MIDWEEK

UC Irvine Anteaters (10-1) vs. Loyola Marymount Lions (5-5)
Irvine, Calif. - Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark
Tuesday - 6:00 PM | ESPN+ | KUCI | Live Stats

THE SERIES

UC Irvine Anteaters (10-2) at Gonzaga Bulldogs (1-10)

Friday - Canceled (snow)
Saturday- 3:00 PM (moved from 6pm due to weather | WCC Network | KUCI | Live Stats
Sunday - 1:00 PM | WCC Network | KUCI  | Live Stats

Gameday Page
Game Notes

PITCHING PROBABLES

Tuesday: UCI RHP Finnegan Wall vs. LMU RHP Jimmy Galicia
Saturday: UCI RHP David Vizcaino vs. GONZ RHP Owen Wild
Sunday: UCI LHP Nick Pinto vs. GONZ RHP Jacob Rutherford

LEADING OFF

+ Big West awards were all UCI as Anthony Martinez claimed his first Field Player of the Week (.556, 4 HR, 10 RBI) and redshirt senior Michael Stanford won his first Pitcher of the Week (1-0, 5.2 IP, H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K) after a 5-0 week defeating USD, Michigan, and a sweep at ASU
+ Doubling down was Martinez who claimed National Field Player of the Week recognition from the NCAA and D1Baseball.com
+ UCI's offense set season highs in runs in three straight games last week with 14 at USD, 15 vs. Michigan, and 16 Friday at Arizona State. UCI scored 33 runs over the weekend at ASU and is averaging 8.8 runs a game this year
+ Pitching has won five straight with five different winners - Stanford, Wheeler, Robinson, Pinto, and Antone. The staff is averaging 10 strikeouts per game with 11 pitchers averaging at or over a strikeout per inning
+ The Anteaters started 2023 going 5-0 for just the third time in program history. UCI's best start was 8-0 in the 2008 season, and began 2011 7-0 with those seasons ending in 42 and 43 wins, respectively. UCI had a save in each of those games with six to date in 2023
 

NATIONAL PRAISE

+ UCI is top 10 nationally in sac flies (4th), shutouts (7th), triples (8th), and 11th with 27 hit by pitch
+ Caden Kendle's 21 RBIs rank ninth in the NCAA
+ Anthony Martinez is second in the country with eight doubles and is tied for the Big West home run lead
+ Jo Oyama has three triples, tied for fourth nationally
+ Will Bermudez has been hit by five pitches, 37th in the nation, and tops the Big West in runs scored to rank 50th nationwide scoring 1.45 runs per game
 

SEEING IT WELL

+ Caden Kendle has ripped the ball this year with RBIs in 9 of 11 games with multiple RBIs on 7 hits this year. He also maintains a 38-game on-base streak
+ Jo Oyama homered twice at Arizona State, both to center field and the first two of his Anteater career
+ Anthony Martinez broke out with four-game HR streak. He's reached in all 11 games this year, scored in seven straight, and hit .556/.714/1.278 in the five games last week
+ Will Bermudez has reached and scored in eight straight
+ Michael Stanford was spotless again last week with a win and five strikeouts in three appearances with just one baserunner over 5.2 innings
+ Chase Call clubbed a game-tying HR vs. Michigan and a pivotal grand slam in Saturday's win at Arizona State. He enters the week with an eight-game hit streak, five-game RBI streak, and 14 RBIs in the five games last week
+ Cameron Wheeler allowed one run over two appearances vs. Arizona State scoring a win. In the last two years, he's faced ASU three times going 12.0 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
+ Nick Pinto returned to form throwing five one-hit innings Sunday on 64 pitches while striking out seven for his first win of 2023. He stands five strikeouts from 200 career.
+ Abraham Garcia-Pacheco had a 4-for-4 day Saturday reaching five times and driving in four Anteaters
+ Tanner Brooks picked up his fourth hold and pitched three hitless innings. Max Martin struck out 4 of 5 outs and earned his second save in 1.2 scoreless innings at ASU
 

AROUND THE HORN

3-0 - The Anteaters began the year with saves in each of their first five contests. On the year, UCI has six saves and are 3-0 in one-run games
6 - The 'Eaters have scored multiple runs in 19 innings, 11 times have scored as many as 4 in an inning, and five 6-run innings which all came last week
4th - UCI's 4th participant in the World Baseball Classic starts this week in Andre Pallante on Team Italy. Past players were Israel's Ben Orloff and Dylan Axelrod, and Germany's Dominique Taylor
4 - UC Irvine's 4-run first inning Sunday were the first 1st-inning runs all season | Anthony Martinez blasted home runs in 4 straight games, a UCI record
 

SCOUTING THE LIONS

The Lions are led by Nathan Choate, former Anteater assistant, with a pair of Anteaters on his staff in assistants Mitch Holland and Grant Palmer

The 2022 squad went 20-34-1 but had a 14-13 mark in WCC play to earn a spot in the WCC Tournament. The Lions won four series, all coming in conference matchups.

The 2023 Lions are an even 5-5. After a home series loss to San Jose State, they've impressed with a win over Long Beach State and a win at Oklahoma State. They were also no-hit in that series, and head out to Vanderbilt after facing UC Irvine.

The offense is averaging less than five runs a game hitting .228. Jared Thomas is the only Lion over .300 at .353 with a home run, nine RBIs, and the team's lone SB.

Jimmy Galicia is scheduled to start. The grad student allowed three runs in four innings to LBSU this year. He made the start at UCI in 2022 with the hard-luck outing allowing two earned over 4.2 innings. The staff has a 5.23 ERA with Merrick Baldo in the closer role with two wins and two saves in four appearances (8.1 IP, 0 R, 10 K)
 

ALL-TIME SERIES

Loyola Marymount and the Anteaters meet just once in 2023 coming Tuesday at Anteater Ballpark. It's the 90th matchup in the history of the program with UCI on top 47-39 with three ties, but at UCI the series is even at 22-22-1. Last year, each side one their home meeting with LMU winning most recently, 4-3, in mid-May

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS

The 2022 Bulldogs were a postseason squad earning an at-large berth to the Blacksburg regional. Anteater newcomer Sean Higgins upended them in the opener, and the Bulldogs would  fall to Columbia again after an elimination win vs. Wright State. The team was 37-19 with its second straight NCAA berth and fourth since 2016.

The 2023 Zags are 1-10 after a brutal stretch against Texas Tech, GCU, Ohio State, and Tennessee. Friday will be their first home game coming after just 15 home games a year ago going 11-4 at Patterson Complex and Hertz Field

The offense is hitting .249, but have huge numbers from Cade McGee (.412, 4 HR, 13 RBI) and Brian Kalmer (.370, 7 HR, 18 RBI).

Pitching comes in with a 9.56 ERA, but are led by Owen Wild who was lights out in the 2022 postseason and has 24 strikeouts in 17 innings along with a 4.76 ERA. Five others have posted starts with Jacob Rutherford earning the lone in four appearances and 14 innings and strikeout leaders Nathan Deschryver (8 IP, 14 K) and Ty Buckner (8.2 IP, 10 K) poised to get the Bulldogs back on track

ALL-TIME SERIES

Gonzaga and UC Irvine last met in 2018 with a series at UC Irvine. The 'Eaters took the series, but the Bulldogs won the finale in three tight contests. All-time, UCI holds the series advantage 15-6, but are 0-6 all-time in Spokane in series in 2011 & 2015.

DOWN THE LINE

This is the final week before Big West play begins. UCI will be home for all four games starting Tuesday, March 14 hosting San Diego State before the three-game series kicks off Friday, March 17 vs. Cal State Fullerton