BAKERSFIELD, Calif. --- UC Irvine baseball heads out for its final road series of the regular season heading to the other new addition to the conference, CSU Bakersfield. The 'Eaters have their second Big West title in sight with a chance to clinch it with a favorable series result this weekend already coming in riding a seven-game win streak. The Roadrunners swept their last home series, but are coming off a series loss at Long Beach State as CSUB hangs on to their slim chance of winning the Big West by taking on the team they need to catch for four games.
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Although the CDC's latest mask guidelines allow vaccinated people to go maskless in most indoor and outdoor settings, UCI is governed by Cal/OSHA and University of California rules, which still require masks on all UCI-controlled property. Please continue to follow UCI's executive directive on face coverings until further notice.
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| Â Probable Rotation |
| UC Irvine |
vs. |
CSU Bakersfield |
| Pitcher |
Year |
|
Stats |
Day |
Pitcher |
Year |
|
Stats |
| Trenton Denholm |
Jr. |
RHP |
(4-2, 5.00) |
Friday |
Noah Cordova |
RS-Sr. |
RHP |
(2-2, 3.91) |
| Nick Pinto |
Fr. |
LHP |
(5-3, 4.06) |
Sat. Game 1 |
Aaron Charles |
Sr. |
RHP |
(2-1, 3.13) |
| Michael Frias |
RS-So. |
RHP |
(8-0, 2.30) |
Sat. Game 2 |
TBA |
|
|
|
| Peter Van Loon |
Jr. |
RHP |
(3-3, 4.89) |
Sunday |
Roman Angelo |
Jr. |
RHP |
(2-1, 3.28) |
Around The Horn
Â
34Â - Head Coach
Ben Orloff turned
34 in April; he's the 10th-youngest head coach in Division I baseball
8Â - The 'Eaters have won 14 games in which they trailed in at one point including an 8-run comeback Fri. vs. UCR
14Â - There are
14 Anteaters on track to graduate this season with six having done so over the Winter Quarter
3.38Â - The UCI bullpen has a
3.38 ERA this season, and have allowed 1 R and 2 BB in 22.1 IP over the last two series
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LEADING OFF
+ UC Irvine baseball completed a four-game sweep of UC Riverside at home, the team's third Big West series sweep. The weekend began with a wild comeback for the 'Eaters who trailed 8-0 in the fourth inning to win 9-8. Saturday's doubleheader was a double feature of solid starting pitching beginning with
Nick Pinto shaking off early runs to win 5-2 and strikeout 12 over 6.1 innings.
Michael Frias finished off the day allowing three hits in eight innings to win, 8-1. Sunday's finale was more pitching as
Peter Van Loon putting up a career high 10 strikeouts to lead the way to a 9-1 victory.
+ The Anteaters continue to lead the Big West now four games up on second-place UC Santa Barbara. UCI is 25-7 with a magic number of five with eight regular season games remaining.
+ Anteater pitching again led the way with a 2.75 ERA allowing 27 hits over the weekend while striking out 42. Three quality starts came from starters as Frias, Pinto, and Van Loon each pitching into the seventh inning and beyond allowing one earned run to pick up their wins. The bullpen continued its roll allowing one run in 12.1 innings lowering its season ERA to 3.38.
Gordon Ingebritson went 2.2 perfect innings extending his streak to over 100 straight batters now without allowing a walk.
Josh Ibarra,
Andre Antone, and
Jacob King each posted two-plus innings allowing two baserunners combined. King scored a pair of saves now with six on the season. The entire bullpen did not issue a walk either with just issued as a team over the weekend.
+ Anteater offense hit .311 against the Highlanders hitting five home runs from five different players.
Justin Torres launched his second, both against UCR, while leading all Anteaters with eight hits and a .500 average.
Mike Peabody had a hit and RBI in each game leading with seven RBIs and six runs and provided an electric steal of home plate Sunday.
Jake Palmer reached base 12 times scoring six times as well while homering for the first time at UCI. The catching position of
Dillon Tatum and
Thomas McCaffrey went 7-for-15 as a duo scoring six times and producing a homer from Tatum, his Big West-leading 12th of 2021.
NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
+ The 'Eaters are nationally ranked high sitting third in hit by pitch and fourth in sacrifice bunts and triples. The team also stands top 50 in walks allowed per nine innings (15th), strikeout-to-walk ratio (20th), ERA (28th), WHIP (29th), hits (29th), runs (29th) and runs per game (42nd), sacrifice flies (32nd), fielding (35th), batting (41st), on-base percentage (41st), and shutouts (42nd). Within the Big West Conference, UCI commands many of those categories as well leading all schools in ERA (3.84), hit by pitch (94), hits (471), runs (339) and runs per game (7.1), sacrifice bunts (45), triples (22), and WHIP (1.28). The team is also second in walks (189), batting (.290), fielding (.977), home runs (33), on-base percentage (.390), shutouts (4), strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.00), and walks allowed per nine innings (2.99)
+ Church leads the national charge for 'Eaters in the rankings continuing to sit atop the nation in triples while also excelling in hits (12th), doubles (17th), runs (35th), hits per game (38th), and total bases (47th).
Mike Peabody continues to excel at getting hit by pitch 10th in the nation, and is 85th in RBIs and 52nd in RBIs per game.
Dillon Tatum is 54th nationally in HRs and leading the Big West. Pitching leaders include
Michael Frias 13th nationally in wins and tied atop the Big West, 17th in WHIP, 35th in hits allowed per game, 47th in ERA, 83rd in strikeouts, and 90th in strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Jacob King and
Gordon Ingebritson sit first and second in the Big West in games pitched and 27th and 42nd, nationally. King also moved into 62nd nationally in saves.
+ Anteater career records are nearing for some student-athletes.
Trenton Denholm will make his 47th start to tie Brett Smith for ninth all-time. His next win would make him the 17th Anteater all-time to win 20 games in a career. His joined the top 20 all-time in innings pitched, and his next strikeout will surpass Andrew Morales and put him in 10th all-time.
Adrian Damla stands four games away from 200 in his Anteater career game which would make him the 14th Anteater to reach the mark and tie 'Eater great, Jeff Malinoff. He is the active leader in games along with hits (147) and RBIs (87).
Mike Peabody was plunked for the 41st time in his career joining Adam Alcantara, Taylor Holiday, and
Ben Orloff, the all-time leader with 43, as the only 'Eaters with 40 in a career.
Jake Palmer has scored 115 runs joining the top 20 in program history.
Dillon Tatum became the sixth Anteater with a 10-HR season against Oregon State. He's approaching rarified air sitting two behind Brandon Lewis and Cody Cipriano each with 14 in a season for the most in a UCI season.
Nathan Church's eight triples leave him two away from becoming the second player with 10 in a season that would match Jeff Malinoff in 1972.
Dylan Riddle pitched a scoreless frame vs. LBSU for his 70th career appearance, making him the 15th Anteater with 70 games pitched.
+ UCI finished non-conference against Oregon State finishing with an 8-8 record, 7-6 against Pac-12 programs. Under coach Orloff, UCI is 16-11 against the Pac-12, and have a 97-80 record against the conference since the program returned in 2002. UCI's non-conference strength of schedule is ranked seventh in the nation, and holds a non-conference RPI of 23 with four Quadrant 1 wins in 10 games against Quadrant 1 programs to this point. Overall, UCI's strength of schedule ranks 71st.
THIS WEEKEND
UC Irvine has two more weekend series including their final road weekend of the regular season heading to Bakersfield for the first time in a Big West series. CSUB became a program in 2009, and the 'Eaters and 'Runners met during the season each year from 2010-17. UCI holds the all-time advantage, 16-4, but CSUB won both midweek matchups the last time they met in 2017.
The Anteaters have a chance to clinch their second Big West crown this weekend needing a combination of five UCI wins or UCSB losses to secure it. CSU Bakersfield is still alive as well seven games back of UCI, and Long Beach State is six games back with eight games left in conference play.
The 'Eaters rose in the national rankings as well now No. 20 according to D1Baseball and the NCAA. Other polls have UCI higher including Perfect Game USA (16th), Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (17th) and Baseball America (18th). Both the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and USA Today Coaches Poll have the 'Eaters at No. 22.
PROGRAMMING NOTES
UC Irvine Athletics announced their 2021 Hall of Fame Class with two Anteater baseball members included with legendary head coach, Mike Gillespie, and brilliant pitcher and two-sport athlete, Jerry Maras. The pair join six Anteater baseball members already inducted - Gary Adams, Rocky Craig, Jeff Malinoff, Rod and Tom Spence, and Gary Wheelock. The class will not be recognized until a date later to be announced in 2022 due to the pandemic still ongoing in 2021.
Spectators returned to Anteater Ballpark for the first time in 13 months starting during the UCSD series. Full details on who can attend and protocols they must follow can be found on ucirvinesports.com. Limited tickets will be available to season ticket holders and UC Irvine player-guests only. No tickets will be available for purchase by the general public.
