MIDWEEK

UC Irvine Anteaters (34-10, 15-6 Big West) vs. UCLA Bruins (16-29, 6-18 Pac-12)
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. UCLA RHP Landon Stump
 

THE SERIES

UC Irvine Anteaters (34-10, 15-6 Big West) at Long Beach State Dirtbags (21-22-1, 8-13 Big West)
Bohl Diamond at Blair Field (3,342) - Long Beach, Calif.

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

PITCHING PROBABLES
Friday: UCI LHP Nick Pinto vs. LBSU TBD
Saturday: UCI RHP Trevor Hansen vs. LBSU TBD
Sunday: UCI LHP Brandon Luu vs. LBSU TBD

Game Notes
Gameday Page
Scout Pack

AROUND THE HORN
#16 - UC Irvine has remained ranked nationally all season with all five polls ranking UCI this week and highest at #16
2nd - UCI's 15-4 road record is 2nd best in the NCAA. Over the last 2 years, UCI is 38-11 away from Anteater Ballpark
3rd - Head Coach Ben Orloff recently surpassed the legend Gary Adams for 3rd in wins all-time at UC Irvine
132 - UC Irvine has been hit by pitch 132 times to lead the NCAA; 1 more will tie the program record set in 2023
 
LEADING OFF
+ UC Irvine continues to be ranked nationally dropping in the polls for the first time in a few weeks. They sit at the highest No. 16 via D1Baseball.com, USA Today, and NCBWA, also No. 17 via Perfect Game USA, and 18th in Baseball America.
+ UC Irvine stands among the national leaders leading the nation with 132 hit by pitch and top 50 in on-base percentage (4th), sac flies (15th), runs per game (18th), sac bunts (25th), walks (27th), batting average (29th), doubles per game (30th), runs (35th), fielding percentage (37th), hits (46th), and walks allowed per nine innings (46th)
+ Anteaters among the nation's best include Caden Kendle sixth in sac flies, 13th in batting, 17th in hits per game, and 36th in on-base, Woody Hadeen at 13th in on-base, 15th in walks, and 28th in runs per game, Nick Pinto 11th in wins, 65th in ERA, and 81st in strikeouts, Myles Smith 11th in on-base, 20th in walks per game, and 35th in batting, Ricky Tibbett 13th in saves and 78th in appearances, Anthony Martinez 58th in RBIs and 69th toughest to strikeout, Jo Oyama ninth in HBP and 52nd in sac bunts
+ With three conference weekends remaining, the 'Eaters are third in the Big West at 15-6, two games behind UCSB and 1/2 game behind Cal Poly. As a team, UCI tops the Big West in batting, hits, doubles, triples, runs and runs per game, slugging, on-base, hit by pitch, and saves.
+ Big West leaders include three 'Eaters top 10 in batting, slugging, and on-base with Caden Kendle topping for average, Myles Smith and Woody Hadeen leading in on-base, Hadeen also on top in runs and walks, and Anthony Martinez in RBIs among five Anteaters in the top 10. On the defensive side, Will Bermudez has 127 assists to lead the conference and 215 chances, most among infielders
+ Fifth-year Anteater starter Nick Pinto is 1 of 4 Anteaters to reach 300 career strikeouts and stands even in third place with Glenn Swanson at 309 after recording seven on Friday. He is the NCAA leader among active DI pitchers in starts (58) and innings pitched (325.1) while also fourth in strikeouts and third with his 25 victories.
+ The 'Eaters had a 2-2 week with a big win at USD, but a series loss vs. Cal Poly to drop them to third in the Big West
Þ Caden Kendle continued his consistent bat with three multi-hit games to lead the team hitting .438, and he drove in four as part of seven straight with an RBI
Þ Tim Grack was marvelous Tuesday going five innings of one-run ball to register his first career win at USD. He added a shutout relief performance Saturday stranding a pair of runners to help in the win
Þ Trevor Hansen dueled Saturday to a no decision, but matched career highs with six innings and eight Ks
Þ David Vizcaino starred out of the bullpen with two innings in two outings allowing one baserunner and punching out five of his six outs
Þ The defense had a down week, but spectacular plays like Myles Smith robbing a foul home run and Will Bermudez's run-saving dive highlighted the glovework
 
SCOUTING THE BRUINS
UCLA and UC Irvine played for the third time this season with the first two tight affairs and Anteater wins. UCI held off the Bruins in Dodger Stadium back on March 3, 5-2, and had to come from behind in the ninth behind a Chase Call three-run homer on April 23 to win, 9-7. UCLA still has the all-time edge, 57-39-1, and are 24-21-1 at UCI. The 'Eaters look to win Tuesday which would be the longest winning streak for either side in the history of this series at seven in a row.

