Friday, June 4
Stanford, Calif.
6:00 PM
UC Irvine
vs
Nevada
Photo by: Matt Brown
Anteaters Take On Nevada To Start Stanford Regional
June 01, 2021 | Baseball
STANFORD, Calif. --- UC Irvine baseball will play in the Division I postseason for the ninth time when play begins Friday night at the Stanford Regional against 3-seed Nevada. The Big West champions square off with the champions out of the Mountain West to advance to the winner's bracket. Pac-12 at-large and host, Stanford Cardinal, play in the other regional matchup against Summit League champion, North Dakota State.
Information on fan attendance and guidelines can be found at gostanford.com.
All-Big West Awards
Around The Horn
34 - Head Coach Ben Orloff is 34; the 10th-youngest coach in Division I and 3rd-youngest in postseason (UMD, WRST)
16 - The 'Eaters have won 16 games in which they trailed in at one point including an 8-run comeback vs. UCR
40 - UCI Baseball produced its eighth 40-win season and third season with 40 regular season victories (1974, 2009)
3.47 - As a unit, the bullpen holds a 3.47 ERA, 13 saves, a record of 16-6, and 199 strikeouts to 70 walks in 204.1 IP
LEADING OFF
+ UC Irvine baseball concluded its regular season in historic fashion. A sweep of Cal State Fullerton meant the first-ever series win at home in its 13th attempt over Cal State Fullerton, its first-ever sweep of Cal State Fullerton in any series, and most importantly, locking in a Big West title, only its second in program history and first since 2009.
+ The Anteaters finished with 40 regular season wins, something only the 2007 and 2009 Anteater squads have done. They are 1 of 12 programs in the country entering the postseason with 40 wins, and 1 of 3 to do so without a conference tournament. The 32 Big West wins are a record, and may never be duplicated due to this year's 40-game slate.
+ UC Irvine is back in the postseason for the first time since 2014 and the ninth time as a Division I program. The 'Eaters made it first in 2004, then went each year from 2006 to 2011, and against for an eighth time seven years ago in 2014. UCI also reached five postseasons as a Division II program starting in its very first year in 1970 and making each tournament through 1974.
+ The 'Eaters were selected as part of the Stanford Regional as a No. 2 seed, the fourth 2-seed selection in UCI history joining the 2004, 2007, and 2008 squads. The program's very first Division I appearance in 2004 was as a 2-seed, and the team won the 2007 Round Rock Regional and 2008 Lincoln Regional as a 2-seed. The 'Eaters have been a 1-seed once (2009), 3-seed four times (2006, 2010, 2011, 2014), and never been a 4-seed. The 'Eaters are joined in the field by a second Big West participant joined by UC Santa Barbara; the first time with two Big West teams since 2017. Since UCI rejoined the Big West in 2002, the Big West has earned multiple NCAA Tournament bids 16 times in 19 tournaments.
+ UC Irvine heads to the Stanford Regional to join the hosts, Stanford, an at-large selection out of the Pac-12 Conference, the Mountain West champions, Nevada Wolf Pack, and the champions out of the Summit League, North Dakota State. Among the 16 regionals, the Stanford Regional is 1 of 5 that contain three or more conference champions. The Stanford Regional is the only with a pair of conference champions that earned a bid through the regular season with no conference tournament. The 'Eaters met with Stanford earlier this season in a four-game series, and have met in eight games throughout their program histories. UCI and Nevada will meet Friday with their 30th all-time meeting, first since 2018, and UCI holds a 20-9 record in the previous games. Fourth-seeded North Dakota State has yet to play any of the other three regional teams previously.
ALL-BIG WEST HONORS
+ All-Big West honors were announced Wednesday with the Anteaters taking a number of major awards including head coach Ben Orloff's first Big West Coach of the Year award. Mike Peabody took home Big West Field Player of the Year in a joint effort with Cal Poly's Brooks Lee, and in a three-way tie, Taishi Nakawake shared Big West Defensive Player of the Year with Myles Emmerson and Denzel Clarke. Overall, a record 11 Anteaters earned accolades including five first-teamers - Mike Peabody, Nathan Church, Michael Frias, Jacob King, and Gordon Ingebritson, three second-teamers - Dillon Tatum, Justin Torres, and Nick Pinto, and two as honorable mention - Connor McGuire and Jake Palmer.
