MIDWEEK

UC Irvine Anteaters (18-3, 5-1 Big West) vs. Loyola Marymount Lions (11-13, 0-3 WCC)
Page Stadium - Los Angeles, Calif.

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

PITCHING PROBABLES
Tuesday: UCI RHP Tim Grack vs. LMU RHP Chaz McRoberts

THE SERIES

UC Irvine Anteaters (18-3, 5-1 Big West) vs. Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors (15-7, 2-1 Big West)
Les Murakami Stadium - Honolulu, Hawai'i

Thursday - 9:35 PM | ESPN+ | KUCI | Live Stats
Friday - 9:35 PM | KUCI | Live Stats
Saturday - 4:05 PM | KUCI | Live Stats

PITCHING PROBABLES
Thursday: UCI LHP Nick Pinto vs. UH RHP Alex Giroux
Friday: UCI RHP Trevor Hansen vs. UH LHP Randy Abshier
Saturday: UCI LHP Brandon Luu vs. UH TBD

Game Notes

AROUND THE HORN
#16 - UC Irvine enters the week ranked in five polls with Baseball America coming in the highest at #16
4 - Last week, Anteater hitters recorded a 4-hit game on 4 occasions, and had two 4-RBI efforts vs. CSUB
18 - UCI's winning streak ended at 18 games, 2nd-longest in UCI history, and the 12-0 start was best in UCI history
3 - UCI is 1 of 3 programs in the nation that ranks in the top 25 in runs scored per game (9.3) and ERA (3.73)

 + UC Irvine passed the test on Finals Week going 3-0 in a weekend sweep of Cal State Bakersfield. The 'Eaters leapfrog into first place a game up on Cal Poly, CSUN, and UC Santa Barbara. UCI concludes its longest homestand of the year at seven games with a 5-2 record
+ UCI started 2024 12-0, the 'Eaters' best-ever start to a season. UCI was the third-to-last team to lose a game outlasted only by Texas A&M and Florida State
+ Fifth-year Anteater starter Nick Pinto is 4-1 over six starts this season delivering the 21st win of his career Friday. He continues to lead active NCAA pitchers with 52 career starts and drew even with Scott Gorgen for fourth all-time at UCI. After starting the year 10th on the program's career strikeout list, he's moved to fourth surpassing Trenton Denholm, Elliot Surrey, Justin Cassel, Andre Pallante, and on Friday Brett Smith and Gary Wheelock now with 274 in his career.
+ UC Irvine's starting pitching has been the story with a 1.26 ERA over the last six games including four quality starts
Þ Brandon Luu joined the weekend rotation and has been flawless with one run allowed over 11 innings including six shutouts on Sunday to go with a career high five strikeouts
Þ Veteran Nick Pinto rolled six innings on Friday scattering eight hits while striking out nine to improve to 4-1 and win his 21st career game
Þ Trevor Hansen completed six innings for the first time in his career allowing two runs despite nine hits for his first career quality start to improve to 3-0
+ The offense held steady scoring 25 runs in the three games. Anthony Martinez broke out with two 4-RBI games, Thomas McCaffrey drove in six along with a game-winning RBI Sunday in a 4-hit day, and Woody Hadeen had nine hits, reached 12 times, stole three bases, scored seven times, and joined Martinez and McCaffrey with two 4-hit games
+ The Anteaters are beginning to make a national name for themselves statistically. The 'Eaters enter the week ranked 14th with a 3.73 ERA and 21st with an offense scoring 9.3 runs per game. They are 1 of 3 programs within the top 25 in both categories along with Oregon State and Duke.
+ UC Irvine stands among the national leaders in addition to their runs per game and ERA marks. Elsewhere, they are top 50 in hit by pitch (4th), on-base percentage (9th), sacrifice bunts (10th), fielding percentage (12th), walks allowed per nine innings (12th), strikeouts-to-walk ratio (14th), WHIP (30th), doubles per game (31st), triples (34th), walks (45th), runs (48th), and batting average (49th)
+ Anteaters among the nation's best include Luke Spillane 14th in sac bunts, Jo Oyama 16th in hit by pitch, Nick Pinto 21st in wins, 48th in ERA, and 76th in strikeouts, Ricky Tibbett 21st in saves, Caden Kendle 40th in hitting, 25th in hits per game, 51st in RBIs per game, Woody Hadeen 68th in hits and 59th in runs, and Myles Smith 66th in walks
+ UC Irvine rose in the national rankings now at No. 16 by Baseball America. They're also 19th in the USA Today Coaches Poll and 20th from D1Baseball and Perfect Game.

