Tuesday, April 28
Irvine, Calif.
6:00 PM
UC Irvine
vs
USC
Photo by: Matt Brown
Anteater Ballpark Hosts No. 21 USC, First Place Cal Poly This Week
April 27, 2026 | Baseball
MIDWEEK
UC Irvine Anteaters (18-23, 9-12 Big West) vs. #21 USC Trojans (34-11, 16-8 Big Ten)Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark (3,408) - Irvine, Calif.
Tuesday - 6:00 PM | ESPN+ | KUCI 88.9 FM | Live Stats
THE SERIES
UC Irvine Anteaters (18-23, 9-12 Big West) vs. Cal Poly Mustangs (24-18, 15-6 Big West)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
Game Notes
PITCHING PROBABLES
Tuesday: UCI RHP Hunter Manning vs. USC RHP Matthew Morrell
Friday: UCI TBD vs. CP TBD
Saturday: UCI TBD vs. CP TBD
Sunday: UCI TBD vs. CP TBD
Coming Up This Week
- UC Irvine comes home with the ranked Trojans Tuesday while recognizing Stroke Awareness and UC Irvine Health sponsoring the ballgame
- For a third straight week, UCI takes on the Big West's first place team as the 2025 Big West Championship-winning Cal Poly Mustangs come to town to start the month of May Friday night
Storylines
- UCI is 7-6 in the month of April with wins over UCSB, UCSD, UC Davis, Hawai'i, and USD
- UCI's offense had one of its best weekends at La Jolla hitting .304 with season highs of 23 runs scored, 34 hits, five home runs, and just 20 strikeouts which is the lowest in a series for UCI
- Daniel Polasek continued to heat up with eight hits, three doubles, and four RBIs that all came in Sunday's comeback victory
- Efren Ortega led the team with a .571 average and four runs, reached base six times, did not strike out, and drove in Sunday's game-winning run in the ninth
- Alonso Reyes has a seven-game hit streak and drove in seven at UCSD including his first career two-HR game Friday night
- Tommy Farmer circled the bases for the team's first inside-the-park-HR since 2022 on Sunday
- Lucas Schermer was clutch mashing another pinch-hit home run Saturday, and added three hits Sunday including the game-tying RBI single with two outs in the ninth
- Danny Suarez was one of the few bright spots on the mound going four innings Sunday to shut down UCSD and earn the win. He was the hard-luck loser Friday after he deflected a comebacker perfectly to allow the winning run to cross
- Ricky Ojeda rebounded from a rough outing Friday night to throw 3.1 innings allowing one baserunner and striking out five to keep the 'Eaters in it on Sunday
- Jack Ross was effective in 2.1 innings of relief allowing one run and striking out a pair
- USC was 12-0 back in March after beating UCI, 6-4, on a Tuesday. Their season-opening win streak hit 19 games and now they find themselves in the top 25 with a 34-11 record. In the daunting Big Ten, they're 16-8 having hit two skids recently being swept on the road at UCLA and Nebraska with losses to UCSB and LBSU mixed in. But the Trojans have won four straight coming into Tuesday
- The Trojans and Anteaters all-time are as close as can be with UCI holding a 39-38 edge entering Tuesday and 18-17 in home matchups. USC has taken each of the last two meetings that took place at Anteater Ballpark, but in their great year, their road record is still 9-10 as they've taken advantage of their revamped home to a tune of a 25-1 record. The March meeting was tight as UCI took an early 3-0 lead as USC slowly crept back in and took the lead. The 'Eaters tied it up 4-4 before a two-run eighth inning propelled USC to the 6-4 victory.
- The offense has a slashline of .268/.370/.449, scores 6.6 runs a game, and averages 3.5 extra-base hits per game. The deep lineup starts with Kevin Takeuchi hitting .304 with team highs in runs, doubles, triples, and RBIs and followed closely by Adrian Lopez (.315, 6 HR, 31 RBI) and Augie Lopez (.288, 14 HR, 37 RBI) with lots of help along the way with seven other Trojans knocking in 16 runs or more, Abbrie Covarrubais with his 16 steals, and 13 home runs between Andrew Lamb and Jack Basseer.
- Pitching has carried the Trojans this year namely the weekend rotation with microscopic ERAs and loads of strikeouts. The team ERA is 3.82 while striking out over 10 batters per nine innings, and they are tough to get a hit against wielding only seven per game. The midweek staff doesn't drop off either with Chase Herrell doing a lot of the heavy lifting including his start against UCI allowing three runs over four innings. The bullpen can suffocate offenses with Sax Matson (28 G, 4.40, 30.2 IP, 18 BB, 45 K) and Adam Troy (23 G, 4.01, 11 Sv, 24.2 IP, 13 BB, 30 K) likely to make an appearance
SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS
- Cal Poly is back to their old tricks sporting a 24-18 record and sitting atop the Big West at 15-6. The Mustangs fell one game short of a Big West title in 2025, but got the final say with a Big West Championship win over the Anteaters. The non-conference season was frustrating which began with a road series win at perennial contender Campbell, but then a split with Washington State and agonizingly close series vs. USC and at Oregon State that saw them swept in both. The conference season began with sweeps at Hawai'i and vs. Bakersfield to get them on track and winning two of three vs. UC Davis and at UC Riverside. A sweep at the hands of UCSB brought them back to the pack before nearly sweeping UCSD and now a sweep at home to CSUN to put them a game clear of the rest of the conference looking to claim their first regular season title since 2014
- The Mustangs and 'Eaters have met 73 times before with UCI on top, 40-33. The road team has had the advantage in the series with UCI just 18-18 on home turf while winning seven more than Cal Poly at their place which included a sweep in San Luis Obispo in 2025 with the 'Eaters winning late in two of them
- The offense leads the Big West with a .305 average and they can hit with 11 per game and the third-most doubles in the nation. Alejandro Garza continues to shine batting .359 (5 HR, 38 RBI) and again is one of the toughest to strikeout in the nation just like Nate Castellon (.343, 38 R, 14 2B) and Ryan Tayman (.325, 13 HR, 43 RBI) as part of the 10 Mustangs with 20+ hits and double-digit RBIs
- Pitching has held it together with a 5.04 ERA and 2.36 strikeouts to every walk even after losing two weekend starters along the way. Friday night ace Griffin Naess (5-2, 4.37, 55.2, 22 BB, 59 K) has been the rock to start each weekend with big performances from the likes of Carson Turnquist (4-2, 3.88, 46.1 IP, 60 K) and Corden Pettey (3-2, 5.04, 50.0 IP, 19 BB, 56 K) taking over on Saturdays and Sundays. The bullpen continues to impress with close Nick Bonn (19 G, 11 Sv, 33 IP, 30 K) called upon anytime he's even remotely needed, and a slew of others pitching in like Brady Estes (17 G, 4-1, 3.71, 34 IP, 38 K), Josh Morano (18 G, 3-1, 34 IP, 38 K), and Chris Downs (18 G, 2-1, 37 IP, 37 K) anchoring the backend
Players Mentioned
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