MIDWEEK

UC Irvine Anteaters (38-10, 18-6 Big West) vs. LMU Lions (22-28, 7-14 WCC)
Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark (3,408) - Irvine, Calif.

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

PITCHING PROBABLES
Tuesday: UCI RHP Danny Suarez vs. LMU RHP Michael Nunez
 

THE SERIES

UC Irvine Anteaters (39-10, 18-6 Big West) at Cal State Fullerton Titans (15-33, 6-18 Big West)
Goodwin Field (3,500) - Fullerton, Calif.

Friday - 6:30 PM | ESPN+ | KUCI | Live Stats
Saturday - 5:00 PM | ESPN+ | KUCI | Live Stats
Sunday - 1:00 PM | ESPN+ | KUCI | Live Stats

PITCHING PROBABLES
Friday: UCI LHP Nick Pinto vs. CSF LHP Mikiah Negrete
Saturday: UCI RHP Trevor Hansen vs. CSF RHP Christian Rodriguez
Sunday: UCI RHP Tim Grack vs. CSF TBD

Game Notes
Gameday Page
Scout Pack

AROUND THE HORN
#13 - UC Irvine has remained ranked nationally all season with all five polls ranking UCI this week and notably at #13
1st - UCI's 18-4 road record ranks 1st in the NCAA. Over the last 2 seasons, UCI is 41-11 away from Anteater Ballpark
7th - Myles Smith was named Big West Field Player of the Week for the 2nd time and the 7th award for the team
146 - UC Irvine has been hit by pitch 146 times setting a new program record and leading the NCAA
 
LEADING OFF
+ UC Irvine continues to be ranked nationally rising back up to 12th according to Perfect Game USA, 13th via USA Today and ESPN and the NCBWA, 15th from D1Baseball.com, and 17th according to Baseball America.
+ UC Irvine stands among the national leaders leading the nation with 146 hit by pitch and top 50 in on-base percentage (3rd), doubles per game (12th), runs per game (15th), sac flies (16th), batting average (22nd), walks (22nd), runs (22nd), sac bunts (24th), hits (29th), strikeout-to-walk ratio (31st), walks allowed per 9 innings (32nd), ERA (36th), fielding percentage (38th), and triples (46th)
+ Anteaters among the nation's best include Nick Pinto eighth in wins, 66th in strikeouts, and top 50 in ERA and K-to-BB ratio, Caden Kendle now 11th in batting, 17th in hits per game, 10th in sac flies, and 28th in on-base, Woody Hadeen sitting ninth in on-base, 12th in walks, and 15th in runs per game, Myles Smith sixth in on-base, 18th in batting, and 10th in walks per game, Anthony Martinez 33rd in RBIs, and Jo Oyama at ninth in HBP, 24th in sac bunts, and 29th in triples.
+ The Anteater record book will look different soon with a host of records on the verge of changing hands. Woody Hadeen is nearing the single-season mark for walks needing three and runs scored needing five more. Anthony Martinez is three RBIs from breaking the program record. UCI's offense set the HR mark last year at 52, and now the 2024 Anteaters are three away from resetting that record.
+ Fifth-year Anteater starter Nick Pinto is 1 of 4 Anteaters to reach 300 career strikeouts and stands alone in third place with 317. He's now sixth in wins and innings pitched as he picked up his ninth win of the year last week, a new single-season high for Pinto as he attempts to become the program's first 10-game winner since 2019.
+ The 'Eaters went 4-0 winning vs. UCLA and keeping pace two games behind UC Santa Barbara at 2nd in the Big West:
Þ Myles Smith earned his second Big West Field Player of the Week honor in three weeks after hitting .467 with nine runs scored, six RBIs, a 4-BB game vs. UCLA, and five extra-base hits including his 2nd 2-HR game
Þ Ricky Ojeda was just upstaged for weekly honors, but dominated nonetheless. He appeared in three games earning Tuesday's win and a hold Sunday. He struck out a career high seven Tuesday, part of his 12 in 8.2 innings, and allowed four baserunners including setting down all 15 vs. LBSU and his last 21 in a row
Þ Pitching as a whole allowed six runs to LBSU, none from the bullpen, and featured two quality starts and Tim Grack's first start and win in a weekend matchup
Þ Danny Suarez returned from Tommy John from April 2023 to strikeout three in a scoreless first inning Tuesday. Riley Kelly was scoreless in his return as well.
 