+ The 11 All-Big West honors is a program record as is the five first-teamers. Coach Orloff's first Coach of the Year honor is the fourth conference accolade for the program joining Mike Gillespie in 2009, Mike Gerakos in 1987, and Steve Hertz in 1980 for the SCBA. It's the second time the 'Eaters have had a hand in three major awards joining the coach, player, and pitcher of the year trio in 2009 of Gillespie, Orloff, and Daniel Bibona.
+ Mike Peabody's co-Big West Field Player of the Year honor is the fourth for the Anteaters. Most recently, Keston Hiura won in 2017 as did Taylor Sparks in 2013 and Peabody's coach, Ben Orloff, in 2009.
+ Taishi Nakawake's tri-Big West Defensive Player of the Year honor also marks the fourth time an Anteater has won it and second consecutive UCI shortstop. Christian Koss took it home in 2019, and before that, UCI won it consecutively in 2011 by Brian Hernandez and 2012 with D.J. Crumlich.
NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
+ The 'Eaters are nationally ranked in some team stats including 2nd in hit by pitch and 4th in triples and sacrifice bunts. They also rank top 50 in walks allowed per nine innings (11th), strikeout-to-walk rati (15th), hits (15th), sacrifice flies (21st), runs (22nd), doubles (23rd), ERA (26th), fielding percentage (26th), on-base percentage (26th), WHIP (27th), batting average (32nd), runs per game (34th), and shutouts (34th). Within the Big West Conference, UCI commands many of those categories as well leading all schools in hit by pitch (113), on-base percentage (.395), sacrifice bunts (52), runs per game (7.1), triples (24), WHIP (1.28), and strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.08). They're second in the conference in walks, batting average, ERA, fielding percentage, hits, runs, and walks allowed per nine innings.
+ Church leads the national charge for 'Eaters in the rankings continuing to sit atop the nation in triples while also excelling in hits (4th), doubles (21st), runs (32nd), total bases (38th), and runs per game (70th). Mike Peabody joins him in many categories including hit by pitch (4th), RBIs per game (47th), RBIs (50th), runs (85th), and runs per game (97th). Dillon Tatum is 77th nationally in HRs and second in the Big West. Connor McGuire has 10 sac bunts to lead the conference and his ninth nationally, and he also has the 64th-most sacrifice flies nationally, a total of 15 sacrifices. Luke Spillane's six sacrifice flies rank him 25th in the NCAA. Pitching leaders include Michael Frias now 39th in wins, 75th in WHIP, and 91st in hits allowed per nine innings. Nick Pinto and Trenton Denholm are each tied for second in starts. Jacob King and Gordon Ingebritson sit first and third in the Big West in games pitched and 29th and 38th, nationally. King also moved into 35th nationally in saves with eight.
+ Anteater career records are nearing for some student-athletes. Trenton Denholm made his 48th start on Saturday, tying him for ninth in program history. He won his 20th game to become the 17th Anteater in history to do that. He also sits among UCI career leaders in strikeouts at 10th all-time with 233 and 17th in innings pitched at 272.1. One inning will push him to 16th all-time, and as many as eight strikeouts would vault him into a tie for seventh in UCI history. Adrian Damla played his 200th career game last Friday, the 14th Anteater to reach that mark, and now is climbing the top 10 with potential to hit 205 and tie Jerry McClanahan, D.J. Crumlich, and Jeff Cusick. Mike Peabody became the all-time leader in hit by pitch for the program, and has shattered the mark of 43 in a career with 48 now. He is also the single-season leader now with 24 after drawing six HBP vs. Cal State Fullerton. 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. He followed that up earning his first two career saves to finish off the weekend vs. CSF.
+ UCI finished non-conference 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 sixth in the nation, and holds a non-conference RPI of 27 with four Quadrant 1 wins in 10 games against Quadrant 1 programs. Overall, UCI's strength of schedule ranks 109th with an RPI of 32. The Big West Conference rated as the 15th-strongest conference in the nation posting a record of 53-68 in non-conference action.
+ The 'Eaters remain ranked No. 17 according to D1Baseball and the NCAA. Other polls have UCI back in the among the top 25 including Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (15th), Baseball America (15th), Perfect Game USA (15th), USA Today Coaches Poll (16th), and the NCBWA (17th).
