MIDWEEK

UC Irvine Anteaters (13-1, 0-0 Big West) vs. UConn Huskies (3-9, 0-0 BIG EAST)
Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark - Irvine, Calif.

Tuesday - 6:00 PM | ESPN+ | KUCI | Live Stats

PITCHING PROBABLES
Tuesday: UCI LHP Brandon Luu vs. UCONN RHP Ben Schild

THE SERIES

UC Irvine Anteaters (13-2, 0-0 Big West) vs. UC Davis Aggies (9-7, 0-0 Big West)
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. UCD LHP Bryan Green
Saturday: UCI RHP Trevor Hansen vs. UCD RHP Noel Valdez
Sunday: UCI TBD vs. UCD LHP Mason Lerma

Gameday Page
Game Notes
Scout Pack

AROUND THE HORN
#19 - UC Irvine enters the week ranked in five polls with Baseball America coming in the highest at #19
71 - The offense scored 71 runs in 4 games in Fresno including 32 in one and 5 innings of 8 or more runs scored
18 - UCI's winning streak ended at 18 games, 2nd-longest in UCI history, and the 12-0 start was best in UCI history
43 - Jo Oyama hit for UC Irvine's first cycle in 43 years since Troy Ybarra, and the fourth in program history
 
LEADING OFF
+ The Anteaters win streak finally came to an end finishing at 18 games dating back to 2023, second-longest in program history.
+ UCI started 2024 12-0, the 'Eaters' best-ever start to a season. UCI was the third-to-last team to lose a game leaving Texas A&M and Florida State the lone unbeatens.
+ Jo Oyama was the Big West's Field Player of the Week, the first time he's won the honor after a week hitting .455 with a team-best 10 hits, seven extra-base hits, nine runs, 10 RBIs, reaching base 14 times, and capped it off with two Anteater records Friday when he hit for the cycle, the first for UCI since 1981 and fourth in program history, and added nine RBIs to set a new Anteater record previously held by Jeff Malinoff and Mike Rupp and last done in 1983
+ UC Irvine's offense exploded over the four-game weekend in Fresno, and outscored teams 76-30 in their 4-1 week:
Þ UCI scored 71 runs in three days-worth of baseball which is more runs than 72 teams have scored in the entire season through four weeks
Þ The 32-2 victory vs. Columbia set a school record. The 32 runs are tied for the most in a game in the nation this year, and the 30-run margin of victory is the best
Þ The big inning was a fan of UC Irvine with five different innings scoring 8-or-more runs including a 10-run fourth on Saturday and 11-run ninth Friday
Þ UCI set a single-game walks record Saturday with 18, and Myles Smith leads the NCAA with 1.62 per game
Þ The bats continued their onslaught with 25 runs Saturday including three grand slams from Caden Kendle, Will Bermudez, and Jacob Stinson and two in the same inning by Kendle and Bermudez
+ UC Irvine has entrenched themselves into the national leaders as they overtook the national lead in hit by pitch now with 49. Elsewhere, they are top 50 in runs per game (7th), sac bunts (9th), on-base percentage (12th), triples (19th), doubles (21st), walks (29th), ERA (32nd), batting average (38th), slugging percentage (47th), sacrifice flies (48th), and walks allowed per game (3.82) and have 'Eaters leading the Big West like Kendle in average, hits, doubles, and RBIs, Oyama in HBP, Smith in on-base percentage and walks, and Ricky Tibbett with his four saves
+ A lot of Anteaters firsts came from the weekend highlighted by Abraham Garcia-Pacheco getting in on it by launching his first career HR, back-to-back with Bermudez. Frankie Carney, James Castagnola, and Landon Gaz all got their first Anteater at-bats with Carney collecting three hits, runs, and RBIs on Saturday and Castagnola getting a hit, an RBI, and three runs over the weekend
+ Fifth-year Anteater starter Nick Pinto dropped his first game of 2024 now 3-1 in four starts. He continues to lead active NCAA pitchers with 50 career starts collecting 20 career wins. After starting the year 10th on the program's career strikeout list, he's moved to seventh surpassing Trenton Denholm, Elliot Surrey, Justin Cassel, and now two behind Andre Pallante in sixth with 260.
 
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
UConn and UC Irvine meet for the second time all-time with the first coming in 2011. The Huskies were No. 19 back then coming off the Tony Gwynn Legacy, but the 'Eaters got the win letting up an early lead only to win it in the eighth on a Sean Madigan RBI single, 5-4, and topping future Major Leaguers like George Springer and Nich Ahmed. UConn has made five straight NCAA Regional trips, three times earning an at-large bid, and reaching the Supers once in 2022 falling at Stanford.

The Huskies have started slow to a 3-9 record. They're coming off being swept at UC Santa Barbara while also getting swept at Cal, losing 2-of-3 at No. 23 Auburn, and winning 2 of 3 in a tournament to open the season in Tampa. They will play at UCLA Tuesday before coming south and finish with three at California Baptist

The offense has been held back by the daunting schedule hitting just .224 with 3.7 runs per game. They do hit the long ball matching UCI with 16 with Jack Studley (.298, 4 HR, 5 RBI) and Matt Malcom (4 HR, 6 RBI) leading the way, and Korey Morton (.288, 2 HR, 7 RBI) and Ryan Daniels (2 HR, 8 RBI) others contributing early on.

Pitching has been hit around to a 6.14 ERA put piles up the strikeouts with 9.7 per game. The Huskies have some viable bullpen arms led by Gabe Van Emon (1.72, 15.2 IP, 15 K) and Braden Quinn (3.38, 5.1 IP, 7 K) and others likely to be factors Wednesday like closer Brady Afthim (2 Sv, 6 K) and Joe Carrea both sporting 0.00 ERAs
 

SCOUTING THE AGGIES
UC Davis is ready to compete in 2024 after down years the last three winning a total of 37 games. The Anteaters have the advantage in the all-time series at 45-13 including 13 straight victories and a 22-5 mark at home

The Aggies started 2024 strong with series wins vs. Seattle University and BYU at home, but have dropped their most recent series, both on the road, to stout California Baptist and Santa Clara squads winning one game against each of them. The Aggies won Monday against Utah Valley to stay unbeaten in midweeks and improve to 9-7 overall

The offense is serviceable in most every area ranking in the middle of the pack in most offensive categories. They're really good with sacrifice bunts ranking second nationally with 23 so far, and are top four in the Big West in hits, doubles, and home runs. The key bats are Mark Wolbert (.279, 6 RBI) and Alex Gouveia (.268, 56 AB, 4 K) while others like Nick Leehey (2 HR, 13 RBI) and Riley Acosta (.351) have contributed to their winning ways

Pitching is coming around with a 5.80 ERA and low walk totals. The weekend trio of Bryan Green, Noel Valdez, and Mason Lerma will match up with the Anteaters, and the bullpen has come through taking seven of the team's wins behind veterans like Kaden Riccomini (5 games, 0.00), Alejandro Huezo (2-1, 12.1 IP, 11 K), and Carter Delaney (1-0, 2.38), and freshmen proving their worth like Tyler Wood (2.19, 12.1 IP, 10 K) and Sal Batres (9 IP, 12 K). The defense has vastly improved ranking fifth in the conference and they've turned the 10th-most double plays in the NCAA