SCOUTING THE LIONS
Loyola Marymount and UC Irvine played a wild one in their other meeting at LMU on March 26. The Lions came back to force extras, then scored three in the 10th to force an 11th. Trailing by three again, Diego Baquiero launched a ball with bases loaded to plate two, but the third and tying run was thrown out a home plate by Frankie Carney and Woody Hadeen for a 10-9 UCI win. All-time, UCI leads 48-40-3, but the Lions have a slight edge, 23-22-1, at Anteater Ballpark.

The Lions were 11-13 after the last meeting, and since then have gone 11-15 picking up wins over UC Santa Barbara, Fresno State, Cal State Fullerton, and a series over Portland. They've put up a pair of 20-run performances in that. The Lions are still playing for the postseason at 7-14 in WCC play, but a win or two away from clinching the final spot in next week's WCC Tournament.

The offense holds its own with 7.4 runs a game with speed at its disposal with 12 triples and a 103 steals, good for 16th nationally. They're also up there in HBP with 123 to rank third nationally. Christian Dicochea is one of the toughest to strikeout in the nation while putting up a .337 average and 14 doubles. Baqueiro was the menace last time with five RBIs now with 42, and big bats Brendan Bobo (12 HR, 55 RBI, 16 SB) and Sam Biller (12 HR, 39 RBI, 20 SB) make their lineup ready to erupt at any moment.

Pitching has been up and down to the tune of a 5.99 ERA. Chaz McRoberts weathered a tough first inning in the last meeting to go four innings. The bullpen makes itself known with two arms, Ryan Mullan and Austin Schroeder, each with 31 appearances good for second in the nation. Mullan has had the better of it at 3-2 with a 3.95 ERA while Seamus Barrett has struck out 52 mostly out of the pen where he's appeared 18 of his 24 times and is among four Lions to pick up a save this season
 
SCOUTING THE TITANS
Cal State Fullerton and the 'Eaters have played 145 times which will surpass the series with Long Beach State after this weekend. The Titans have won 96 times and have a 44-23 advantage at Goodwin Field, but the Anteaters historically have had better luck on the road in this series. Familiar faces in the Titan dugout include head coach Jason Dietrich who was part of the Anteater dugout from 2008-12 and Director of Player Development in his second year, Connor Spencer.

The Titans came out firing in 2024 with a series win at Stanford and a win off Fresno State, but have been on the losing end of a tough schedule going 15-33 to this point after being the Big West representative in the NCAA Tournament a year ago. They've snagged wins off UCLA, Arizona State, and Cal Poly, but sit next to last in the conference at 6-18. They do host the weekend series where they've taken 10 of their wins this year.

The offense is hitting .244 with 4.8 runs a game, both in the bottom 10 in the nation. They still excel in drawing walks, the sacrifice bunt game, and have a solid amount of triples with mainstays Maddox Latta and Colby Wallace each with 5 HR and 30 RBI and Eli Lopez (.287, 3 HR, 30 R) back to solidify the order. Nico Regino has had a breakout year (.301, HR, 12 RBI), and Moises Guzman (10 2B, 4 HR, 17 RBI) in the mix of players that can impact a game at any moment

Pitching drives the Titans with a 4.92 ERA and keeping walks off the basepaths. The weekend rotation starts with sophomore transfer Mikiah Negrete who is 4-4 with a 4.26 ERA putting up quality starts against East Carolina, Cal Poly, and UCLA among the six he's had along with the team high of 57 strikeouts. Christian Rodriguez has held down the other starter spot for the most part with seven other Titans earning a start thus far including the first this season on Sunday by Jason Blood to get a win over UC Davis. Blood has been a big arm out of the bullpen with 18 appearances and 48 strikeouts in 44.2 innings, and others like Andrew Morones (22 G, 2-1, 3.45) and Jason Krakoski (18 G, 2-1, 4.98) doing the most while opponents hit .285 against the staff