California Irvine Athletics

The Orloff File

• 2021 Big West Coach of the Year
• 2009 Brooks Wallace Award Winner
• All-American - 2007, 2008, 2009
• 2009 Big West Player of the Year

Ben Orloff enters his seventh year atop the Anteater baseball program as head coach and 12th season with the program for the 2024-25 school year. Orloff assumed the reins of UC Irvine Baseball in July of 2018 as the ninth head coach in program history. Orloff initially joined the coaching staff in 2014 as an assistant rising to associate head coach in the five years since. In his first year in 2019, he took the team to a second-place finish in the Big West going 37-17 overall with 21 home wins.

Under coach Orloff, there have been 26 Anteaters to go pro driving the program total to 167 in UC Irvine history, 139 via the draft and 28 as free agents. The 2024 class featured a program best with four players taken within the first nine rounds and one player signed to play in Japan.

The Anteaters returned to the postseason stage in 2021 reaching the NCAA Tournament for the first time in his coaching career, ninth time in Division I, and 14th time in program history. The team was crowned Big West champions winning an all-time conference record 32 games. UCI finished with an overall record of 43-18 reaching the Stanford Regional taking the hosts to the Regional Final. His efforts scored his first Big West Coach of the Year accolade, the fourth for the program and third since joining the Big West. Among the Anteaters superlatives were ABCA All-American status for Mike Peabody who was joined by three others on the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper All-American squad. Peabody was also named Big West co-Player of the Year, and was joined by Taishi Nakawake as the tri-Defensive Player of the Year. Peabody was among four 'Eaters from the 2021 squad to be drafted in the MLB.

UC Irvine made a second appearance in the NCAA Tournament under coach Orloff in 2024 and 10th time as a Division I program. The team tied a program regular with 43 regular season wins before completing the season at 45-14 in a loss in the Corvallis Regional Final to a .763 winning percentage to set a Division I record for UC Irvine. The Anteaters earned an at-large bid thanks to a second-place finish in the Big West at 22-8 and 20 wins in both road and home games. In the process, the 'Eaters set numerous program records including most single season runs scored, most walks drawn, and most home runs from the high-powered offense that averaged nine runs a game and set the program's single-game scoring record in a 32-2 victory. The pitching staff also set the single-season strikeout mark which included Nick Pinto becoming the program's all-time leader in strikeouts. Individual marks were shattered including Woody Hadeen breaking UCI's walks and runs scored marks by more than 10 in each category, and Anthony Martinez broke UC Irvine's 42-year mark for RBIs in a season. As a team, UCI obliterated the all-time NCAA hit by pitch mark with 175 in the season surpassing the previous total of 152. 

Coach Orloff and the Anteaters had their season shortened like every collegiate program in 2020. After just 15 games, the 'Eaters were 8-7, but maintained a winning record which UC Irvine has done in all six of his seasons as head coach.

Spearheading the Anteater recruiting efforts, Orloff played at UCI from 2006-09 and became the program’s first Big West Player of the Year. An accomplished shortstop, Orloff won the 2009 Brooks Wallace Award and was also the first Anteater player to win an American Baseball Coaches Association Gold Glove award. A three-time All-American, Orloff also was named to two NCAA Tournament teams and helped UCI to four post-season berths.

Recognized for his defensive talents, Orloff also evolved into a potent offensive threat, ending his collegiate career with a lifetime .320 batting average. Orloff is UCI’s all-time hit leader with 281 and owns the top mark in runs scored with 178. He leads all players with 241 games played and 877 at-bats. With 62 stolen bases, he is second in the UCI career annals and also dots the single-season records in multiple categories. Orloff led the nation two consecutive years in sacrifice hits and holds the NCAA single-season mark of 34 set in 2007 and in a career with 86.

Orloff was drafted in the ninth round by the Houston Astros. He climbed to Double-A Corpus Christi, hitting .298 this season with 11 RBI on 39 hits with 20 runs scored before finishing out his professional career playing 355 games over five seasons. Orloff was also a participant in the World Baseball Classic in 2012 as a member of Team Israel. Israel was eliminated in the qualifying round with Orloff starting one of the three games