MIDWEEK AT #THECIS

#21 UC Irvine Anteaters (2-1, Big West) vs. USC Trojans (3-0, Big Ten)
Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark (3,408) - Irvine, Calif.
Tuesday - 6:00 PM | ESPN+ | KUCI 88.9 FM | Live Stats

PITCHING PROBABLES
Tuesday: UCI RHP Finnegan Wall vs. USC RHP Andrew Johnson

THE SERIES

#21 UC Irvine Anteaters (2-1, Big West) at Texas Tech Red Raiders (0-3, Big XII)
Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park (4,432) - Lubbock, Tex.
Friday - 4:00 PM PT | ESPN+ | Live Stats
Saturday - 12:00 PM PT | ESPN+ | Live Stats
Sunday - 11:00 AM PT | ESPN+ | Live Stats

PITCHING PROBABLES
Friday: UCI RHP Danny Suarez vs. TTU RHP Jack Cebert
Saturday: UCI RHP Jack Ross vs. TTU RHP Mac Heuer
Sunday: UCI RHP Trevor Hansen vs. TTU RHP Jackson Burns

Game Notes

AROUND THE HORN
#1 - Though very early on, after UCI's 2-1 weekend at the MLB Desert Invitational, they're currently #1 in the nation in RPI and strength of schedule
4 - The Anteaters had 4 drafted in the first 9 rounds in 2024; 1 of 15 programs to do that and 1 of just 2 schools outside the power conferences
20 - UC Irvine was the only program in 2024 to win 20 or more games at home (20-7) and on the road (20-6) in addition to 5-1 at neutral sites
175 - UC Irvine hitters were hit by pitch 175 times in 2024 to set a new single-season NCAA record
 
LEADING OFF
+ UC Irvine is among the nationally ranked after one week in 2025 with Baseball America moving them up from 24th in their preseason poll to 21st. UCI remained in the national polls the entire 2024 season finishing in the top 25 in all five major polls.
+ UC Irvine's opening weekend at the MLB Desert Invitational saw the team go 2-1. That included a win over No. 24 Nebraska and a one-run loss to No. 16 Vanderbilt.
+ The Anteater offense did the heavy lifting hitting .318 as a team along with a .454 on-base percentage and 12 runs scored per game, all tops among Big West schools.
Þ Chase Call had a big bat with seven RBIs in Arizona hitting .462 with a triple and a home run mixed in. He had two hits, a run, and an RBI in each game
Þ James Castagnola raked out of the 5-spot with Big West highs in batting average (.600) and on-base percentage (.688) while adding a home run for a 1.000 slugging percentage
Þ Jacob McCombs was one of the newcomers that showed out doubling three times, homering once, and joined Castagnola with six runs scored apiece to top all Big West hitters. Fellow transfer Zach Fjelstad had a 3-RBI game on Saturday, and Zach Crandall also started once adding an RBI double. Will Bermudez had five RBIs over the weekend all in key spots including the game-tying two-run double Sunday vs. Vanderbilt
Þ UC Irvine called on the big inning again with five innings scoring four or more runs on the weekend including a 5-run fourth vs. Nebraska, a 7-run seventh vs. New Mexico, and a 6-run sixth to erase a 5-0 deficit vs. Vanderbilt
+ UC Irvine's pitching staff held the line with a 5.00 ERA over the weekend against three potent offensive programs.
Þ Jack Ross made the most noise with a win Saturday in his Division I debut. He no-hit New Mexico through 4.1 IP, retired 13 straight at one point, and struck out four
Þ UCI starters collectively had a 3.75 ERA. Danny Suarez and Trevor Hansen each went 3.1 IP and together had seven Ks
Þ Ricky Ojeda and Ryder Brooks were effective bullpen arms putting together 5.2 innings and two earned runs between them while each struck out four hitters. Ojeda even recorded the win Friday vs. No. 24 Nebraska
+ UC Irvine is projected to finish second in the Big West Preseason Poll receiving two first-place votes. On the 11-player All-Big West Team, Anthony Martinez and Ricky Ojeda represent the 'Eaters:
Þ UCI's 22-8 Big West record was good for a second place finish. In 10 Big West series, UC Irvine went 8-2 with four sweeps. The 'Eaters went 21-4 in non-conference regular season action including four Q1 wins and a non-conference RPI of 18 toward its overall RPI of 25
Þ The 'Eaters have an average RPI of 41 over the past four seasons, ninth-best among non-power four conference programs, ahead of programs like Stanford, Auburn, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Arizona State, UCLA, and Nebraska. D1Baseball's top 100 programs over the past decade listed UCI as #51
Þ UCI went 20-6 in true road games finishing with the second-best road win percentage a year after leading the nation
+ Anteater record books shifted in 2024 and could do more in 2025
Þ Woody Hadeen broke two single-season records with 82 runs and 62 walks. He's the first 'Eater to reach 80 runs in a season, and broke a 36-year walk record set by Brady Anderson
Þ Anthony Martinez joined the single-season record breakers driving in 74 RBIs to break Jeff Malinoff's record of 65 in 1972. He will become UCI's all-time leader with 56 in 2025, and he would do the same with 18 doubles
Þ UCI's mark of 25 career home runs is in jeopardy with Martinez entering the season with 20 under his belt and teammate Chase Call tying him with his 20th last weekend
Þ The Anteater offense set a whole host of single-season records scoring 536 runs, nearly 100 more than previous high, 66 home runs topping the 52 UCI hit last season, and 351 walks drawn topping the 304 from last season. The team was hit by 175 pitches setting a NCAA single-season record
 