PROGRAMMING NOTES
The regional this weekend will be broadcasted on ESPN3 for every matchup with the possibility of ESPNU or ESPN2 picking up a game or two. All the action will be broadcasted over the radio on KUCI 88.9 FM and kuci.org with play-by-play, Mark Roberts. Live stats through ucirvinesports.com and tweet updates at @UCIbsb will also be available throughout the regional and the postseason.
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 Spence, 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.
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 373-188. 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.
NCAA Baseball Regionals Virtual Watch Party
Presented by the UCI Alumni Association. Free for all members of the Anteater community.
UCI Baseball is back in the post-season for the first time in seven years! Cheer on the UCI Baseball team with the UCI Alumni Association as they compete in post-season play this weekend. The Anteaters earned the automatic bid out of the Big West Conference and finished the regular season with a record of 40-16 with a 32-8 conference record.
We invite you to join your fellow Anteaters as we watch the game at our OFFICIAL UCI Virtual Watch Party for each round they play. Our party will feature an in-Zoom broadcast of the game with trivia, prizes and community fun.
Register once and you are registered for every post-season NCAA game watch party.
RSVP TODAY!
Thoughts from head coach Ben Orloff
On the 2021 regular season - "I was looking at it and I think there's 10 or 11 teams in the country with 40 wins. In 2019, there was five teams on the entire West Coast with 40. To do it in a season like this, having to play four games each weekend. We'll be a Big West champion forever, 32 wins will be the record forever in the history of the Big West, so this is really an historic regular season, and we're really proud of the guys for playing.
On preparing for the NCAA Regional – "The experience of us being at Stanford, knowing what dugout we're in and how the field plays, I think that will help; maybe staying at the same hotel. What this team's done all along is be present, stay in the moment. We've had some devastating losses, and we've been able to move on to whatever's next. We've had exciting wins, haven't lost a weekend series since Stanford, gone 34-9 in that time, and sometimes winning can lead to complacency, but we haven't seen that out of our group. We're here now, this is what the kids have wanted to do. I think by Friday, we'll get a really good performance that will be in character to who we are in a great regional setting."
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 - "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."
[3] NEVADA WOLF PACK
Nevada is back, returning to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in their history and their first since 2000. The Wolf Pack made it four times between 1994 and 2000 including each of their last two trips in 1999 and 2000 also at the Stanford Regional. The Wolf Pack have never made it past the regional round and will look to break that trend while trending up with four straight wins and 15 straight conference wins to end the season. The Wolf Pack finished with a 22-9 record to win the Mountain West Conference regular season title and automatic bid.
The 2021 season saw a fairly extensive non-conference slate starting with a series win at Cal Poly to start the year. The rest of non-conference has been rugged losing to UCLA once, Arizona State twice, two losses at No. 3 Texas, and swept at USC to put Nevada at 25-18 overall.
The Wolf Pack and Anteaters last met in 2018 when UCI won two of three at Anteater Ballpark. UCI holds a 20-9 record in the all-time series winning seven of eight series since 2007. The coaching staffs are familiar with each other as Long Beach State's T.J. Bruce heads the squad with other recent Dirtbags Troy Buckley and Abe Alvarez flanking him.
The offense is a juggernaut at top 5 in the nation hitting (.321) and slugging (.535) mashing nearly 2.5 doubles a game and 1.5 home runs a game. The nation's leading batter and slugger Dillan Shrum comes in hitting .479 with 15 of the team's 63 home runs. Dario Gomez (.404, 37 RBI), Tyler Bosetti (22 2B, 11 HR), and Joshua Zamora (12 HR) provide a stout batting order.
Pitching has some quality arms behind a 5.43 ERA along with the 22nd-best defense. Jake Jackson is 5-3 with 2 CG in 12 starts, 39 K and 101 hits in 67 IP. Cam Walty is another front-end starter at 5-3, 4.02 in 56 IP. Opponents have hit .297 against the Wolf Pack, but have had trouble against relievers Shane Gustafson (3-2, 3.00, 3 Sv) and closer Tyler Cochran (7 Sv, 28 IP, 7 BB, 30 K).
[1] STANFORD CARDINAL
Stanford is back in the postseason for the 35th time in its history hosting its 19th regional. Stanford is hosting for a fourth straight season which includes a Super Regional berth in 2019, and looks to return to the College World Series for the first time since 2008. Overall, the Cardinal have a 147-79 (.650) record in the tournament including a 69-19 (.784) clip at Sunken Diamond.
