Season Opens At Home vs. North Dakota State

THE SERIES

UC Irvine Anteaters (0-0, Big West 0-0) vs. North Dakota State Bison (0-0, Summit 0-0)
Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark - Irvine, Calif.

Friday - 6:00 PM | ESPN+ | KUCI | Live Stats
Saturday - 1:00 PM | ESPN+ | KUCI | Live Stats
Sunday - 1:00 PM | ESPN+ | KUCI | Live Stats

PITCHING PROBABLES
Friday: UCI LHP Nick Pinto vs. NDSU RHP Parker Puetz
Saturday: UCI RHP Riley Kelly vs. NDSU RHP Logan Knight
Sunday: UCI RHP Trevor Hansen vs. NDSU RHP Landon Koenig

Gameday Page
Game Notes
Digital Program
Scout Pack

AROUND THE HORN
19-6 - The 2023 Anteaters finished 1st in college baseball with the best road winning percentage going 19-6
1869 - Every one of the 1,869 at-bats for Anteaters in 2023 returns to the 2024 roster plus injured Woody Hadeen
#25 - UCI is #25 to start 2024 according to Baseball America; UCI has also started #18 and #22 under coach Orloff
9 - 9 players on UCI (5) and NDSU (4) rosters appeared in the 2021 Regional matchup at Stanford

OPENING WEEKEND
+ UC Irvine baseball begins the season at home for a second straight season and fourth time in the six seasons under head coach Ben Orloff. The 'Eaters have 27 wins in 45 season openers including a 4-1 mark under coach Orloff since taking over in 2019
+ The Anteaters and North Dakota State have played once before - in the 2021 Stanford Regional Elimination Game with UCI winning, 18-3. The schools were also in the 2014 Corvallis Regional but never matched up. UCI all-time is 9-4 against Summit League schools having played NDSU, Oral Roberts, and Northern Colorado, prior

FOUL TIPS
+ Anthony Martinez was named an All-American on D1Baseball.com's Third Team and NCBWA's Second Team on the heels of 2023 All-American, All-West Region, and Big West Freshman Field Player of the Year honors. He was also invited to the U.S Collegiate National Team camp over the summer
+ UC Irvine begins the year ranked No. 25 according to Baseball America. The 'Eaters have began a season in the preseason rankings in six prior seasons including now three times under coach Orloff.
+ D1Baseball.com announced preseason honors for the Big West with Caden Kendle projected as Big West Field Player of the Year. They also put out list of Top 50 players at each position with Anthony Martinez (#5 1B), Jo Oyama (#7 2B), Woody Hadeen (#14 SS), Caden Kendle (#37 OF), and Nick Pinto (#92 SP). Big West honors named Kendle, Martinez, and Dub Gleed to the Preseason All-Big West as the 'Eaters were projected to finish second while attaining two first-place votes
+ Every Anteater hitter and at-bat from the 2023 season returns to the 2024 roster accounting for 1,869 team at-bats in addition to the return of starting shortstop Woody Hadeen who was injured and missed the entire 2023 campaign
+ UC Irvine finished the 2023 season 22nd nationally in ERA and 27th in runs scored per game, 1 of 6 programs to finish in the top 30 in each category joining Virginia, Wake Forest, Iowa, Dallas Baptist, and Oral Roberts. UCI was also 33rd in WHIP and 36th in batting
+ UC Irvine's April 6 game vs. UCSB will now be at 7pm on ESPNU.

