MIDWEEK

UC Irvine Anteaters (3-0, Big West 0-0) vs. San Diego Toreros (1-2, WCC 0-0)
Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark - Irvine, Calif.

Tuesday - 6:00 PM | CANCELED: RAIN
 

THE SERIES

UC Irvine Anteaters (3-0, Big West 0-0) at Tulane Green Wave (3-1, AAC 0-0)
Greer Field and Turchin Stadium - New Orleans, La.

Friday - 4:30 PM PDT | ESPN+ | KUCI | Live Stats
Saturday - 12:00 PM PDT | ESPN+ | KUCI  | Live Stats
Sunday - 11:00 AM PDT | ESPN+ | KUCI | Live Stats

PITCHING PROBABLES
Friday: UCI LHP Nick Pinto vs. TUL LHP Jake Saum
Saturday: UCI RHP Riley Kelly vs. TUL RHP Chandler Welch
Sunday: UCI RHP Trevor Hansen vs. TUL RHP Will Clements

Gameday Page
Game Notes

AROUND THE HORN
#21 - UCI is #21 according to Baseball America; UCI began 2024 at #25, the third time ranked under coach Orloff
1.17 - UCI's bullpen posted a 1.17 ERA vs. NDSU. Five freshmen made debuts recording two wins with a 2.79 ERA
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
 
LEADING OFF
 
+ The Anteaters earned a big sweep at home to start 2024 something the 'Eaters also did in 2021 and 2023.
+ The UCI offense ranks among the nation's best after one weekend and is tops in the Big West in home runs, runs per game, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage.
+ Thomas McCaffrey erupted for three home runs including a grand slam Friday night and two HR Saturday. His 3 HR and 9 RBI both lead the conference, his 3 HR and 1.714 slugging are fourth in the nation, and it was good enough to earn the second Big West Field Player of the Week honor
+ Other Anteater hot bats included Luke Spillane who hit .600 with three doubles to lead the Big West, four extra-base hits, and did not strike out. Woody Hadeen returned after missing 2023 and leads the conference with three steals along with four hits and five runs. Jo Oyama and Anthony Martinez each had a homer Sunday and drove in three on the weekend. Caden Kendle continue to impress with five hits, a .600 on-base percentage, and kept up streaks from last year now 14 straight home games with a hit and 46 consecutive games reaching base. Abraham Garcia-Pacheco made the most of his only start with two hits and two RBIs in Sunday's finale
+ UCI's 2.33 ERA was also best in the conference. The bullpen served up a 1.17 ERA with highlights from transfers David Utagawa and Ricky Tibbett who retired all 15 hitters between them with four strikeouts each.
+ Fifth-year Anteater starter Nick Pinto looked the part with 5.1 strong innings in the opener. He continues to lead active NCAA pitchers with 47 career starts, and he picked up his 18th career win on Friday. Pinto struck out six to move from 10th to a tie for seventh in one outing on the UCI all-time strikeout leaderboard surpassing Trenton Denholm, Elliot Surrey, and sitting alongside Justin Cassel in seventh. Next on the list with 260 strikeouts in sixth is Andre Pallante
+ Riley Kelly returned after an injury erased most of his 2023 to strike out six in just three innings Saturday.
+ Anteater freshmen stole the show with five debuts on the mound in the three games. Together, the youth movement posted a 2.79 ERA with five strikeouts over 9.2 innings
Þ Ryder Brooks was first up after a redshirt campaign a year ago and got pair of outs Friday. His return Sunday helped shut down an NDSU rally as he finished with three stirkeouts over 1.2 innings to pick up his first career victory
Þ Ricky Ojeda got in for the ninth inning Friday with a 12-run lead, but still made an impression sitting down all three Bison hitters two via the strikeout
Þ Brandon Luu was the first out of the bullpen Saturday allowing a run in two innings, but steadied the ship enough to earn the victory in his first career outing
Þ Trevor Hansen made his collegiate debut starting on Sunday, and weathered a first-inning run and scattered seven hits in 3.1 innings striking out two
Þ Tim Grack relieved Hansen throwing one inning and emerging without a run against him and the Anteaters holding a lead in the eventual 10-4 victory
+ UC Irvine defense showed its usual sparkling glovework. The .991 fielding percentage posted was tops in the Big West and stands 17th-best in the NCAA
+ The next win for the 'Eaters will be No. 1,400 in program history. UCI baseball has a .571 win percentage all-time
 
SCOUTING THE TOREROS

San Diego and UC Irvine meet for the 115th time in their histories, the most against one non-conference opponent for UCI. The sides will meet again in 10 days as part of the Dodger Stadium College Baseball Classic. UCI has the edge, 63-50-1, with 29 wins at home and wins in each of the last four in the series
The Toreros started 2024 with a daunting trip to play at No. 16 Texas. They emerged with an extra-inning win Saturday but ultimately dropped the series. The 2023 Toreros were also a game under .500 after a 2022 trip to the Corvallis Regional and a win over Vanderbilt.
The offense is led by Preseason All-WCC standouts Angelo Peraza and Jack Gurevitch with Gurevitch part of a three-headed monster of Dustin Allen and Austin Smith who all hit over .400 in Texas providing over half of the teams hits. Ryan Ward hit the only HR and he and Jack Costello each drove in three as the team hit .268 for the weekend
Pitching held its own despite the 6.67 ERA as the weekend rotation allowed a total of five earned runs over 13.1 innings. The bullpen was tripped up with a combined ERA 10.23 with Calvin Schpira's three shutout innings one of the lone bright spots. Grad transfer Vaughn Mauterer picked up a saved and Conner Thurman returns from injury putting up two scoreless outings against the Longhorns.
 

SCOUTING THE GREEN WAVE

Tulane and UC Irvine meet again after opening the 2023 season in Anteater Ballpark. The 'Eaters swept the series with two shutouts recorded. The 'Eaters hold a 7-2 lead in the all-time series including winning two of three in their only trip to Tulane back in 2008.
The Green Wave shocked the college baseball world with an underdog run through the American Athletic Conference Tournament to win it and earn a berth to the Baton Rouge Regional despite being the 7-seed and only 19 wins
The offense found a way in the opening weekend to win 2 of 3 over Northwestern. Key returner Brady Marget (5 H, 4 R, 2 RBI) made an impact while ECU transfer Connor Rasmussen had a HR and 7 RBIs. AAC Preseason Player of the Year Teo Banks started slow hitless in three games, but hammered 18 home runs a year ago
Pitching has seen some upgrades as well from familiar faces to the Anteaters. A pair of West Coast grad transfers factored largely into the opening weekend with UCLA lefty Jake Saum starting opening night and UC Santa Barbara reliever Carter Benbrook appeared twice and picked up a win. Chandler Welch put up 10 strikeouts in five innings to win Saturday as well. Overall, the Green Wave allowed 20 runs in three games with 10 arms coming out of the pen. Tulane's defense is also looking to rebound after committing six errors to open.