The 2021 season saw the Cardinal go 33-14 with a third-place finish in the Pac-12 at 17-10 winning 12 of their 13 series, missing only on their rival, Cal. Adding on a 21-5 mark in the field they'll play this weekend, Stanford is a formidable, but the 'Eaters managed one of those five losses.
The Cardinal and Anteaters played during UCI's finals week in March ending a drought of 40 years since the programs last met, and Stanford won three of four to up their all-time series lead to 7-1 over UCI and 6-1 in Stanford. The 'Eaters took the second game of their Saturday doubleheader, 5-1, behind five no-hit innings by Michael Frias. Stanford's wins were by scores of 4-1, 6-1, and 8-6.
Stanford's offense doesn't show many gaudy numbers, but they lead the Pac-12 with 1.34 HR per game and score 6.3 runs a contest. The team hits .276 and has busted 63 home runs led by the likes of Brock Jones (.300, 13 HR, 44 RBI), Nick Brueser (.321, 9 HR), and five other Cardinal with at least six homers. The squad also had 47 steals behind Jones' 14 and Tim Tawa's 13.
Pitching is what drives Stanford and a 4.64 ERA. Opponents are hitting just .244 with bonafide aces Brendan Beck (7-1, 3.03, 106 K) and Quinn Mathews (4-2, 6.02) on the bump. Four different relievers have 20+ outings including closer Zach Grech (5-5, 3.35, 13 Sv) leading the bullpen who has five hurlers touting ERAs under 4.00, and together a staff with a 1.34 WHIP. The defense cleans up nicely as well with the nation's 12th-best fielding percentage.
[4] NORTH DAKOTA STATE BISON
North Dakota State is in the NCAA Tournament for the second time; the other appearance happened to be alongside the Anteaters in 2014 when they were sent to the Corvallis Regional and lost a pair of 2-1 games to UNLV and Oregon State. NDSU joined Division I and the Summit League just in 2008. Prior to that, the Bison made the Division II Tournament back in 1969 winning a pair of games in the Midwest Regional
The 2021 season has produced NDSU's highest win total going 41-17 including a 14-4 home record and NCAA-best 26 games away from home. The Bison finished second in the five-team Summit League at 20-11, but rallied through the tournament including two wins over top seed Oral Roberts to claim the automatic bid.
The Bison and Anteaters have never met, however, UCI has made recent trips to the Midwest to face the likes of Missouri State, Southern Illinois, and Iowa. NDSU did have a treacherous non-conference slate winning at Dayton, Saint Louis, Northern Colorado, both Western and Eastern Kentucky, and a big series victory at Big 12 Kansas.
The offense beats you with its 75 stolen bases and the 17th-most walks in the nation. The Bison are hitting .277 behind 58-game starters Bennett Hostetler (.391, 8 HR, 54 RBI, 18 SB) and Jake Malec (.328, 9 HR, 32 RBI, 16 SB) on a team that scores about 6.5 runs a game.
Pitching has seen the same three starters march out there in Evan Sankey (7-2, 3.94), Cade Feeney (7-1, 3.39), and Ben Smith (6-4, 6.93) with another arm, Max Loven, going 3-2, 4.23 in 11 starts. The team ERA of 4.71 is helped by top tier relievers Parker Hamm (1.85, 11 Sv), Wyatt Nelson (3.49, 7 Sv), and Jake Drew (5-0, 2 Sv). The team also has 2.36 strikeouts to every walk, but the defense is hampered by 69 errors around the diamond.
Information on fan attendance and guidelines can be found at gostanford.com.
