Thursday, May 14
Irvine, Calif.
6:00 PM
UC Irvine
vs
Cal State Bakersfield
Photo by: Robert Huskey
Final Regular Season Series Begins Thursday vs. Cal State Bakersfield
May 12, 2026 | Baseball
THE SERIES
UC Irvine Anteaters (23-26, 12-15 Big West) vs. Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners (22-30, 10-17 Big West)Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark (3,408) - Irvine, Calif.
Thursday - 6:00 PM | ESPN+ | KUCI | Live Stats
Friday - 6:00 PM | ESPN+ | kuci.org | Live Stats
Saturday - 1:00 PM | ESPN+ | kuci.org | Live Stats
PITCHING PROBABLES
Thursday: UCI TBD vs. CSUB TBD
Friday: UCI TBD vs. CSUB TBD
Saturday: UCI TBD vs. CSUB TBD
Coming Up This Week
- UCI ends the regular season at home playing Thursday, Friday, and Saturday culminating in Senior Day with 11 Anteaters recognized prior to Saturday's game and two team managers.
- The postseason chances are a razor's edge with UCI trailing the final two spots in the Big West Championship by two games each. UCI does not hold the tiebreaker against either Hawai'i or Cal State Fullerton meaning they would need to win all three games vs. CSUB and need at least one team to be swept in their regular season final series.
Storylines
- UCI's offense had its best week hitting .344 with 17 extra-base hits, 11 runs per game, and an on-base percentage of .461
- Three 'Eaters connected for their first career home runs last week started off by Daniel Polasek Tuesday, fifth-year collegian Zach Crandall with the go-ahead HR at USD, and fourth-year Auggie Gutierrez Saturday at UC Riverside
- Zach Crandall had an extra-base hit, run scored, and multiple RBIs in each game last week driving in a total of 11 and did not strike out for his first career Big West Field Player of the Week honor
- Auggie Gutierrez had a five-RBI game Saturday to go with his first career homer
- Lucas Schermer had seven hits and runs with four of each in Friday's win
- Efren Ortega is third in the conference hitting .368 and reached base seven times last week
- Frankie Carney extended his on-base streak to 24 games with five hits, four walks, and five runs
- Zach Fjelstad had seven hits including a triple where he scored himself on an error as he continues to hit .357 in May with five RBIs
- Trevor Hansen got his sixth win from five IP
- Ryder Brooks returned from injury to throw 3.2 scoreless frames, strikeout five, and take home wins in each of his two outings
- Peyton Rodgers continues to roll now with scoreless baseball in four straight outings
- Cal State Bakersfield enters the final week of the regular season at 22-30 overall, and with a 10-17 Big West record, officially eliminated from the Big West Championship. They've had a strong showing under second-year head coach Jordan Banfield taking wins off of programs like Texas Tech, Fresno State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Utah Valley, and wins in nearly every Big West series highlighted by series wins over UC Riverside, Long Beach State, and CSUN
- The Roadrunners and Anteaters have played 36 times all-time with UCI holding a 30-6 edge. Since CSUB joined the conference, it's been a little one-sided with UCI up 14-2 and 5-1 at home having won the last 10 matchups with the last loss coming in extra innings at UCI in 2022. The 2025 series featured three games all decided by less than four runs.
- The offense has some juice scoring 6.4 runs a game, second in the conference, with Big West highs of .383 on-base percentage, 79 steals, and 113 hit by pitch while sitting near the top in walks and doubles. The offense comes from all sorts of places like Evan Cloyd (.333, 7 HR, 47 RBI) who has reached base over 110 times this year, freshman Devon Wilkes with 41 RBIs and walked off UCSD with his fifth home run Saturday, Jacob May and his five triples, Elgin Bennett and his six homers and 14 steals, and numerous others that find their way on and around the basepaths
- Pitching has evened things out for the Roadrunners with a 6.58 ERA allowing nearly 11 hits per game and almost a two baserunners per inning. On top of that, their fielding percentage is last in the Big West, however they've fared much better in road games. The quartet of Ryan King, Shane McAlinden, Ethan Minaker, and Jacob Gutierrez all have over 50 innings this year. King anchors things on Fridays with 51 strikeouts and has yet to throw a wild pitch. Minaker jumped into the rotation after shutting down USC and his tough to hit with opponents batting just .228, and fourth-year Gutierrez has 53 strikeouts to 18 walks while picking up five wins and four saves.
Players Mentioned
LHP
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INF
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RHP
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OF
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INF
/ BaseballLAND’ON one over the fence 👊
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