MIDWEEK AT #THECIS

#20 UC Irvine Anteaters (4-3, Big West) vs. Utah Tech Trailblazers (3-5, WAC)
Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark (3,408) - Irvine, Calif.
Wednesday - 6:00 PM | ESPN+ | KUCI 88.9 FM | Live Stats

PITCHING PROBABLES
Tuesday: UCI RHP Finnegan Wall vs. UTU RHP Jonah Marshall

THE SERIES

#20 UC Irvine Anteaters (4-3, Big West) vs. Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (4-3, Sun Belt)
Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark (3,408) - Irvine, Calif.
Friday - 6:00 PM | ESPN+ | KUCI 88.9 FM | Live Stats
Saturday - 1:00 PM | ESPN+ | KUCI 88.9 FM | Live Stats
Sunday - 1:00 PM | ESPN+ | KUCI 88.9 FM | Live Stats

PITCHING PROBABLES
Friday: UCI RHP Danny Suarez vs. UL LHP Chase Morgan
Saturday: UCI RHP Jack Ross vs. UL RHP Blake McGehee
Sunday: UCI RHP Trevor Hansen vs. UL LHP Andrew Herrmann

Game Notes

AROUND THE HORN
6 - The 'Eaters already have 6 instances where they've erased a deficit to tie or lead including its largest 5-run comeback vs. #16 Vanderbilt
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 four 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
50 - Will Bermudez has amassed 50 hit by pitch in his UC Irvine career, 1 from tying the program's all-time leader, Mike Peabody
 
LEADING OFF
+ UC Irvine is among the nationally ranked after two weeks in 2025 with Baseball America moving them up from 24th in their preseason poll to 21st and now 20th. UCI remained in the national polls the entire 2024 season finishing in the top 25 in all five major polls.
+ UC Irvine has run through a gauntlet with a road series win over the Big XII's Texas Tech, a neutral site win over No. 24 Nebraska, and losses to 6-1 USC and No. 16 Vanderbilt by one on a neutral site.
+ The Anteater offense continues to mash scoring 29 runs in their three games in Lubbock to keep their season average at .298
Þ Jacob McCombs' week was award worthy earning Big West Field Player of the Week. He had two triples and two home runs amongst 10 hits while leading the club with eight RBIs
Þ Chase Call had a four-RBI game in Lubbock giving him six on the week, and he pelted his 21st career home run bringing him within four of the UC Irvine record
Þ Rowan Felsch made his Anteater debut with two walks, a run, and a steal vs. USC. He finished hitting .417 with four RBIs, a second SB, six walks, and his first UCI home run to start Sunday's win
Þ The Anteaters had a busy time last week battling back. Five different times, the team erased a deficit to tie or take the lead, and even in Saturday's loss trailed 7-0 after two innings to quickly close it to one by the fourth inning
+ UC Irvine's pitching staff was battered around allowing 34 runs last week including seven home runs at Rip Griffin Park, but took home the series win and flashed some bright performances:
Þ David Butler had a busy week appearing in three games allowing a single run in four innings, striking out five, and settling things down in Sunday's wild win for his first career save
Þ Ryan Kysar made his first UCI outing Tuesday with three shutout innings. He threw three more at Texas Tech allowing three runs, but also had four strikeouts overall
Þ Finnegan Wall made his triumphant return from Tommy John on Tuesday and weathered a first-inning run to set down his final five hitters while striking out four in total
Þ Riley Kelly had arguably his best UCI outing with 3.1 vital innings of one-hit, shutout baseball Friday to earn the win. Ricky Ojeda was right behind him for the three-inning save
+ The Anteaters have put up some nationally recognized stats through the season's first seven games:
Þ The 'Eaters have four triples, eighth-most in the nation, with three coming from Jacob McCombs who also ranks fifth nationally with 30 total bases
Þ UCI set the NCAA record last year with 175 hit by pitch. They have 18 so far this year which is 18th in the NCAA with Will Bermudez and McCombs leading the charge with four each
Þ The Big West hit leaders currently are McCombs and Colin Yeaman with 14 each tied with UCR's Jayden Lopez who all stand 15th in the nation
Þ The offense posts 9.6 runs a game, leading the Big West and 26th in the country, and they've laid down six sacrifice bunts, 13th nationally and topping the conference
Þ UCI also leads the Big West in on-base percentage and runs, and have the Big West leader in RBIs per game in Call at 1.86
+ 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
 