| #17 UC Irvine Anteaters (43-17, Big West 32-8) at NCAA Stanford Regional | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dates | June 4-7, 2021 | ||||||||
| Location | Klein Field at Sunken Diamond - Stanford, Calif. - Fan Information | ||||||||
| Games | Friday - 6:00 PM vs. Nevada ESPN3 Live Stats |
Saturday - 6:00 PM vs. Stanford ESPN3 Live Stats |
Sunday - 1:00 PM vs. NDSU ESPN3 Live Stats |
Sunday - 6:00 PM vs. Stanford ESPN3 Live Stats |
Monday - 7:00 PM vs. Stanford ESPN3 Live Stats |
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| Live Stream | |||||||||
| Stats | |||||||||
| Radio | KUCI 88.9 FM and kuci.org for all UCI games with Mark Roberts | ||||||||
| Tourney Central | UCI Tourney Central | Stanford Regional Page | |||||||
| Game Notes | UC Irvine Baseball | ||||||||
| Social Media |  @UCIbsb  @UCIbsb  UC Irvine Baseball #RipEm #TogetherWeZot |
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| Monday Matchup | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UC Irvine | vs. | Stanford | ||||||
| Pitcher | Year | Stats | Day | Pitcher | Year | Stats | ||
| TBD | Monday | TBD | ||||||
| Stanford Regional Schedule | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Date | Time / Result | Away | Home | Live Stream | Radio | Stats |
| Friday | June 4 | STAN 9, NDSU 1 | North Dakota State | Stanford | ESPN3 | Stats | |
| Friday | June 4 | UCI 7, NEV 0 | Nevada | UC Irvine | ESPN3 | KUCI | Stats |
| Saturday | June 5 | NDSU 6, NEV 1 | North Dakota State | Nevada | ESPN3 | Stats | |
| Saturday | June 5 | STAN 12, UCI 4 | UC Irvine | Stanford | ESPN3 | KUCI | Stats |
| Sunday | June 6 | UCI 18, NDSU 3 | UC Irvine | North Dakota State | ESPN3 | KUCI | Stats |
| Sunday | June 6 | UCI 8, STAN 4 | Stanford | UC Irvine | ESPN3 | KUCI | Stats |
| Monday | June 7 | 7:00 PM | Stanford | UC Irvine | ESPN3 | KUCI | Stats |
Around The Horn
34 - Head Coach Ben Orloff is 34; the 10th-youngest coach in Division I and 3rd-youngest in postseason (UMD, WRST)
16 - The 'Eaters have won 16 games in which they trailed in at one point including an 8-run comeback vs. UCR
40 - UCI Baseball produced its eighth 40-win season and third season with 40 regular season victories (1974, 2009)
3.47 - As a unit, the bullpen holds a 3.47 ERA, 13 saves, a record of 16-6, and 199 strikeouts to 70 walks in 204.1 IP
LEADING OFF
+ UC Irvine baseball concluded its regular season in historic fashion. A sweep of Cal State Fullerton meant the first-ever series win at home in its 13th attempt over Cal State Fullerton, its first-ever sweep of Cal State Fullerton in any series, and most importantly, locking in a Big West title, only its second in program history and first since 2009.
+ The Anteaters finished with 40 regular season wins, something only the 2007 and 2009 Anteater squads have done. They are 1 of 12 programs in the country entering the postseason with 40 wins, and 1 of 3 to do so without a conference tournament. The 32 Big West wins are a record, and may never be duplicated due to this year's 40-game slate.
+ UC Irvine is back in the postseason for the first time since 2014 and the ninth time as a Division I program. The 'Eaters made it first in 2004, then went each year from 2006 to 2011, and against for an eighth time seven years ago in 2014. UCI also reached five postseasons as a Division II program starting in its very first year in 1970 and making each tournament through 1974.
+ The 'Eaters were selected as part of the Stanford Regional as a No. 2 seed, the fourth 2-seed selection in UCI history joining the 2004, 2007, and 2008 squads. The program's very first Division I appearance in 2004 was as a 2-seed, and the team won the 2007 Round Rock Regional and 2008 Lincoln Regional as a 2-seed. The 'Eaters have been a 1-seed once (2009), 3-seed four times (2006, 2010, 2011, 2014), and never been a 4-seed. The 'Eaters are joined in the field by a second Big West participant joined by UC Santa Barbara; the first time with two Big West teams since 2017. Since UCI rejoined the Big West in 2002, the Big West has earned multiple NCAA Tournament bids 16 times in 19 tournaments.
+ UC Irvine heads to the Stanford Regional to join the hosts, Stanford, an at-large selection out of the Pac-12 Conference, the Mountain West champions, Nevada Wolf Pack, and the champions out of the Summit League, North Dakota State. Among the 16 regionals, the Stanford Regional is 1 of 5 that contain three or more conference champions. The Stanford Regional is the only with a pair of conference champions that earned a bid through the regular season with no conference tournament. The 'Eaters met with Stanford earlier this season in a four-game series, and have met in eight games throughout their program histories. UCI and Nevada will meet Friday with their 30th all-time meeting, first since 2018, and UCI holds a 20-9 record in the previous games. Fourth-seeded North Dakota State has yet to play any of the other three regional teams previously.
