Â
| Â Probable Tuesday Starters |
| UC Irvine |
vs. |
Loyola Marymount Lions |
| Pitcher |
Year |
|
Stats |
Day |
Pitcher |
Year |
|
Stats |
| David Vizcaino |
RS-Fr. |
RHP |
(1-0, 0.00) |
Tuesday |
Jimmy Galicia |
Sr. |
RHP |
(0-3, 8.56)Â |
Â
| Â Probable Weekend Rotation |
| UC Irvine |
vs. |
Cal Poly |
| Pitcher |
Year |
|
Stats |
Day |
Pitcher |
Year |
|
Stats |
| Nick Pinto |
RS-So. |
LHP |
(0-3, 3.65) |
Thursday |
Drew Thorpe |
So. |
RHP |
(5-0, 2.08) |
| Michael Frias |
RS-Sr. |
RHP |
(4-1, 5.95) |
Friday |
Travis Weston |
RS-Jr. |
LHP |
(3-2, 5.44) |
| Cameron Wheeler |
RS-So. |
RHP |
(2-2, 5.32) |
Saturday |
TBA |
. |
|
|
Around The Horn
6 -Â UCI hitters clubbed
6 home runs last week including five at UC San Diego, first career home runs from
Dub Gleed and
Caden Kendle, and
Ben Fitzgerald with UCI's fourth leadoff HR since 2020
13 -Â Halfway through the season, UC Irvine boasts the
13th-toughest non-conference schedule with four Quadrant 1 wins to date at Oregon State, at Louisiana, and two vs. Grand Canyon
9th -Â The
9th Anteater made his Major League debut Sunday in Andre Pallante throwing the 7th inning for the St. Louis Cardinals. He joins Keston Hiura as Anteaters on MLB Opening Day rosters
1st -Â Finnegan Wall and
David Vizcaino's 1st games, Vizcaino and
Troy Taylor's 1st wins,
Myles Smith's 1st RBI, 1st HRs for
Dub Gleed and
Caden Kendle, and
Blake Penso's 1st start and hit all came last week
 Â
LEADING OFFÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
+ The Anteaters bats were out in full force hitting .340 last week scoring over nine runs a game and now with at least 10 hits in seven consecutive ballgames.
+ Three different 'Eaters had eight-hit weeks led by
Dub Gleed winning Big West Field Player of the Week with nine including three doubles, his first career home run, and nine RBIs to take over the team's lead with 24. He,
Nathan Church, and
Ben Fitzgerald each had eight hits to raise their averages over .300.
Justin Torres extended his hit streak 15 games adding a HR on Saturday.
Caden Kendle busted out for six hits and his first two career home runs including the longest shot in Triton Ballpark history hitting the trolley track high above and beyond the left field wall.
Taishi Nakawake had a three-hit game with his second career HR.
+ The pitching staff was brilliant Tuesday shutting down Cal State Fullerton, but succumbed to the offensive Triton Ballpark finishing the week with a 6.94 ERA.
Michael Frias battled Saturday to win his fourth game through 6.1 innings. Other impressive bullpen performances were
Tanner Brooks with three scoreless outings,
Troy Taylor doing the same and picking up a fourth save,
Andre Antone's longest outing allowing one hit, and the collegiate debut of
Finnegan Wall with two shutout innings Tuesday.
+ The 'Eaters rank nationally in sacrifice bunts (19th) with
Taishi Nakawake's eight ranking fifth, triples (10th), and top-50 rankings for ERA, K-to-BB ratio, and walks per game.
Gordon Ingebritson is third in the nation in WHIP, fourth-fewest walks per nine, 10th-lowest ERA, and 11th in strikeout-to-walk ratio which all lead the Big West.
LAST WEEK
+ UC Irvine went 3-1 winning at home against Cal State Fullerton and taking a road series at UC San Diego.
+ All three weekend games at UCSD featured a team jumping out to 9-1 leads in the first four innings and having to hold on for a win of four runs or less
+ UCI still sits in fourth place in the Big West two games behind UC Santa Barbara and 1/2 game of Cal Poly & CSUB
THIS WEEK VS. LOYOLA MARYMOUNT, CAL POLY
+ UCI and LMU meet for the 88th time, the first time since losing in 2019, and first time at Irvine in over four years.