  
SCOUTING THE TROJANS
USC is back on the rise under third-year head coach Andy Stankiewicz. He's put up winning seasons in each of his first two years, as many as the program had the previous two decades, and on the verge of an NCAA Regional. Through the first weekend, USC went 3-0 with two close victories in a sweep of George Washington in another year where the team is split between OC Great Park and LMU as their home field.

The Trojans and Anteaters are near even in the all-time series with the 'Eaters holding a slim 38-36 edge and had won 7 of the last 8 before the Trojans thumped UCI in each of the two meetings in 2024, 12-5 and 12-4.

The offense carried the load last weekend with 31 runs on 38 hits and the top slugging percentage in the Big Ten. Three Trojans hit .500 or better led by sophomore Kevin Takeuchi (.571, 8 H, 4 RBI), grad transfer Kade Higgins (.500, 2 HR, 5 RBI), and the return of fourth-year Bryce Grudzielanek (.500, 4 RBI, 6 R, 5 BB).

Pitching tossed a 4.67 ERA over the weekend with starters Caden Hunter and Caden Aoki pitching into the fifth. Ethan Hedges in the closer's role was lights-out retiring all  six hitters he faced with three strikeouts to collect two saves. Tuesday night's starter will be Andrew Johnson, a freshman that struck out five without a walk and allowed a solo HR in 2.2 innings of USC's opening day win.

SCOUTING THE RED RAIDERS
Texas Tech has had wild success with 50 winning seasons and 17 trips to an NCAA Regional including a streak of seven straight that was snapped last season. Texas Tech hosted five times in that stretch, and all-time has made four College World Series trips, all coming since 2014. To open 2025, they ran into a buzzsaw in No. 6 North Carolina swept in a road series by scores of 5-1, 8-3, and 4-2.

The Red Raiders and Anteaters have met one time before way back in 2005 during a tournament at USC. UCI behind Justin Cassel held a 9-3 lead after five innings, but Texas Tech flipped the script with a nine-run sixth inning on its way to a 14-10 victory. UCI has faced off with other Big XII schools in recent years including home-and-home series against TCU, where they split 3-3, and Kansas State, going 2-4. The 'Eaters have had fond trips to the state of Texas as well with an all-time record of 24-9 with recent success winning four straight from a 15-2 win over No. 7 TCU and a sweep of Rice back in 2018.

The offense was stymied scoring just six runs and collecting 20 hits at UNC. They're coming off a stellar season where the Red Raiders hit .298 with over 600 hits and almost 100 home runs as a team. Damian Bravo and TJ Pompey are two returners that are volatile with all three HRs and five RBIs from the opening weekend after 2024 saw Bravo hit .378, Pompey launch 10 HRs, and together they drove in 93 runs

Pitching was tested last season with an ERA of 6.19, and it typically is in an offensive setting like Rip Griffin Park. They allowed just 17 runs to the Tar Heels with senior Jack Cebert fairing well in just three innings and upperclassmen Zane Petty (3 IP, 3.00, 3 K) and Tyler Boudreau (2 IP, 0.00, 3 K) solid out of the bullpen. Freshman Jackson Burns got a shot on the weekend, but couldn't make it out of the first while SoCal sophomore Lukas Pirko was the most effective with one run and seven strikeouts over 5.1 innings