ALL-BIG WEST HONORS
+ All-Big West honors were announced Wednesday with the Anteaters taking a number of major awards including head coach Ben Orloff's first Big West Coach of the Year award. Mike Peabody took home Big West Field Player of the Year in a joint effort with Cal Poly's Brooks Lee, and in a three-way tie, Taishi Nakawake shared Big West Defensive Player of the Year with Myles Emmerson and Denzel Clarke. Overall, a record 11 Anteaters earned accolades including five first-teamers - Mike Peabody, Nathan Church, Michael Frias, Jacob King, and Gordon Ingebritson, three second-teamers - Dillon Tatum, Justin Torres, and Nick Pinto, and two as honorable mention - Connor McGuire and Jake Palmer.
+ The 11 All-Big West honors is a program record as is the five first-teamers. Coach Orloff's first Coach of the Year honor is the fourth conference accolade for the program joining Mike Gillespie in 2009, Mike Gerakos in 1987, and Steve Hertz in 1980 for the SCBA. It's the second time the 'Eaters have had a hand in three major awards joining the coach, player, and pitcher of the year trio in 2009 of Gillespie, Orloff, and Daniel Bibona.
+ Mike Peabody's co-Big West Field Player of the Year honor is the fourth for the Anteaters. Most recently, Keston Hiura won in 2017 as did Taylor Sparks in 2013 and Peabody's coach, Ben Orloff, in 2009.
+ Taishi Nakawake's tri-Big West Defensive Player of the Year honor also marks the fourth time an Anteater has won it and second consecutive UCI shortstop. Christian Koss took it home in 2019, and before that, UCI won it consecutively in 2011 by Brian Hernandez and 2012 with D.J. Crumlich.
NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
+ The 'Eaters are nationally ranked in some team stats including 2nd in hit by pitch and 4th in triples and sacrifice bunts. They also rank top 50 in walks allowed per nine innings (11th), strikeout-to-walk rati (15th), hits (15th), sacrifice flies (21st), runs (22nd), doubles (23rd), ERA (26th), fielding percentage (26th), on-base percentage (26th), WHIP (27th), batting average (32nd), runs per game (34th), and shutouts (34th). Within the Big West Conference, UCI commands many of those categories as well leading all schools in hit by pitch (113), on-base percentage (.395), sacrifice bunts (52), runs per game (7.1), triples (24), WHIP (1.28), and strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.08). They're second in the conference in walks, batting average, ERA, fielding percentage, hits, runs, and walks allowed per nine innings.
+ Church leads the national charge for 'Eaters in the rankings continuing to sit atop the nation in triples while also excelling in hits (4th), doubles (21st), runs (32nd), total bases (38th), and runs per game (70th). Mike Peabody joins him in many categories including hit by pitch (4th), RBIs per game (47th), RBIs (50th), runs (85th), and runs per game (97th). Dillon Tatum is 77th nationally in HRs and second in the Big West. Connor McGuire has 10 sac bunts to lead the conference and his ninth nationally, and he also has the 64th-most sacrifice flies nationally, a total of 15 sacrifices. Luke Spillane's six sacrifice flies rank him 25th in the NCAA. Pitching leaders include Michael Frias now 39th in wins, 75th in WHIP, and 91st in hits allowed per nine innings. Nick Pinto and Trenton Denholm are each tied for second in starts. Jacob King and Gordon Ingebritson sit first and third in the Big West in games pitched and 29th and 38th, nationally. King also moved into 35th nationally in saves with eight.
+ Anteater career records are nearing for some student-athletes. Trenton Denholm made his 48th start on Saturday, tying him for ninth in program history. He won his 20th game to become the 17th Anteater in history to do that. He also sits among UCI career leaders in strikeouts at 10th all-time with 233 and 17th in innings pitched at 272.1. One inning will push him to 16th all-time, and as many as eight strikeouts would vault him into a tie for seventh in UCI history. Adrian Damla played his 200th career game last Friday, the 14th Anteater to reach that mark, and now is climbing the top 10 with potential to hit 205 and tie Jerry McClanahan, D.J. Crumlich, and Jeff Cusick. Mike Peabody became the all-time leader in hit by pitch for the program, and has shattered the mark of 43 in a career with 48 now. He is also the single-season leader now with 24 after drawing six HBP vs. Cal State Fullerton. 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. He followed that up earning his first two career saves to finish off the weekend vs. CSF.
