Â
| Â Probable Midweek Starters |
| UC Irvine |
vs. |
Arizona State |
| Pitcher |
Year |
|
Stats |
Day |
Pitcher |
Year |
|
Stats |
| Michael Stanford |
RS-Jr. |
RHP |
(1-0, 3.12) |
Tuesday |
Tyler Meyer |
So. |
RHP |
(1-0, 1.32) |
| TBD |
|
|
|
Wednesday |
TBD |
|
|
|
Â
| Â Probable Weekend Rotation |
| UC Irvine |
vs. |
Iowa |
| Pitcher |
Year |
|
Stats |
Day |
Pitcher |
Year |
|
Stats |
| Michael Frias |
RS-Sr. |
RHP |
(2-1, 6.32) |
Friday |
Adam Mazur |
RS-So. |
RHP |
(2-0, 2.33) |
| Nick Pinto |
RS-So. |
LHP |
(0-2, 5.62) |
Saturday |
Dylan Nedved |
RS-Sr. |
RHP |
(0-0, 1.80) |
| Danny Suarez |
Fr. |
RHP |
(0-0, 3.00) |
Sunday |
TBD |
|
|
|
Around The Horn
0.38 -Â The nation's leader in WHIP last week was
Gordon Ingebritson, and he enters this week third at
0.38. He retired 24 straight hitters before Sunday where he earned the win in 4 IP
4 -Â The 2021 Anteaters were 1 of
4 teams to finish top 40 in ERA (3.80), batting (.300), and fielding (.981), and they were top-25 in ERA and batting, 1 of 3 schools to be top-25 in each
8-5 -Â The Anteaters welcome its seventh Big Ten team to their home all-time with UCI at
8-5 in the 13 matchups. UCI is 14-11 against the Big Ten overall including 1-2 at Iowa in 2019
18 - UCI has
18 wins against the Pac-12 since coach Orloff took over, more than two Pac-12 schools and would
be the sixth-best winning percentage in the Pac-12 at .545 (18-15)
Â
LEADING OFFÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
+ UCI begins its longest homestand with eight straight in Anteater Ballpark. UCI is 6-5 with one series win and two series losses in 2022 having faced a pair of reigning conference champions - Louisiana of the Sun Belt and Grand Canyon of the WAC - and Oregon State who was a 2021 NCAA Tournament squad much like Grand Canyon.
+ Anteater pitching holds the 84th-best ERA, 93rd-best WHIP, and 72nd-best K-to-BB ratio. It's allowed four runs or less in six games and have yet to allow 10 runs this season.
+
Gordon Ingebritson led the NCAA in WHIP last week dropping to third this week. His 0.68 ERA is 44th in the NCAA with a 10:1 K-to-BB ratio and the eighth-fewest hits allowed per nine innings at 2.70
+ UCI's defense has played errorless baseball in 5 of 11 games; their .975 fielding percentage is 63rd in the NCAA
+ UCI's 10 sacrifice bunts rank seventh in the nation, and
Taishi Nakawake has four to rank him fourth in the NCAA. The team is also 20th nationally in triples with five.
+ Both teams have led in eight of 11 UCI games this season
+ The reigning Big West champions were projected to finish second in the preseason Big West Coaches Poll behind Long Beach State. The 'Eaters earned 3 of 11 first-place votes.
+ Big West Coach of the Year from 2021
Ben Orloff returns for his fourth season. He stands seven wins from 100 in his career earning 37 wins in his first year of 2019, eight in the shortened 2020 season, and 43 a year ago finishing top two in the conference in each season.
LAST WEEK
+ UC Irvine went 2-2 in four road games. The 'Eaters now have out-of-state wins in Louisiana and Oregon and still have yet to travel to Kansas and Hawai'i.
+ The Anteaters won Tuesday at San Diego State sweeping the season series in what was their 99th all-time meeting.
+ UCI returned to play Oregon State for the first time since winning the 2014 Corvallis Regional. The 'Eaters lost the series, but won Sunday in extra innings thanks to a
Thomas McCaffrey home run to drop the 13th-ranked team.
