THE SERIES

UC Irvine Anteaters (38-11, 23-4 Big West) vs. Cal State Fullerton Titans (27-24, 17-10 Big West)
Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark (3,408) - Irvine, Calif.
Thursday - 6:00 PM | ESPN+ | KUCI 88.9 FM | Live Stats
Friday - 6:00 PM | ESPN+ | KUCI 88.9 FM | Live Stats
Saturday - 1:00 PM | ESPN+ | KUCI 88.9 FM | Live Stats

PITCHING PROBABLES
Thursday: UCI RHP Riley Kelly vs. CSF LHP Mikiah Negrete
Friday: UCI RHP Trevor Hansen vs. CSF LHP Jayden Harper
Saturday: UCI LHP Ryder Brooks vs. CSF TBD

Game Notes
Scout Pack

AROUND THE HORN
3rd - UCI clinched a share of its 3rd Big West title Sunday joining the 2009 and 2021 'Eaters. UCI will be the inaugural No. 1 seed in the Big West Championship
#12 - The 'Eaters are #12 this week ranked in all major national polls at 12th or 13th. UCI was preseason No. 24 and has been as high as No. 7 this year
6-3 - UCI is 6-3 this season against ranked opponents with wins over No. 11 Oregon State, No. 15 UCLA, No. 21 UC Santa Barbara, and No. 24 Nebraska
6 - 6 different 'Eaters have taken home the team's 6 Big West weekly honors including Blake Penso with his first career as a Field Player last week
 
LEADING OFF
+ UC Irvine has clinched a share of the Big West regular season crown from the weekend in Bakersfield. Any win or Cal Poly loss will sew up an outright Big West title for the program, the third in UC Irvine history joining the 2009 and 2021 teams sitting at 23-4 with one series to go
+ The 'Eaters have locked up the No. 1 seed in the inaugural Big West Championship taking place at Fullerton's Goodwin Field starting May 21. UCI awaits their opponent which will come from the 4 vs. 5 play-in matchup. The 'Eaters open their tournament May 22 playing at 3:00 p.m.
+ UC Irvine is among the nationally ranked after 13 weeks in 2025 with Baseball America moving them up from 24th in their preseason poll to now 12th. UCI sits No. 12 in D1Baseball, Perfect Game USA, and USA Today coaches poll with the NCBWA slotting them at No. 13. The 'Eaters have been ranked all season and as high as Nos. 7 and 8 on April 28.
+ UC Irvine is 6-3 this season against ranked opponents. UCI took 1 of 3 at No. 11 Oregon State, defeated No. 15 UCLA, 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.
+ The Anteater offense stayed steady 37 runs in a 4-0 week keeping their average of 8.3 runs a game and hitting .304 as a team:
Þ Blake Penso had a week to remember contributing toward all three wins at CSUB with 12 RBI including a 4-hit, 6-RBI, 4-run Friday. The catcher hit .600 on the weekend, and behind the plate caught three runners stealing to seal Sunday's win, and for his trouble earned his first Big West Field Player of the Week honor
Þ Will Bermudez was all over the weekend hitting .667, reaching 10 times, driving in five, dropping down two sacrifices, and making a couple spectacular plays for final outs in wins
Þ Jacob McCombs made his presence felt scoring nine times including producing seven hits, one for his ninth home run, and like Bermudez did not strike out on the week
Þ Alonso Reyes played a huge role starting with a 4-for-4, three RBI night at CBU, and hitting .500 overall with three doubles and four driven in
+ Anteater pitching was tested on the road needing a save in all four wins and the bullpen coming up big on multiple occasions including helping toward a comeback win Tuesday overcoming a six-run deficit
Þ The closer's role was called upon each day starting with Max Martin earning save in three of the games giving him 12 on the year. He struck out eight in 5.2 innings and stranded 3 of 4 inherited runners. Ricky Ojeda also earned a save going three innings Friday for 6 of his 7 strikeouts on the week and his second save
Þ Anteater starters met the challenge including Trevor Hansen and Ryder Brooks each scoring wins allowing six hits between them over 10 innings with nine strikeouts
Þ Big relief innings came from David Utagawa appearing twice and throwing 1.1 scoreless innings and picking up Tuesday night's win. Jack Ross also appeared twice bridging the gap to wins in 3.1 scoreless frames with two strikeouts and earning his first hold
+ Entering the final week of the regular season, the Anteaters are among the nation's best in multiple statistics, and have won 11 of the 13 weekends they've played with seven sweeps:
Þ As a team, UC Irvine sits fifth in HBP, eighth in winning percentage, 14th in shutouts, 19th in triples, 25th in on-base percentage, 29th in strikeouts per nine innings, 37th in runs per game and hits, 38th in batting, 42nd in ERA, 45th in hits allowed per nine innings, and just out the top 50 in double plays, sacrifice flies, strikeout-to-walk ratio, WHIP, and slugging percentage
Þ In the Big West, UCI sits on top in runs scored and runs per game, on-base percentage, hit by pitch, shutouts, and sacrifice flies
Þ Big West leaders from the Anteaters including the ERA leader Ricky Ojeda at 1.95 and his 12 wins, David Butler leading in pitching appearances with 27, Jacob McCombs atop with 54 runs and 1.15 runs a game, Colin Yeaman leading with 137 total bases and .665 slugging percentage, and the current Big West saves leader Max Martin with 12
Þ Anteaters in the national rankings include:
+ Colin Yeaman -  31st in total bases, 33rd in hits, 36th in hits per game, 47th in triples, 81st in slugging, and top three in the Big West in HR, runs, and RBI
+ Ricky Ojeda - 1st in wins, 3rd in ERA, 6th in least hits allowed per nine innings, 27th in strikeouts per nine innings, 32nd in WHIP
+ Jacob McCombs - 14th in triples, 46th in HBP, 66th in hits per game, 82nd in batting, 2nd in the Big West in slugging and batting and third in total bases
+ Trevor Hansen - 23rd in wins, 67th in ERA, and 86th in strikeouts
+ Max Martin - 4th in saves
+ Will Bermudez - 14th in sacrifice hits and 2nd in the Big West
+ Anthony Martinez - 71st in RBIs per game, 2nd in Big West
+ David Butler - 5th in pitching appearances, 1st in Big West, with a team-leading six holds out of the setup role