MIDWEEK
UC Irvine Anteaters (25-8, 13-2 Big West) vs. LMU Lions (19-17, 7-5 WCC)
Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark (3.408) - Irvine, Calif.
Tuesday - 6:00 PM |
ESPN+Â |
KUCI 88.9 FM |Â
Live Stats
PITCHING PROBABLES
Tuesday: UCI RHP
Finnegan Wall vs. LMU TBD
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THE SERIES
UC Irvine Anteaters (25-8, 13-2 Big West) vs. Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors (24-10, 10-8 Big West)
Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark (3.408) - Irvine, Calif.
Thursday - 6:00Â PM |
ESPN+Â |
KUCI 88.9 FM |Â
Live Stats
Friday - 6:00 PM |Â
ESPN+Â |
KUCI 88.9 FMÂ |Â
Live Stats
Saturday- 1:00 PM |
ESPN+Â |
KUCI 88.9 FMÂ |
Live Stats
PITCHING PROBABLES
Thursday: UCI TBD vs. UH TBD
Friday: UCI TBD vs. UH TBD
Saturday: UCI TBD vs. UH TBD
Game Notes
Scout Pack
AROUND THE HORN
#13 -Â The 'Eaters are ranked in all major national polls as low as 16th and as high as #13 by D1Baseball. UCI was preseason #24 by Baseball America
2 -Â UCI's starting pitching tossed 19 innings vs. UC Davis without allowing an earned run and just
2 unearned runs as all three picked up quality starts
26th -Â
Chase Call's home run vs. San Diego set a new all-time HR mark at UCI with his
26th surpassing Francis Larson who had held it since 2010
5 -Â 5 'Eaters made MLB Opening Day rosters. Alum Christian Koss debuted April 1 as the 14th 'Eater in the MLB, and got his first career hit Sunday
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LEADING OFF
+ UC Irvine is among the nationally ranked after nine weeks in 2025 with Baseball America moving them up from 24th in their preseason poll to now 16th. UCI's highest ranking is No. 13 from NCBWA and D1Baseball.com followed closely by Perfect Game USA and USA Today Coaches Poll at 15th. UCI's highest ranking this season was No. 12 at one point. UCI remained nationally ranked the entire 2024 season finishing in the top 25 in all five major polls.
+ UC Irvine is 5-3 this season against ranked teams after winning 1 of 3 at No. 11 Oregon State. UCI also has a win over No. 24 Nebraska in the season opener, a one-run loss to No. 16 Vanderbilt on a neutral site, and three wins on the road against No. 21 UC Santa Barbara. UCI still has UCLA on the schedule currently ranked No. 10 after falling to them last month on the road while they were unranked
+ Anteater pitching finished the weekend with a 2.77 ERA continuing to lower its ERA on the season to 4.58
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Riley Kelly continued his roll pitching six shutout innings allowing four hits and a walk Friday. He also struck out seven as he left in a 0-0 ballgame. Kelly lowered his ERA to 2.11 overall and a 2.16 ERA in Big West play
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Trevor Hansen allowed one unearned run over seven innings Saturday. He also struck out seven and now is 4-0 with 36 strikeouts over five Big West starts with four quality starts.
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Ryder Brooks pitched into the seventh on Sunday for his longest UCI outing. He also allowed just one unearned run with four strikeouts to win his fourth game
+ The Anteater offense broke through Sunday with 13 runs to win the series, but never stopped hitting all weekend averaging 12 hits a game and hitting over 100 points better than UC Davis:
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Frankie Carney had three multi-hit games on the weekend including four hits in Friday's win. Carney has a 14-game hitting streak going and now qualifies as the team's batting average leader at .429 in 18 games played
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Colin Yeaman has his own impressive streak now 19 straight with a hit. He homered in the eighth to keep it alive Sunday, his ninth HR during the streak that he's batting .446 during
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Jacob McCombs was a factor in each win at UC Davis with a tiebreaking two-run home run Friday and two hits including a triple while scoring twice Sunday. Outside of his injured, shortened stints at Oregon State, he has eight multi-hit games in his last 10 and reached base two or more times in all 10
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Rowan Felsch had his best day as an 'Eater Sunday with three hits, three RBIs, and a well-timed home run back near his hometown in Northern California. Felsch came up with multiple diving plays in the outfield that saved multiple runs and at times the lead in close games
+ Through 33 games, the Anteaters have won 15 games away from home, have won 8 of 9 weekend series, and rank high among the national and Big West leaders statistically:
ÞÂ As a team, UC Irvine is top 30 in hit by pitch (5th), triples (8th), runs per game (12th), on-base (15th), batting average (16th), slugging (25th), hits (26th), and strikeouts pitching per nine innings (27th)
ÞÂ Pitching and defense are notably 42nd in fielding percentage, 45th in least hits allowed per nine innings, 46th in strikeouts-to-walk ratio, 47th in ERA, and 53rd in WHIP
ÞÂ Anteaters making noise nationally start with
Colin Yeaman, 5th in total bases, 6th in hits per game, 12th in hits, 14th in slugging, 15th in average, 21st in triples, 41st in RBIs, 47th in runs per game, and 56th in home runs
ÞÂ Joining Yeaman are others like
Ricky Ojeda,
3rd in wins, 16th in strikeouts per nine innings, 21st in ERA, and 22nd in hits allowed per nine innings,
Max Martin,
7th in saves,
Jacob McCombs,
6th in triples, 21st in slugging, and 28th in batting, and
Chase Call,
8th in hit by pitch,
Anthony Martinez,
10th in RBI per game, 5th-toughest to strikeout in the Big West, and
Riley Kelly, 20th in ERA
Þ UCI has the Big West's leader in batting, hits, triples, home runs, runs scored, slugging, total bases, wins, and saves
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SCOUTING THE LIONS
Loyola Marymount is in the mix this year over .500 at 19-7 and a 7-5 mark currently fourth in the WCC. They're fresh off a road sweep at San Francisco scoring 39 runs turning around a 2-7 stretch. Notably this year, they have a series win vs. USD, series losses at Tulane and Baylor, and midweek results beating UC Riverside, CSUN, and CBU with losses to UCLA, USC, UCSB, and Cal Poly, and a split with Long Beach State
The Lions and Anteaters meet for the 93rd time on Tuesday, and their only scheduled matchup in 2025. UCI won both matchups in 2024 including a back-and-forth extra-inning win at LMU where UCI threw the tying runner out at home plate to end a 10-9 win in the 11th. All-time, the series is even at Anteater Ballpark at 23-23-1.