SCOUTING THE LIONS 
Loyola Marymount and UC Irvine meet up for the 91st game all-time. UCI holds a 47-40-3 edge, but the Lions got the better of them in 2023 winning 7-4 at UCI. LMU is under new management in 2024 with Donegal Fergus coming from the UC Santa Barbara coaching staff and a pair of assistants from the University of Hawai'i.

The Lions were the West Coast Conference champions a year ago going 29-24 on the season with 21 wins in WCC play. The 2024 schedule has been up and down rotating between series wins and losses to an 11-13 mark. In midweeks, they've turned it on scoring wins over Michigan, USC, Arizona, and Fresno State. Big West foes they're 1-2 against beating Bakersfield on a Friday, weekend loss at UCSD, and a midweek loss at Fullerton.

The offense has some strengths including their 61 hit by pitch, 58 steals, and they lead the WCC in hits and runs scored while not a team that walks or bunts a lot from the numbers. Sam Biller poses a problem with nine HR and 25 RBIs in the middle of the lineup surrounded by Benny Casillas (.338, 14 RBIs) and transfers Christian Dicochea (.322, 12 SB) and Brendan Bobo (6 HR, 26 RBI, 25 R, 11 SB).

Pitching comes in with a 5.77 ERA with above average marks in walks allowed and strikeout-to-walk ratio, and a defense behind the staff with a fielding percentage just under .970. Sophomore Chaz McRoberts gets the ball to start Tuesday making his first midweek start after five weekend starts with highs of five innings pitched once and a pair of 4-strikeout games. Waiting in the wings are bullpen arms Jeff Heinrich (2-1, 2 Sv, 1.74) and Seamus Barrett, Ryan Mullan, and Austin Schroeder with 13 appearances apiece.

SCOUTING THE RAINBOW WARRIORS 
Hawai'i and UC Irvine play a day early with Easter on the way and during the Anteaters' Spring Break. All-time, UCI holds a 38-14 edge in the series with 18 wins coming on the island. UCI took 2 of 3 at home last year and have now won all four series under coach Orloff and three straight series wins on the road

The Rainbow Warriors finished 2023 29-20 in Rich Hill's second year in command, and an 18-12 Big West mark, a game behind UCI. The 'Bows have reclaimed their island dominance after a 19-7 mark a year ago and are 12-6 so far in 2024 with three wins coming against schools like Ole Miss and No. 13 NC State. UH has played just four games away from home and are coming off a one-sided three-game sweep of San Diego State.

The offense rivals UC Irvine with an on-base percentage points behind UCI's from drawing 166 walks helping them cross home 8.2 times a game. Jordan Donahue has erupted for a .413 average, and new faces like Austin Machado (.370, 10 2B, 21 RBIs) and Matthew Miura (.325, 24 R, 23 RBIs, 10 SB) are driving the offense that still consists of familiar faces like Kyson Donahue, Ben Zeigler-Namoa, Dallas Duarte, and Stone Miyao.

Pitching is much-improved entering the week right on the heels of UCI with a 3.92 ERA with microscopic walks allowed and WHIP numbers. The rotation is rooted in veterans Alex Giroux (3-0, 3.49) and Randy Abshier (1-1, 4.45, 42 K) to start as part of 20 different Rainbow Warriors to toe the rubber. Danny Veloz (4-0, 1.08) and Connor Harrison (0-0, 1.23) are to of the key arms along with Japanese freshman Itsuki Takemoto (4 saves, 2.55) locking down the closer's role.