+ UCI finished non-conference 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 sixth in the nation, and holds a non-conference RPI of 27 with four Quadrant 1 wins in 10 games against Quadrant 1 programs. Overall, UCI's strength of schedule ranks 109th with an RPI of 32. The Big West Conference rated as the 15th-strongest conference in the nation posting a record of 53-68 in non-conference action.
+ The 'Eaters remain ranked No. 17 according to D1Baseball and the NCAA. Other polls have UCI back in the among the top 25 including Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (15th), Baseball America (15th), Perfect Game USA (15th), USA Today Coaches Poll (16th), and the NCBWA (17th).
PROGRAMMING NOTES
The regional this weekend will be broadcasted on ESPN3 for every matchup with the possibility of ESPNU or ESPN2 picking up a game or two. All the action will be broadcasted over the radio on KUCI 88.9 FM and kuci.org with play-by-play, Mark Roberts. Live stats through ucirvinesports.com and tweet updates at @UCIbsb will also be available throughout the regional and the postseason.
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 Spence, 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.
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 373-188. 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.
NCAA Baseball Regionals Virtual Watch Party
Presented by the UCI Alumni Association. Free for all members of the Anteater community.
UCI Baseball is back in the post-season for the first time in seven years! Cheer on the UCI Baseball team with the UCI Alumni Association as they compete in post-season play this weekend. The Anteaters earned the automatic bid out of the Big West Conference and finished the regular season with a record of 40-16 with a 32-8 conference record.
We invite you to join your fellow Anteaters as we watch the game at our OFFICIAL UCI Virtual Watch Party for each round they play. Our party will feature an in-Zoom broadcast of the game with trivia, prizes and community fun.
Register once and you are registered for every post-season NCAA game watch party.
RSVP TODAY!
Thoughts from head coach Ben Orloff
On the 2021 regular season - "I was looking at it and I think there's 10 or 11 teams in the country with 40 wins. In 2019, there was five teams on the entire West Coast with 40. To do it in a season like this, having to play four games each weekend. We'll be a Big West champion forever, 32 wins will be the record forever in the history of the Big West, so this is really an historic regular season, and we're really proud of the guys for playing.
On preparing for the NCAA Regional – "The experience of us being at Stanford, knowing what dugout we're in and how the field plays, I think that will help; maybe staying at the same hotel. What this team's done all along is be present, stay in the moment. We've had some devastating losses, and we've been able to move on to whatever's next. We've had exciting wins, haven't lost a weekend series since Stanford, gone 34-9 in that time, and sometimes winning can lead to complacency, but we haven't seen that out of our group. We're here now, this is what the kids have wanted to do. I think by Friday, we'll get a really good performance that will be in character to who we are in a great regional setting."
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 - "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."
[3] NEVADA WOLF PACK
Nevada is back, returning to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in their history and their first since 2000. The Wolf Pack made it four times between 1994 and 2000 including each of their last two trips in 1999 and 2000 also at the Stanford Regional. The Wolf Pack have never made it past the regional round and will look to break that trend while trending up with four straight wins and 15 straight conference wins to end the season. The Wolf Pack finished with a 22-9 record to win the Mountain West Conference regular season title and automatic bid.
The 2021 season saw a fairly extensive non-conference slate starting with a series win at Cal Poly to start the year. The rest of non-conference has been rugged losing to UCLA once, Arizona State twice, two losses at No. 3 Texas, and swept at USC to put Nevada at 25-18 overall.
The Wolf Pack and Anteaters last met in 2018 when UCI won two of three at Anteater Ballpark. UCI holds a 20-9 record in the all-time series winning seven of eight series since 2007. The coaching staffs are familiar with each other as Long Beach State's T.J. Bruce heads the squad with other recent Dirtbags Troy Buckley and Abe Alvarez flanking him.
The offense is a juggernaut at top 5 in the nation hitting (.321) and slugging (.535) mashing nearly 2.5 doubles a game and 1.5 home runs a game. The nation's leading batter and slugger Dillan Shrum comes in hitting .479 with 15 of the team's 63 home runs. Dario Gomez (.404, 37 RBI), Tyler Bosetti (22 2B, 11 HR), and Joshua Zamora (12 HR) provide a stout batting order.