Live streams of all home games are available this season with and now on ESPN3 for the remainder of the home schedule Mark Roberts is on the play-by-play simulcast all year on the live stream and KUCI 88.9 FM radio broadcasts. Live tweet updates and live stats will also continue to keep fans tuned in to all Anteater games to give the experience of being at the game all season.
The 2021 season represents one significant anniversary as it marks the 20th season of Anteater Ballpark. January 25, 2001 was the date of the groundbreaking of the new ballpark and the return of the program. While the 20th anniversary of that date passed last month, the 2021 season marks the 20th season UCI baseball. Since its erection in 2002, the 'Eaters hold a record of 369-188. The team won its first 11 games at home this year before Sunday's loss marking the fourth time in Anteater Ballpark the squad has begun the year 11-1 or better, and the second best start at home behind the 2011 squad's 16-0 start.
Thoughts from Head Coach Ben Orloff and the Anteaters
Postgame Friday, May 14 - "Crazy win, I'm getting tired of saying we go down big early. Going down 8-0 is not a sustainable strategy for us being a good team. But I give our guys a lot of credit just to play nine innings. The bullpen didn't give up a hit in the last five innings—Antone, Ingebritson, and King really put a stop to that game because we really could not get them out in the first four innings; those guys are the big heroes. Our offense, just the ability to keep playing regardless of the score. We've got to find a way to play better early in games, we can't keep going down so much and think that we can come back and win. Really proud of this group because I don't think I've ever been part of a win where we come back from down 8-0. Hopefully we can get off to a better start tomorrow." - Head coach Ben Orloff
Postgame Saturday, May 15 - "My curveball felt pretty good today. I was throwing for strikes a lot early on. Towards the end, I was getting two strikes on guys and they were guessing curveballs and I threw a couple fastballs in there and by a couple guys." - Nick Pinto
"It's awesome to have the offense and defense playing great like they did today. It's fun pitching with something like that." - Nick Pinto
"I'm just trying to go out there and make competitive pitches. I know that if I do my plan, then no one can beat me, so it's just good height, throw multiple pitches for strikes, and it's going to be a tough day for any offense." - Michael Frias
"Feels awesome to get another win. I'm so ready to put some numbers up on the scoreboard. It's good to be winning, and it's fun to win and you can see it in the guys." - Michael Frias
Postgame Sunday, May 16 - "I felt good. I was focused more on staying in the moment, not worrying about how late it was in the game. I just kept everything focused to innings of two. Didn't matter if it was the sixth or the second, kept that same focus." - Peter Van Loon
"The strikeouts came from a lot of fastball height. Coach Bibona preaches in fastball height, and that's something I've been struggling with. I felt more on top today, and that just sets up everything else. As a pitching staff we're definitely tough to beat when we have good height." - Peter Van Loon
"I feel good. I'm still trying to figure out some kinks in the swing right now. Coaches have been helping a ton and the whole team has been playing well, and it really helps when everyone else is getting hits when you're not so it makes it easy." - Mike Peabody
"We talked about the steal of home. We knew he was slow to the plate out of the windup. We took a strike to see, and then once that happened it was like alright let's do it." - Mike Peabody
On the 2020 cancelation - "I can remember the day the announcement came out and having to address the team. We were getting conflicting reports that week, but when it finally came out that the season got canceled and you have to tell the team, you see the hurt in guys' faces who may have played their last game at Irvine or last game ever."
On the UCI 2021 roster - "You just know over the course of the season, somebody is going to be unavailable or a group will need to be shut down, it's just inevitable. We will need lots of players with all the challenges, and we have a smaller roster in the Big West with 38. This year is also unique in the sense that there's so many guys that normally would not be here either from the draft or graduation."
On games without spectators in 2021 -Â "For the fans, I hope they continue to follow us. We're really excited about the schedule that we have. No midweeks, we still have 10 Pac-12 games, all the sacrifice that the kids have made to get to this point, we're looking forward to being one of those teams with players that are going to be a lot better from February to April."
On the 2021 Schedule - "We came out with a 56-game schedule, which, in a pandemic, has taken a lot of work and rework. We're not leaving the state and not getting on an airplane. Our league deciding to do four-game weekends is something I wanted a lot. Throughout this, I've wanted to play the most games and the most innings, and that's what we got. 56 games has a big significance because it could get canceled like we've seen with other sports. I think that's important for me, for our kids, and for the team. The quality of opponents is still really good. Especially during the pandemic, I'm really proud of the schedule that we have. We're looking forward to a lot of baseball. We're excited for the challenge, and we all want and love to play. I don't think we can have enough games or innings. Let's play."