MIDWEEK VS. ARIZONA STATE
+ UC Irvine hosts Arizona State for two games in the first meeting since a 2014 matchup at UCI that the 'Eaters won
+ The Anteaters and Sun Devils famously met twice at the 2007 College World Series which ASU won the first only for UCI to eliminate them, 5-4 in 10 innings, the next day
+ The programs have met 15 times before with ASU leading the series, 9-6. The matchups have come in six different years, four of those years (1973, 1974, 2007, 2014) the 'Eaters ended up at a College World Series
WEEKEND SERIES VS. IOWA
+ The 'Eaters and Hawkeyes reprise their series after playing at Iowa in 2019. The Hawkeyes won 2 of 3 in that series.
+ Iowa was projected to finish third in the Big Ten. They're looking for their first postseason berth since 2017
+ All-time, UCI has faced seven Big Ten schools with an overall record of 14-11 and 8-5 in Anteater Ballpark
Â
ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS
Arizona State and UCI play for the first time since 2014. The sides have met 15 times in their history with Arizona State up 9-6. Since 2002, it's a slim 3-2 advantage as 10 of the all-time meetings came from 1973-75 with UC Irvine was Division II, but still managed four wins. In Irvine, the 'Eaters have a spotless 2-0 record including that 2014 match winning 5-2
The 2021 season was a .600 year for ASU going 33-22 and 16-14 in the Pac-12. It went to the Austin Regional defeating Fairfield to open, but eliminated by them and No. 2 Texas shorty after.
The Sun Devils are just 5-7 to start 2022 coming off winning 2 of 3 at San Diego State. Prior, they went through a tough five-game stretch losing all of them at home to BYU and No. 4 Oklahoma State. Their first nine games were at home which including a win vs. Nevada and two vs. Dixie St.
The ASU offense is hitting .294 so far with six runs a game. They're exceling in doubles with 32 so far along with 15 home runs, both second in the conference. Conor Davis leads all Sun Devils with a .413 average, four homers, and 12 RBIs. The lineup is filled with big numbers including Joe Lampe (.367, 4 HR), Sean McLain (.324, 8 RBI), and Will Rogers (.302, 3 HR, 8 RBI), and eight different players with multiple doubles to their name.
Pitching for the Sun Devils has a 5.59 ERA entering the week with the 'Eaters likely to see a lot of arms in the two games. Tyler Meyer will start Tuesday coming in with the team's top ERA at 1.32. He's made a pair of midweek starts throwing five scoreless against Nevada and allowing one run in six innings vs. Oklahoma State. Top bullpen arms are Boyd Vander Kooi with a 2.08 ERA in three appearances. Three different Sun Devils have saves including Chase Webster's seven strikeouts and Brock Peery making eight appearances. Pitching has also induced 12 double plays.
Â
IOWA HAWKEYES
Iowa and UC Irvine wrap up their series that began in 2019 with a trip to Iowa in May. The Hawkeyes took two of three at that time in the first-ever meeting for the squads and the first-ever trip to the state of Iowa for UCI. The Anteaters is 14-11 all-time against the Big Ten. Iowa will be the seventh to play at UCI with schools like Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Wisconsin winning five times in 14 previous matchups at Anteater Ballpark .
The 2021 season was limited to Big Ten action for the Hawkeyes. Iowa was 26-18 finishing in a tie for fourth with a winning or .500 record at home, on the road, and at a neutral site. Iowa is looking to return to the postseason for the first time since 2017
The Hawkeyes are 6-5 like the 'Eaters. They began winning all three at a tournament in South Carolina, going 1-2 at another in Corpus Christi, a quick home stop going 1-1 against Division III schools, and then the prestigious Frisco Classic in Texas drawing losses to Wichita State and Texas A&M before beating Washington State. They host St. Thomas Wednesday before traveling.
The offense is hitting .274 averaging 5.3 runs a game. Keaton Anthony is hitting .421 with nine RBIs tied with Peyton Williams, the other shining bat in the order, whose hitting .372 with a team-high three homers. They are the only two that have 11 starts with 10 others with at least 16 ABs.
Pitching has been dominant with a 2.56 ERA, 18th nationally. They've allowed 5.22 hits per nine innings, second-fewest in the country, and strikeout the fourth-most with 12.9 per nine innings. Adam Mazur tops the list with five runs allowed in three starts and 21 strikeouts in 19.1 innings. Marcus Morgan also has three starts allowing eight runs and 10 walks over 10 innings. Big names out of the pen are Brody Brecht (7 IP, 7 BB, 14 K) and Dylan Nedved (10 IP, 2 Sv, 14 K)