+ UCI has the edge winning 46 times along with three times, but the Lions hold the edge in games in Irvine, 23-21-1
+ The weekend series starts Thursday with a team ahead of UC Irvine in the standings, Cal Poly, in town for three games
+ The Anteaters have won the last three series including three of four last year with a 34-27 all-time series edge
OPENING DAY
+ Keston Hiura of the Milwaukee Brewers returns for his fourth season as utility infielder and designated hitter
+ Andre Pallante made his MLB debut Sunday, April 10, allowing one run in one inning coming in in the seventh inning in St. Louis for the Cardinals against the Pittsburgh Pirates as the ninth Anteater to reach the Major Leagues.
+ Pallante is 1 of 8 players from the 2019 MLB Draft class to make a 2022 Opening Day roster. Hiura was the first player from the 2017 MLB Draft class to reach the majors.
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LOYOLA MARYMOUNT LIONS
Loyola Marymount returns to UCI's schedule for the first time since 2019 and first time to Anteater Ballpark since 2018. The sides have met 87 times in the past with UCI winning 46 and also three ties. LMU has had UCI's number in Irvine, however, at 23-21
The 2022 season has been two different stories with LMU going 3-15-1 in non-conference play, but enjoyed an 8-4 start in WCC action. UCI is the fifth Big West school on their docket going 0-4 in midweeks against UCSB, CSUN, and UC Riverside and losing a three-game series at Cal State Fullerton. They also hosted Kansas State losing two of three.
The Lions were NCAA Tournament participants in 2019 winning twice in the UCLA Regional. Head Coach Jason Gill and former Anteater assistant then moved on to USC's head job only for another former UCI assistant, Nathan Choate to take over where he had the team 8-8 through 2020 and a 20-win season a year ago.
The LMU offense is hitting .260 as a team with big numbers from Jared Thomas (6 HR, 19 RBI, .323) and Diego Baqueiro (7 HR, 36 RBI, .282). The team is among the national leaders in hit by pitch, but near the bottom in the WCC in most other offensive categories, but have produced 27 steals and 26 homers in the top half of their conference
Pitching comes in with a 6.15 ERA with a lot of the heavy lifting done by weekend starters Quinn Lavelle and Matt McClure. LMU's bullpen is led by Merrick Baldo (2-0, 3.97), Owen Hackman (2 saves, 24 strikeouts), and strikeout leader Alex Burge with 30. Jimmy Galicia will get Tuesday's start having started midweeks against UCLA twice and CS Fullerton
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CAL POLY MUSTANGS
Cal Poly comes in on the rise at 20-12 and tied for second with a 7-2 Big West record. A slow start in non-conference for the Mustangs winning 1 of 4 series to go 7-9, but have won 13 since Big West play started. They have spent a lot of time on home turf and set out for UCI starting Thursday for its fourth series away from home where they're 6-5 so far.
The 2021 season was a success overall at 31-25 and a winning Big West mark of 21-19. It was peppered with series losses at home to UCSD and UC Irvine, on the road to UCSB and Bakersfield, and a split with UC Riverside
The Mustangs and Anteaters have played 61 times overall with UCI on top 34-27 including a 16-14 home record. UCI has won the past three series and now sweeps since 2012.
The offense is one of the best in the conference hitting .279 running behind top draft prospect, Brooks Lee. He's the conference leader in batting at .413, hits, doubles, walks, on-base percentage, RBIs, and is the toughest batter to strikeout on top of it all. The squad is tops in walks and runs as a squad while also stealing just three bases total.
Pitching holds up as well despite a 5.03 ERA. They walk under three batters a game, 12th-lowest in the nation, with 10 strikeouts per game to also have the 12th-best strikeout-to-walk ratio. The leader of the pack is Drew Thorpe with 80 strikeouts to tie for the national lead and a 5-0 record and 2.08 ERA. Travis Weston is another weekend arm at 3-2, 5.44, and 42 strikeouts. Jason Franks has been stellar in relief with four saves, a 3.21 ERA, and 41 strikeouts over 17 games and 28 innings.
