IRVINE, Calif. --- A wildly successful 2023 ended early for the UC Irvine baseball program as one of the first teams left out of the NCAA Regionals despite 38 wins and a dominant performance against their Power 5 competition.

The Anteaters don't lose a whole lot from their team from a year ago with every starting position player back for a second go including co-Big West Field Player of the Year, Caden Kendle, who was the only college player drafted in the top 10 rounds to return for another season.

One of the biggest additions to the 2024 roster is the return of Anteater starter Woody Hadeen who was injured and missed the entire season as he fits into the diamond that is already filled with depth.

Below are five things to know about the 2024 Anteaters ahead of the season opener, Friday, February 16 at Anteater Ballpark.

WE AIN'T GOING NOWHERE
The story of selection Monday in 2023 was the UC Irvine Anteaters - the team on the outside looking in to the field of 64 - as a controversial subject of conversation with many experts and publications voicing their opinions on UCI's exclusion from the field both agreeing and disagreeing with it. The 2023 Anteaters did everything right from a challenging schedule that saw them finish as the best program in college baseball on the road winning 20 games and going 19-6 in true road games to beating the best with an 8-1 record against the Pac-12 and 10-2 against Power 5 opposition.

The season previews across the landscape haven't forgotten the impressive season the 'Eaters had as they're right in the conversation heading into 2024 with a top-25 ranking at No. 25 according to Baseball America's preseason poll, postseason projections as an at-large from D1Baseball.com including 1 of the 5 sleepers for Omaha, and Preseason All-American honors for sophomore Anthony Martinez who makes their Third Team, was named the No. 5 in their Top 50 First Basemen, and returns after being the Big West batting champ hitting .394 while posting more extra-base hits (30) than strikeouts (27)..

EVERY AT-BAT COUNTS
As mentioned earlier, the 'Eaters don't lose a whole lot in the field and gain a position player back in Hadeen. In fact, every single one of the team's 1,869 at-bats from 2023 is back on the 2024 roster. Even more impressive was the fact that the 2023 offense broke numerous program records including runs scored, home runs, and walks. FaBIO which measures Fielding and Ballpark Individual Outcomes rated UC Irvine's offense No. 1 in the nation in expected runs scored per plate appearance.

The competitive Big West saw the 'Eaters post the batting champ in Anthony Martinez and his .394 average, the stolen base king of Jo Oyama who continued to garner accolades over the summer at the Cape Cod League and named the No. 7 second baseman in D1Baseball.com's Top 50 at the position, and Caden Kendle breaking the school record with 69 runs scored a year ago and returning with a 43-game on-base streak intact having reached in 81 of his last 82 games.

MOUND PRESENCE
The pitching side of things for the Anteaters is not as settled as the bats with graduations by important starters Michael Stanford and Andre Antone, Jacob King and Tanner Brooks no longer anchoring the backend, Cooper Robinson off to the SEC, and offseason injuries shutting down the likes of Finnegan Wall and Danny Suarez who were ready to compete for weekend roles.

Nick Pinto returns for a fifth season and the model of longevity entering 2024 with 46 career starts, most among all pitchers in college baseball. He starts the season 10th all-time in strikeouts at UCI with 235 to go with 17 wins an a 3.90 ERA as an Anteater. David Vizcaino is back for his third year as an Anteater and looking to pitch big weekend innings, and second-year arm Riley Kelly could be a large factor, a draft pick out of high school that has huge potential and saw his freshman year cut down by injuries.

"Some version of Pinto, Vizcaino, and Kelly will make up our weekend rotation. Kelly is the difference maker and has the ability to rack up the punchouts along with Pinto. The expectations need to be tempered because he hardly threw last year and is essentially a freshman when it comes to innings."

The collection of Anteater arms still has a lot yet to be seen with additions like fifth-year Ricky Tibbett from San Diego State, David Utagawa from Northwestern out of the Big Ten, and junior college two-way convert Dante Zamudio working into the mix of veterans Cameron Wheeler and Nick Rincover, second-year 'Eaters Max Martin, Elliot Joslin, Michael Pirrello, and Ryder Brooks ready to make their mark, and a talented group of freshmen that may be called upon.

"We're going to be non-conventional out of the bullpen and on Tuesdays. Until our guys pitch themselves into bigger roles, I think everyone will do better with smaller roles. We have a lot of guys that are going to be tough on opponents when they're in there to get three outs."

THE GREATEST STRENGTH
With all the fireworks off the bats and promising arms powering the pitching staff, one of the strongest parts of the 2024 squad and likely most overlooked will be the defense.

"The defense is going to be a calling card for us and why we're going to be so good. We have plus defensive players all over the diamond, that's going to be a gigantic strength for us."

The gloves are coming off 51 errors in 55 games a year ago with standouts like Will Bermudez named 1 of 3 finalist for the Gold Glove Award among second basemen, two errors at first base all year for freshman Anthony Martinez, a Big West-leading six outfield assists by Caden Kendle, and a catching trio and pitching staff that allowed 40 total stolen base attempts. A big factor in 2023 was the absence of Woody Hadeen, the team's starting shortstop, and while all over the diamond Anteaters stepped up and delivered a .975 fielding percentage and 38 wins, many Anteaters were playing their second position.

"Hadeen at shortstop is an elite defender, he makes everybody else better which I think we were lacking a little last year. His presence returns everyone to their natural position with Dub Gleed at third base and Bermudez and Oyama improved and at second base."

The outfield is full of plus defenders from left to right with Luke Spillane commanding center field and the combination of Caden Kendle, Myles Smith, and Chase Call all battling for the other outfield spots and fully capable of covering the vast expanse of Cicerone Field.

THE 2024 JOURNEY
A lot can be made of coach Orloff's 2023 ledger that was nitpicked over on whether UC Irvine did enough and played a competitive-enough schedule to earn the at-large berth. In the end, the 'Eaters were tested and always will be which rings true in 2024.

The non-conference slate begins at home with North Dakota State, one of the best of the Summit League and an Anteater dance partner in each of their last two postseason regionals. The 'Eaters travel to Tulane after sweeping them Green Wave at home to start 2023 only to see them get hot and ride into a regional themselves.

A big draw will be the first weekend in March with UCI part of the Dodger Stadium College Baseball Classic and weekend visits by San Diego and Michigan before heading to Dodger Stadium to match up with UCLA on Sunday. UCI joins Fresno State and Ivy League power Columbia in Fresno to play four games before Big West play gets going.

The rest of the slate is littered with quality including UConn who enters as the highest RPI from 2023 that UCI will face, California Baptist who perennially puts up 30+-win seasons near the top of the WAC, the usual home-and-homes with Loyola Marymount, USC, and UCLA, and a weekend matchup this year with San Diego State playing twice in Anteater Ballpark and once at Tony Gwynn Stadium.

"Everyone on our schedule challenges themselves just like we do starting with North Dakota State, If you're talking RPI, one of the things you want to do is play the best team in a conference outside the Power 5 which everyone here historically has been and will be in 2024. The common fan might not know some of these opponents are good and might not have the big name recognition like Michigan or UCLA, but most of these schools are likely picks to win or finish near the top of their conferences."