REVIEWING THE 2023 ANTEATERS
+ UCI finished 2023 with a 38-17 record, the fourth-most wins on the West Coast, and second-best winning percentage.
+ The Anteaters won 20 games away from home which included the best road winning percentage in the nation at .760 going 19-6
+ UCI went 8-1 against the Pac-12 outscoring them 81-42 and 10-3 overall against Power 5 programs.
+ The 'Eaters led the nation with 52 sacrifice flies. UCI's previous season high was 34 in a season
+ The Anteater offense broke a few single-season records including runs scored with 445 (previously 443), 52 home runs (previously 45), and walks at 304 (previously 294) which included a program record 28 runs and a 27-run margin of victory in a 28-1 win over UC Riverside May 25th
+ UC Irvine's 2023 offense also rated as the No. 1 offense by FaBIO (Fielding and Ballpark Independent Outcomes) detailing expected runs per plate appearance. The team was also rated first in BB+HBP, 17th in ability to avoid a strikeout, and 31st in expected runs per batted ball led by the metric's top rated freshman, Anthony Martinez, rated a 100 overall
+ Caden Kendle reached in 54 of 55 games last season. He enters 2024 having reached baseball in his last 43 games as the reigning co-Big West Field Player of the Year and All-West Region Second Team. Kendle was drafted in the 10th round in the 2023 MLB Draft, but still returned to school leaving him as the highest-drafted college player to return as part of his school's 2024 roster
+ Will Bermudez was 1 of 3 ABCA Rawlings Gold Glove finalists as a second baseman committing two errors in 213 chances.
+ Nick Pinto was perfect through five innings in has last two home starts in 2023. He breached the top 10 in program history in strikeouts with 235, and his 46 career starts are the most among all pitchers in the NCAA entering the 2024 season
+ Luke Spillane is the program's active leader with 166 career games. In addition, he's over 100 career runs and RBIs, reached 30 career steals, and 14 sacrifice flies put him second all-time.

BIG WEST PRESEASON POLL
+ The Anteaters are projected for a second place finish in the Big West Preseason Coaches Poll. UCI was projected to finish second in 2022 as well. The 'Eaters were ranked early on in the season nationally as well.
+ The second edition of the Preseason All-Big West featured three Anteaters led by Caden Kendle on for a second time and joined by Anthony Martinez and Dub Gleed.
+ D1Baseball.com put out its Big West preview with UC Irvine projected to finish second, but make a regional as an at-large. The publication also ranked the top draft prospects for the 2024 and 2025 drafts. UCI had six draft prospects for 2024 led by Nos. 11 and 12 Woody Hadeen and Jo Oyama, and followed by Caden Kendle (#18), Dub Gleed (#20), Myles Smith (#25), and Chase Call (#28). Two Anteaters appeared in the top 20 2025 draft prospects with first baseman Anthony Martinez at No. 2 and pitcher Riley Kelly at No. 5. Notably, no Anteaters were named among the top 20 Impact Freshmen.
+ D1Baseball.com named its Top 50 players at each position with Anthony Martinez rated the No. 5 1B, Jo Oyama No. 7 2B, and Woody Hadeen at No. 14 SS, Caden Kendle the No. 37 OF, and Nick Pinto at No. 92 starting pitcher

SCOUTING THE BISON
North Dakota State and UC Irvine meet for the first time in the regular season. The sides have been linked in the postseason sent to the same regional in each of their last appearances - 2014 and 2021. In the last trip, the sides met in an elimination game with the Anteaters staying alive with an 18-3 win.

The Bison have been Division I since 2008 winning 432 games. They are coming off their first losing season since 2019, but have finished top two in the Summit League in three straight years. The road warriors consistently start every season with 20+ straight games away from home due to the weather which includes the 2023 season going 1-7 over their first eight games that came in California

The offense a year ago scored 6.6 runs a game hitting .273 as a club. The Bison ranked well in doubles (116, 65th in NCAA) and steals (86, 60th). Cadyn Schwabe is the prime NDSU returner who hit .313 with 68 hits, 27 steals, and 37 RBIs

Pitching returns as a strength for North Dakota State with a 5.67 ERA and 1.53 WHIP allowing less than four walks per nine innings. Sophomore Parker Puetz was a standout on the mound last year with a 2.51 ERA including four quality starts and finished without allowing a run in his final 16 innings. Redshirt junior Skyler Riedinger also returns as the saves leader from a year ago with three and a 4.50 ERA over 32 innings with a respectable defense that made just 53 errors in 53 games in 2023.

Schedule