  
SCOUTING THE TRAILBLAZERS
Utah Tech is fully Division I now in its first year of full eligibility. The Trailblazers began their program in 2007 and started the transition to Division I in 2021 where they are now a member of the WAC. Their coach, Chris Pfatenhauer, has been with the club since 2013 which includes two conference titles in 2014 and 2015 along with 40 wins in 2016.

The Trailblazers and Anteaters have never met on any level with Wednesday being their first meeting on the baseball field. UTU has averaged just over 18 wins a season through four years at Division I, but took wins off schools like Oklahoma State, Washington State, Grand Canyon, and Cal Poly last year. They've also but three alums in the big leagues including solid pitchers Brandon Lyon and Brandon Kintzler. The 2025 Trailblazers have started 3-5, all at home, playing a pair of four-game series winning twice vs. Northern Colorado and once against UC Riverside

The offense is hitting a modest .259 through the early going scoring 5.8 runs a game with high marks when it comes to walks (47), sacrifice bunts (6), and stolen bases (11). Kyle McDaniel's numbers jump out hitting .438 along with others like Petey Soto Jr. (.375), Ryan Kroepel (.360), and Hunter Katschke (.355, 2 HR, 9 RBI).

Pitching has been solid through eight games with a 4.19 ERA allowing 7.52 hits per nine innings. UTU pitching has high marks in hit batters with 20 and the defense behind has been great with the second-most double plays turned in the nation, but comes in with a .952 overall fielding percentage. Kroepel has been solid as a two-way player picking up two saves in the Trailblazers' three wins, and three of the starters have sub-3.00 ERAs from the weekend series. Tyler Ray (1.23, 7.1 IP, 7 K) and Brock Roundy (6.75, 5.2 IP, 4 K) are others that have put in considerable innings thus far

SCOUTING THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
Louisiana is a powerhouse in The South coming off three straight NCAA Regional appearances upping their program total to 19. Head Coach Matt Deggs has Louisiana rolling with 40+ wins in each of the last two seasons and a regular season title in his first full season. They make their first venture out of Lafayette where they opened with a series loss to San Jose State, a midweek win vs. Texas Southern, and UCI's old friend Nebraska visited last weekend with Louisiana taking 2 of 3 there. Before heading out West, they'll make a stop Tuesday to play McNeese for their first road game before hosting Southeastern Louisiana Wednesday night.

The Ragin' Cajuns and Anteaters reprise their series that began with a series in Lafayette in 2022. The 'Eaters took the series and season opener before losing the final two. UL has fared well away from The Tigue at 12 games over .500 under Deggs

The offense has started the season middle-of-the-pack with a .252 average and an on-base and slugging both hovering around .350. Outfielder Brooks Wright tops the team hitting .429 with five RBIs. Conor Higgs also post a .350 average and one of the team's just three home runs. Middle of the order hitters Caleb Stelly and Drew Markle have started off slow hitting .231 each with the club scoring 6.1 runs a game

Pitching has been the standout early on with a 4.00 ERA, 2.4 strikeouts to every walk, and 10 strikeouts from the staff per nine innings. Weekend arms have led the way with preseason All-American Chase Morgan (9 IP, 2.00, 13 K) and Blake McGehee (8 IP, 4.50, 8 K) each 1-1, and Andrew Herrmann slotted in vs. Nebraska to throw a complete game striking out nine and allowing two runs. Dylan Theut is a big arm out of the bullpen with 7.1 innings already and 1 of 3 Cajuns including James Trimble and Matthew Holzhammer to pick up a save.