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Robert Huskey

UC Irvine On The Road to San Diego State, CSU Bakersfield

April 24, 2023

By: Alex Roberts-Croteau

MIDWEEK

UC Irvine Anteaters (23-13, 7-8) at San Diego State Aztecs (16-20, 10-6)
San Diego, Calif. - Tony Gwynn Stadium
Tuesday - 6:00 PM | Mountain West Network | KUCI | Live Stats

THE SERIES

PITCHING PROBABLES

Tuesday: UCI RHP David Vizcaino vs. SDSU RHP Julian Jackson
Friday: UCI LHP Nick Pinto vs. CSUB RHP Ryan Verdugo
Saturday: UCI RHP Danny Suarez vs. CSUB LHP Matt Comnos
Sunday: UCI RHP Michael Stanford vs. CSUB TBD

LEADING OFF

+ UC Irvine won its first game against a ranked opponent Tuesday. UCI has 90 wins over ranked opponents, 44 on the road, and third straight against a ranked UCLA. The Anteaters are 7-0 against teams ranked in the Top 25 at any point this season in the D1Baseball.com rankings
+ UC Irvine is halfway through Big West play with a 7-8 mark and 15 games remaining. The Anteaters sit in seventh place and 6.5 games behind first place Cal State Fullerton.
+ UCI's at-large hopes hinge on their resume with an RPI at 44, nine wins against Power 5 opponents, a 7-3 record against teams in the top 50 RPI, and a strength of schedule rated 43rd in the nation

BATTING AROUND

+ The 'Eaters are sixth in the nation in sacrifice flies at 29 including multiple sac flies in nine games this year.
+ UCI is also top 25 nationally sitting 12th in walks allowed per 9 innings, 13th in HBP, and 17th in strikeout-to-walk ratio. UCI hitters have the best on-base, most BB, and HBP, and pitchers have issued the least walks in the Big West
+ Big West leaders include Anthony Martinez in hits, Caden Kendle in runs scored, and Chase Call in walks. Kendle is 1 of 2 hitters in conference games batting over .400
+ Chase Call has 34 walks to lead the Big West. He's reached in 33 straight with Caden Kendle's 24-game on-base streak close behind and tops the team with a 7-game hitting streak
+ UCI is 9-5 in April hitting .301 as a team with 17 steals
+ The offense has 22 innings of 4+ runs, eight of 6 or more

SEEING IT WELL

+ On the road, UCI is 11-5 hitting .292 as a team with Anthony Martinez at .446. On the mound, Nick Pinto is 3-0 with a 3.91 ERA and 21 strikeouts
+ Will Bermudez is error-free through the first 36 games, and with 77 assists is 1 of 2 players with over 20 assists without an error in the Big West (Maddox Latta, CSF - 78) and has him beat in putouts, 53-42. He also is the Big West leader in hit by pitch standing 17th in the nation
+ UCI's bullpen has thrown 61% of the innings this season registering a 14-6 record and 3.74 ERA as a unit. Nick Rincover has appeared in six straight games extending his shutout streak to 11 appearances and 8.1 innings. Jacob King has six saves, second in the Big West and 33rd in NCAA
+ Finnegan Wall evaded a bases loaded, 0 out jam on Sunday. In eight April outings, he has one walk to 15 strikeouts and a 2.25 ERA allowing four runs and 11 hits in 16 innings.
+ Michael Stanford posted the staff's second quality start Sunday winning his second straight weekend start. He now leads the team with 37 strikeouts and has a 1.54 ERA in appearances away from home. Nationally, he's 58th in BB per 9 innings, 63rd in K-to-BB ratio, and 124th in ERA

FOUL TIPS

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

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 .552
50 - UCI has collected 50 infield hits this year. Jo Oyama leads all with 11 followed by 7 each from Myles Smith and Caden Kendle
2 - Dub Gleed hit 2 home runs Sunday. It's the 2nd year in a row the 'Eaters had a 2-HR game vs. K-State on April 23. Gleed joins Will Bermudez as 'Eaters to homer in 2 straight at-bats this season
8 - The magic number for UCI is 8 with 15 games remaining. The Anteaters (7-8) are 6.5 games back of first place Cal State Fullerton (15-3) in the Big West standings

SCOUTING THE AZTECS

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 2023 squad started off rough losing five including a series at Arizona State. They've found their stride approaching .500 at 16-20 including a 10-6 Mountain West record, good for second place. SDSU plays 26 games against opponents that appear on UCI's schedule going 7-14 against them to this point

The offense is swings the bat to a .260 average but last in the Mountain West in hits. The 50 steals top the conference with familiar face Shaun Montoya excelling with 14 of them along with team highs of 41 hits, 12 doubles, and a .320 average

Pitching has carried the Aztecs with top 75 ranks in ERA, WHIP, and least hits allowed along with nearly 10 strikeouts a game. The bullpen is led by Eldridge Armstrong III (3-1, 3.14, 37 K) and compliments by Kelena Sauer (3.57, 8 Sv) and Robert Brodell (4-2)

ALL-TIME SERIES

San Diego State and the Anteaters meet up for the first and likely only time in 2023. The sides were rained out in the schedule game at UC Irvine in March. All-time, San Diego State has the 57-39-1 edge and 28-18 at home, but UCI has won three straight at Tony Gwynn Stadium including topping Washington State there earlier this year

SCOUTING THE ROADRUNNERS

The Runners' best season by far was 2015 where they won the WAC regular season and tournament earning its lone NCAA berth where they even won a regional game. Former 'Eater assistant Bob Macaluso even took the reins for the 2016 season

The 2023 squad is 14-12 with five Big West wins, but sport an 11-8 home record. The Runners started the year 6-2 before losing nine straight to Stanford, Ohio State, and UCSB. CSUB has swiped series win at Hawai'i and at home to Cal Poly.

The offense hits .263 as a squad near the Big West top in triples and hit by pitch. A familiar face reappears in Riley Kasper who spent two years as an Anteater. He's the lone .300-hitter and one of the top in the Big West in sacrifices. Elsewhere, stat leaders include James Bell (28 RBI), AJ Miller (3 HR), and Nick Salas (7 SB).

Pitching comes in at 5.55 with five different arms picking up a save. Ryan Verdugo (3-5, 5.74) and Matt Comnos (3.81, 50 K) have started each weekend and have been joined recently be converted infielder Jacob Gutierrez who threw a complete game against Cal Poly. The defense excels at turning two, but commits 1.97 errors a game

ALL-TIME SERIES

CSU Bakersfield and UC Irvine play for a third season as Big West mates. The Roadrunners began their baseball program in 2009 with UCI facing them for the first time in 2010. All-time, UCI leads the series 21-6 and 8-3 at Hardt Field, but CSUB has won four in the last nine including one game in each series in 2021 and 2022.

DOWN THE LINE

UCI will complete their April portion this weekend and start May with a bang hosting UCLA Tuesday, May 2 followed by a weekend visit from Hawai'i as the home stretch starts with 15 games remaining and eight at Anteater Ballpark

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