The offense holds its own as the conference leader in stats like slugging percentage, on-base, and home runs leading to 7.3 runs per game. They're also 1 of the 4 schools with more hit by pitch than UCI at 85. Beau Ankeney carries the big stick with 12 HR and 41 RBIs and 1 of 6 Lions hitting over .300. Cam Hassert is hitting .344 and leads the team with 13 steals among the 76 they have to put them 33rd in the nation. Others to note are Devan Ornelas (10 2B, 4 3B, 5 HR, 26 RBI), DJ Ghiorso (26 BB, 4 HR, 28 RBI), and Nate Savoie (8 HR, 34 RBI).
Pitching sits with a 5.58 ERA benefitting from nearly 10 strikeouts per nine innings. The Lions are not afraid to show off the arms using eight or more in their last three midweeks, and the 2024 game in Anteater Ballpark featured 15 different LMU pitchers. Some names from that game return and are likely openers like Michael Nunez (1-2, 5.90, 29 IP, 26 K) and Jacob Hughes with others like Zach Bender (1-0, 3.25), Zack Mack (3-1, 3.37, 2 Sv, 34.2 IP, 46 K), Gabe Maya (15 G, 1.93), and Cole Stucky (1-2, 2.51, 3 Sv, 14.1 IP, 16 K) all capable of making an appearance
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SCOUTING THE RAINBOW WARRIORS
Hawai'i is on a tear in 2025 with a 24-10 record and currently in a fight for third in the Big West at 10-8 in the hunt for a postseason bid. UH has made its hay mostly on the island going 19-5 while sitting 5-5 when venturing to the mainland that's included at UC Riverside and Cal Poly, and sneaking a win in the ninth inning to take the series at CSUN. The trip to Irvine will be the last stop of an eight-game stay in California that started with wins over Santa Clara and Cal Poly before two losses in San Luis Obispo. The Rainbow Warriors travel to USC Tuesday night before the weekend at Anteater Ballpark that starts Thursday night ahead of Easter Sunday.
The Rainbow Warriors and 'Eaters' all-time series seems a little one-sided with UCI holding the lead, 41-14, and are 20-3 in home games. UCI is 13-3 since coach Orloff took over, and Hawai'i is under new management with the storied Rich Hill in his fourth year now winning twice in nine games. UCI went to Manoa and managed a sweep in a high-scoring series in 2024 as the series turns to Irvine this weekend where it will have a large impact on the Big West race
The offense grits and grinds its way averaging 6.9 runs a game and exceptional in things like sacrifice flies, drawing walks, and stealing bases, all things they lead the Big West in. They have a clutch of hitters hovering around the .333 range with names like Ben Ziegler-Namoa (43 H, 12 2B, 29 RBI) and Jared Quandt (.325, 2 3B, 2 HR, 28 RBI) here to exact revenge. Transfers Draven Nushida (.337, 23 RBI and Shunsuke Sakaino (42 H, 3 HR, 24 RBI, 35 R) have proven themselves early, and the heart of it is Matthew Miura (.331, 42 H, 29 BB, 13 SB).
Pitching is the real threat for the Rainbow Warriors with gaudy numbers like a 3.94 ERA allowing just 7.87 hits and 3.13 walks per nine innings, and the defense turns two almost better than anyone in the NCAA. On the mound, the weekend is run by sophomore Itsuki Takemoto (2-4, 4.44, 46.2 IP, 41 K), Liam O'Brien (2-2, 3.06, 35.1 IP, 35 K), and Cooper Walls (2-2, 3.08, 38 IP, 30 K) who have taken turns shutting down some impressive lineups. Following them up are a dangerous 1-2 punch out of the bullpen in Isaiah Magdaleno (14 G, 4-0, 5 Sv, 2.25, 36 IP, 40 K) and Sebastian Gonzalez (3-0, 3.60, 35 IP, 26 K)Â meaning anyone including the 'Eaters will have to go through each of those arms to win.
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