On practicing in the fall and prior to the season - "In the fall, we had 18 days with small groups. We played no inter-squad games, just eight 4-to-5 person pods. It was very skill-based, not much team stuff. In January, we were in small groups until we pulled the tarp off the field on January 28. That was the first time the whole team has been on the same field together, before that we had to try and get creative. Since the 30th, we've been as a team having normal-ish practices. We've played eight inter-squads, and they have been telling for the stuff we haven't practiced and game-type stuff that comes up. We still have a lot of ground to cover before opening day, and once we get playing, keep learning and trying to get better."
On leadership roles - "It's been really hard these past months because we've only been a team for two weeks, but you see some of the older players really trying to help some of the new guys get stuff. Position players like Palmer and Peabody are trying to help the new guys get it, and Denholm on the pitching side. It's been much needed because of how little we've been on the field. In a year like this, the smart teams that know what they're supposed to do and can handle the situations even with a lack of practice time, those are the teams that do well. The teams that get better once the season starts, you'll look up in April and they'll have a better record than the other guys."
On the rotation - "The first weekend will be how we planned to finish last year – Denholm-Van Loon-Pinto. They've been the best guys, especially Van Loon has taken the biggest jump forward. He's a lot more physical, his stuff has ticked up a bit. He had an arm injury that ended his sophomore year at junior college so he's just kind of continued to distance himself from that. He's been really good, and probably on the whole team has taken the biggest improvement from last year."
On bullpen depth - "It Takes All Of Us - I joke with our guys about that NFL slogan, but we're going to need that depth once we get to four-game weekends. The guys at the end of the game will be the same in John Vergara and Josh Ibarra. One of the guys that's emerged that will pitch a lot is Jacob King. He's developed a slider that's made him a lot better and will be one of the best guys out of the bullpen and pitch a lot. Gordon Ingebritson is in the mix, Troy Wentworth is improved, Michael Frias has looked good the last few weeks after missing the fall. Andre Antone is now a pitcher-only. He went through Tommy John in high school right when he was starting to get good, but still never got to focus on pitching being a two-way guy. Now, that's all he's focusing on, and he's thrown the ball decent. In terms of pitching, what's different about the schedule is no Tuesday games so I think the lack of opportunity that some guys might get in the first three weeks of the season will be there."
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CSU BAKERSFIELD ROADRUNNERS
Bakersfield is enjoying its first season in the Big West challenging near the top of the standings at 16-12 with an overall record of 19-16. The coaches didn't believe much in the preseason picking CSUB to finish in last place. Things started rocky with a road series loss at Fresno State, home split with Pacific, and had seven games canceled due to COVID-19 issues at Stanford and a Big West series at Cal State Fullerton. Since then, they put up a split vs. UC Davis, series wins at Hawai'i and vs. UCSD, and a home sweep of Cal Poly. CSUN swept them at home, and most recently, the Runners lost three of four at Long Beach State.
The Roadrunners have only had baseball since 2009, but have been fairly successful winning the WAC in the first year they were eligible in 2013, and former Anteater assistant, Bob Macaluso, led the team in 2016. The Runners made the NCAA Tournament in 2015 as an at-large taking a win off Mississippi in the UCLA Regional. UCI has fared well at 16-4 all-time meeting every year from 2010 to 2017 including sweeps in those 2013 and 2015 seasons. They last met in 2017 where Bakersfield won both midweek matchups in mid-April and early May.
The offense has produced well hitting .271 and averaging 5.1 runs a game. Jacen Roberson fuels the Bakersfield offense hitting .279 with team highs in runs, doubles, triples, home runs, and RBIs. Flanking him are Tyler Jorgenson (.362, 50 hits, 27 RBI), Evan Berkey (4 HR, 17 BB, 6 SB), and Nick Grossman (3 HR, 20 RBI).Â
Pitching has a 4.85 ERA and 4.34 in Big West games. Front-end starters Roman Angelo (2-1, 3.28) and Aaron Charles (2-1, 3.13) have kept offenses quiet while the bullpen has been very involved with 13 saves in 19 wins. Nine other pitchers have made at least seven relief appearances, and Arthur Joven (3 W) and Ethan Skuija (45 K) have made their share of starts. Jack Lee (3 Sv) and Cody Tucker (33.2 IP) have made noise on a staff that averages nearly one double play per game.
