four of his five starts striking out 27 hittings in 14.2 innings including an impressive performance against San Ysidro HS allowing one hit and striking out eight in four scoreless frames.




Blake Penso | Freshman, C - The 6-3, 215-lb catcher was an integral part of one of the top programs in California at Huntington Beach High School as the state's No. 26-ranked catcher. The Oilers were unbeaten in league play winning the Sunset League three times, and reached the CIF Second Round with Penso playing behind the plate and at the corner infield spots earning all-league twice. Penso spent some time over the summer with Orange County Riptide in the California Collegiate League with five extra-base hits of his six hits including a two long balls.



Nick Rincover | Junior, LHP - "UCI is a great school that allows me to explore all the possibilities of what I want to do in the future."

Rincover is a left-handed pitcher originally from Woodland Hills and El Camino Real High School winning a pair of CIF Los Angeles City Championships. Since, he's worked his way through L.A. Pierce College much like former 'Eater, Brandon Lewis, with whom he was teammates with in 2018 twice striking out 32 hitters in 28 innings in 2018. He's battled through injuries since then cutting his 2019 season short after a 3.86 ERA in two starts as he joins the program.



Cooper Robinson | Freshman, RHP - "The culture created by the coaching staff, the opportunity for great academics, and the chance to be on a winning team is why I'm joining UC Irvine."

Robinson challenges his fellow newcomer in the height department a 6-4 out of Folsom and Folsom High School. He's excelled at baseball since little league where he threw a no-hitter in an all-star game, but added basketball and football to his game in high school. On the baseball field, he racked up all the awards with all-league, all-metro, and the team's pitcher of the year leading to a league title in 2019. He also made time for student government as public relations commissioner. The right-hander missed his junior season, but posted a 1.94 ERA in 2021 striking out 60 over 47.1 innings marking him as a highly-rated high school prospect in the state of California.



Jake Spillane | Junior, RHP - "I chose to transfer to UCI because it has consistently had a great baseball team with a solid coaching staff, and it is much closer to home. It also offers Sociology as a major which I had been studying at UC Davis."

A familiar name to Anteater fans joins the squad for 2021-22 in Jake Spillane, brother of Anteater outfielder Luke. The brothers began Trabuco Canyon and Mission Viejo High School where he was twice all-league before splitting off to go to UC Davis in 2019. In each season, Spillane was a fixture in the starting rotation earning the Friday night nod in 2021. In 33 career appearances, he's started 28 times, and has a 7-13 record with a 5.39 ERA posting 103 strikeouts including multiple quality starts against schools like UCSB, Bakersfield, Cal Poly, Cal Baptist, UCSD, Hawai'i, Utah, and North Dakota State. On top of it all, he represented UC Davis' baseball team with the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.



Troy Taylor | Junior, RHP - "I selected UC Irvine because of the commitment to excellence both on and off the field from everyone at the University."

Troy Taylor raised some eyebrows this past year playing between Cypress College and the Williamsport Crosscutters of the newly-formed MLB Draft League. His play was enough to earn a selection in the final round of the 2021 MLB Draft by the Seattle Mariners, but ultimately Taylor decided to fulfill his commitment to the Anteaters for the 2021-22 season. This isn't his first go-around with the Big West, however, as he saw action in one game with Long Beach State in 2020 pitching in relief against Mississippi State. Prior to that, he earned all kinds of accolades at Los Osos High School in Rancho Cucamonga as a pitcher and infielder. He switched to pitcher-only once he got to the college, and really began to hit his stride in 2021 at Cypress starting five times in eight appearances for a 4.82 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 28 innings. 

Cutters' Troy Taylor surprised he was drafted



Evan Vasiliou | Freshman, LHP -  Vasiliou is a left-hander that has already seen the big stage. He earned all-league, All-CIF, and all-county Pitcher of the Year honors helping Grossmont High School to the Open Championship finals. He even participated in the 2021 Padres High School All-Star Game in Petco Park as the starting pitcher. Grossmont was ranked in the top-10 in the state with Vasiliou among the state's top-rated left-handers finishing his senior campaign with an 11-1 record, 1.74 ERA, three complete games, and 101 strikeouts over 80.1 innings and 13 starts.



David Vizcaino | Sophomore, RHP - The right-hander took a similar path as former fireballer Josh Ibarra from his four years at Don Lugo High School where he was a stellar water polo player in addition to baseball to his stint in junior college recently. Vizcaino's lively fastball has dotted the 90s posting a 1.02 ERA over 21 career high school outings. He's been honing his craft at Riverside City College, and shared a dugout with 'Eater Justin Torres with the Arroyo Seco Saints over the summer striking out 12 in 16 innings over six outings