Pitching has some quality arms behind a 5.43 ERA along with the 22nd-best defense. Jake Jackson is 5-3 with 2 CG in 12 starts, 39 K and 101 hits in 67 IP. Cam Walty is another front-end starter at 5-3, 4.02 in 56 IP. Opponents have hit .297 against the Wolf Pack, but have had trouble against relievers Shane Gustafson (3-2, 3.00, 3 Sv) and closer Tyler Cochran (7 Sv, 28 IP, 7 BB, 30 K).
[1] STANFORD CARDINAL
Stanford is back in the postseason for the 35th time in its history hosting its 19th regional. Stanford is hosting for a fourth straight season which includes a Super Regional berth in 2019, and looks to return to the College World Series for the first time since 2008. Overall, the Cardinal have a 147-79 (.650) record in the tournament including a 69-19 (.784) clip at Sunken Diamond.
The 2021 season saw the Cardinal go 33-14 with a third-place finish in the Pac-12 at 17-10 winning 12 of their 13 series, missing only on their rival, Cal. Adding on a 21-5 mark in the field they'll play this weekend, Stanford is a formidable, but the 'Eaters managed one of those five losses.
The Cardinal and Anteaters played during UCI's finals week in March ending a drought of 40 years since the programs last met, and Stanford won three of four to up their all-time series lead to 7-1 over UCI and 6-1 in Stanford. The 'Eaters took the second game of their Saturday doubleheader, 5-1, behind five no-hit innings by Michael Frias. Stanford's wins were by scores of 4-1, 6-1, and 8-6.
Stanford's offense doesn't show many gaudy numbers, but they lead the Pac-12 with 1.34 HR per game and score 6.3 runs a contest. The team hits .276 and has busted 63 home runs led by the likes of Brock Jones (.300, 13 HR, 44 RBI), Nick Brueser (.321, 9 HR), and five other Cardinal with at least six homers. The squad also had 47 steals behind Jones' 14 and Tim Tawa's 13.
Pitching is what drives Stanford and a 4.64 ERA. Opponents are hitting just .244 with bonafide aces Brendan Beck (7-1, 3.03, 106 K) and Quinn Mathews (4-2, 6.02) on the bump. Four different relievers have 20+ outings including closer Zach Grech (5-5, 3.35, 13 Sv) leading the bullpen who has five hurlers touting ERAs under 4.00, and together a staff with a 1.34 WHIP. The defense cleans up nicely as well with the nation's 12th-best fielding percentage.
[4] NORTH DAKOTA STATE BISON
North Dakota State is in the NCAA Tournament for the second time; the other appearance happened to be alongside the Anteaters in 2014 when they were sent to the Corvallis Regional and lost a pair of 2-1 games to UNLV and Oregon State. NDSU joined Division I and the Summit League just in 2008. Prior to that, the Bison made the Division II Tournament back in 1969 winning a pair of games in the Midwest Regional
The 2021 season has produced NDSU's highest win total going 41-17 including a 14-4 home record and NCAA-best 26 games away from home. The Bison finished second in the five-team Summit League at 20-11, but rallied through the tournament including two wins over top seed Oral Roberts to claim the automatic bid.
The Bison and Anteaters have never met, however, UCI has made recent trips to the Midwest to face the likes of Missouri State, Southern Illinois, and Iowa. NDSU did have a treacherous non-conference slate winning at Dayton, Saint Louis, Northern Colorado, both Western and Eastern Kentucky, and a big series victory at Big 12 Kansas.
The offense beats you with its 75 stolen bases and the 17th-most walks in the nation. The Bison are hitting .277 behind 58-game starters Bennett Hostetler (.391, 8 HR, 54 RBI, 18 SB) and Jake Malec (.328, 9 HR, 32 RBI, 16 SB) on a team that scores about 6.5 runs a game.
Pitching has seen the same three starters march out there in Evan Sankey (7-2, 3.94), Cade Feeney (7-1, 3.39), and Ben Smith (6-4, 6.93) with another arm, Max Loven, going 3-2, 4.23 in 11 starts. The team ERA of 4.71 is helped by top tier relievers Parker Hamm (1.85, 11 Sv), Wyatt Nelson (3.49, 7 Sv), and Jake Drew (5-0, 2 Sv). The team also has 2.36 strikeouts to every walk, but the defense is hampered by 69 errors around the diamond.
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/ BaseballLAND’ON one over the fence 👊
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