The Bruins won three of four last week taking a midweek off Pepperdine and two of three from Cal State Fullerton. The Bruins are 16-29 overall going 3-4 since the last matchup with UCI, and still at the bottom of the Pac-12 with a 6-18 record and just 4-18 away from Westwood

The offense awoke in the last matchup connecting for four home runs including two in the eighth to take the lead. Roch Cholowsky had two of them and did that again in the Bruins' Sunday win to take the team lead. The lineup is filled with always-dangerous hitters like Duce Gourson (15 2B, 6 HR, 23 RBI), AJ Salgado (.302, 11 XBH), and Mulivai Levu (.289, 6 HR, 33 RBI)

Pitching typically keys the Bruins and the staff led by former Anteater head coach John Savage. They're still stingy giving up hits and walks to go with an ERA just above 5.00. Freshman Landon Stump gets the call after coming out of the bullpen over the weekend following seven straight weekend starts vs. Pac-12 opposition. He comes in with a 6.70 ERA over 47 innings and will be looking for his first career win. The bullpen is more than capable of putting up zeroes with arms like Luke Rodriguez whose pitched in each of the previous outings picking up four strikeouts in 4.1 innings, JonJon Vaughns who came out of the outfield to nail down two scoreless frames at UCLA, and ever-present closer Rashad Ruff who will be looking for redemption after the 'Eaters hit him around last time and has 53 strikeouts and seven saves on the year
 
SCOUTING THE DIRTBAGS
Long Beach State and the Anteaters return for another installment of the Black & Blue Rivalry Series having played each other 143 times before. The storied program of the Dirtbags are behind in the all-time series as UCI holds a 76-66-1 advantage and even have a 34-31 edge at Blair Field. LBSU has taken the last two series with UCI winning Sunday games, and the sides split in 2021.

The Dirtbags are under new management this year as Bryan Peters assumes the Interim Head Coach role as of June after he's been an Associate Head Coach for them since 2019. At a near-even 21-22-1, the Dirtbags started off strong at 9-1-1 and have wins over Washington, UCLA, and Wichita State. Conference play put a dent in the record with just one series win coming against Cal State Fullerton and a sweep at the hands of Michigan in their non-conference bye week. Blair Field has been a safe haven with a 15-6-1 mark at home where they'll host the Anteaters.

The offense is around the middle of the Big West with solid home run numbers at 36. The Dirtbags run a lot with 87 steals that leads the conference. Five different basestealers have 10 or more including their power threat John Newman Jr., a transfer from UC Santa Barbara, whose left the yard nine times, stolen 15 bases, and is still hitting .301 with team highs in doubles and RBIs. All of the Dirtbag regulars have two or more home runs including seven from Adrian Lopez while the likes of Connor Charpiot (.331), 24 RBI), Kyle Ashworth (.313, 3 3B, 39 R, 24 RBI), and Armando Briseno (.308, 9 2B, 20 RBI) keep the offense rolling

Pitching powers Long Beach State with a 4.08 ERA and 1.29 WHIP which both sit 11th nationally. They also post gaudy strikeout and low-walk numbers, but do lead the conference in hit batters playing into an Anteater strength. Their big gun Myles Patton is the Big West strikeout leader with 85 over 66.1 innings to go with a 4-3 record and 3.26 ERA. He missed his start last week however at UC Davis, but the stable of arms helped pick him up with eight pitchers on the staff that have over 20 innings and an ERA under 4.00. Kellan Montgomery has also been steady as a Sunday starter with a 3.89 ERA over 69.1 innings and 64 strikeouts. Mike Villani waits on the backend with seven saves and over a strikeout per inning along with Grant Cherry and Nick Williams each with two saves and similar numbers to Villani.