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Matt Brown

Power 5 Week as 'Eaters Play at No. 22 UCLA, vs. Kansas State

April 17, 2023

By: Alex Roberts-Croteau

MIDWEEK

UC Irvine Anteaters (21-11, 7-8) at #22 UCLA (21-10-1, 8-5-1)
Los Angeles, Calif. - Jackie Robinson Stadium
Tuesday - 6:00 PM | Pac-12.com | KUCI | Live Stats

THE SERIES

PITCHING PROBABLES

Tuesday: UCI RHP David Vizcaino vs. UCLA LHP Ethan Flanagan
Friday: UCI LHP Nick Pinto vs. KSU LHP Owen Boerema
Saturday: UCI RHP Danny Suarez vs. KSU RHP German Fajardo
Sunday: UCI TBD vs. KSU RHP Collin Rothermel

LEADING OFF

+ UCI plays its seventh matchup against Pac-12 competition Tuesday winning the first six this season. In coach Orloff's five seasons as head coach, UCI is 28-15 against the Pac-12 with the program going 109-84 since 2002
+ UC Irvine takes on its first ranked opponent of 2023. UCI has 89 wins over ranked opponents, 43 on the road, and will play UCLA for the 10th straight time as a ranked foe.
+ The Anteaters completed their nine-game homestand last week defeating San Diego, to go 6-3. This was the third-longest stretch of home games since 2002 for the 'Eaters. UCI had a 13-game homestand to open the ballpark in 2002 going 8-5, and in 2015 went 10-1 in an 11-game stretch.

BATTING AROUND

+ The 'Eaters are third in the nation in sacrifice flies at 28 including multiple sac flies in nine games this year.
+ UCI is also top 25 nationally sitting eighth in walks allowed per 9 innings, ninth in strikeout-to-walk ratio, and 18th in HBP. UCI hitters have drawn the most walks and pitchers have issued the least walks in the Big West
+ Anthony Martinez stands among Big West leaders at second in hits and doubles, third in slugging and RBIs, fifth in average and home runs, and 10th in on-base
+ Chase Call has 32 walks to lead the Big West, and his 1.07 per game is 12th in the NCAA. He's reached in 29 straight with Caden Kendle's 20-game on-base streak close behind
+ Jacob King saved two games last week, now with six for 25th nationally, and fifth in UCI history at 18 in his career

SEEING IT WELL

+ Caden Kendle enters the week with a hit and RBI in three straight games and has failed to reach base just once this season. His .400 average in Big West games ranks third.
+ Will Bermudez is error-free through the first 32 games, and with 68 assists is 1 of 2 players with over 20 assists without an error in the Big West (Maddox Latta, CSF - 70)
+ UCI's bullpen has thrown 62% of the innings this season registering a 14-5 record and 3.71 ERA as a unit
+ Finnegan Wall has upped his game with a 2.96 ERA and 2.45 in Big West games with 10 Ks and one walk in 11 IP.
+ Tanner Brooks has appeared in the last five games including his first career start Friday, got his first win of 2023 vs. USD, and opponents are hitting .164 against him this season
+ Nick Pinto reached 200 career strikeouts Friday with nine, his sixth career game with 9+ strikeouts and first since April 22, 2022 when he had nine against Kansas State
+ The offense has scored four or more runs in an inning 21 times and seven innings of 6+ runs this year

FOUL TIPS

+ Two Anteaters appeared on Opening Day rosters in the MLB - Calvin Faucher with the Tampa Bay Rays and Andre Pallante with the St. Louis Cardinals.
+ Andre Pallante represented Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic this year in their run to the Quarterfinals
+ 14 Anteaters are playing pro ball currently with two in Triple-A and three in Double-A joining the two MLBers

AROUND THE HORN

8th - The Big West is the 8th-best conference in the nation to this point in the 2023 season with a non-conference winning percentage of .558
6-0 - The 'Eaters are 6-0 against the Pac-12 in 2023 including five wins away from home. UCI is 28-15 against the Pac-12 since coach Orloff took over with 12 wins in road or neutral site matchups
3rd - The 'Eaters welcome their 3rd Big 12 school to Anteater Ballpark going 5-4 against Baylor and TCU. All-time, UCI is 16-15 vs. the conference with only Kansas State sporting a winning record
9 - The last 9 times the 'Eaters and Bruins have squared off, UCLA has been ranked with UCI winning 4 times. UC Irvine has 25 wins all-time against ranked Pac-12 opponents

SCOUTING THE BRUINS

The Bruins went 40-24 last season finishing third in the Pac-12. The conference brought back their postseason tournament with the Bruins being eliminated in the semifinals. They were sent to Auburn in the Regionals falling in the regional final

The 2023 squad is 21-10-1 with an 8-5-1 conference mark. The Bruins are imposing at home at 17-3-1, but lost their most recent game to UC Davis on Sunday. Their season has featured a road series loss at Vanderbilt, a 4-2 mark against the Big West, wins over Michigan and Tulane along with two losses at Washington State

The offense hits .265 collectively average around 6.5 runs a game. It prides itself at getting on base ranking second in the Pac-12 in walks and laying down their share of sac hits. Duce Gourson (.303, 7 HR, 25 RBI) drives the offense that's hit 38 home runs with JonJon Vaughns' eight and six more from Jack Holman and Cody Schrier

Pitching always paces UCLA with the sixth-lowest ERA (3.39), seventh-lowest WHIP (1.21), and 10 strikeouts a game. Ethan Flanagan makes his debut against UCI, his eighth career start and first of 2023. A stable of arms are ready in the pen behind sub-1.00 ERAs by Cody Delvecchio and Charles Harrison

ALL-TIME SERIES

UCLA and UC Irvine renew their home-and-home midweek matchup against former head coach John Savage. The Bruins hold the edge all-time, 57-35-1, and a 32-13 mark at home, but the 'Eaters won each meeting in 2022 with the Bruins ranked.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS

Last year's series was wild to say the least with 19 home runs between the teams in a park that played for the long ball. K-State used an 11-run seventh inning in the opener to steal a win before UCI crushed five home runs in a 16-7 Saturday win. The Wildcats scored all their runs in the finale via long ball to win, 5-3.

The Wildcats make the trip to California for the fourth year out of the last five including a long stretch to start 2022 at Bakersfield, Fullerton, and LMU. So far in 2023, they are 24-14 with a 9-6 conference record including ranked wins over Texas and West Virginia, a sweep over Oklahoma, and close loss to No. 1 LSU

The offense is missing some of last year's guns, but has still parked 55 home runs while leading the nation in walks and 10th in stolen bases with names like Brendan Jones (5 HR, 34 BB, 21 SB) and Nick Goodwin (9 HR, 28 BB, 11 SB) doing all three.

Pitching can sling it with a solid 4.83 ERA and not allowing many opposing long balls. Owen Boerema (4-1, 4.35) and German Fajardo (2-1, 5.15) have put in innings with the deadly Tyson Neighbors (0.99, 6 saves, 7 BB, 48) waiting in the bullpen

ALL-TIME SERIES

Kansas State and the Anteaters meet up for the third season all-time. The 'Eaters traveled to Manhattan in 2008 for two midweek games that they split, and went back in 2022 losing two of three. UCI has a 16-15 edge over Big 12 schools with K-State joining Baylor and TCU as the Big 12 schools to make the visit to Anteater Ballpark

DOWN THE LINE

UCI has a full non-conference next week starting with a road matchup at the ranked Bruins of UCLA on Tuesday, April 18, ending the week with a series at Anteater Ballpark against Big 12 school Kansas State

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