At the midpoint of the season, there was only one program in the country that ranked in the top 15 nationally in run scoring, ERA and fielding percentage.
That program wasn’t Arkansas or Texas A&M or Wake Forest, the three teams this year to rank No. 1 in the Top 25. It wasn’t Clemson, Florida State or Oregon State, powerhouses that have consistently ranked in the top 10 this spring.
Instead, it was UC Irvine. The Anteaters were producing as one of the most complete and consistent programs in the country.
UCI has a rich tradition of its own, having reached the College World Series twice in the last 20 years—2007 and 2014—and won the Big West Conference in 2009 and 2021. But they have never started a season this well.
UC Irvine was 24-4 at the midpoint, the best mark in program history, and had just won a showdown series against UC Santa Barbara, which had been picked to win the conference in the preseason coaches poll.
The Anteaters were feeling good about themselves, but they knew the job was far from finished.
“We want to see how good we can be,” coach Ben Orloff said. “I told our players it’s like in your class when you get an A on the midterm. You might want to coast and get a C on the final, but that’s not what we want to be about.”
UCI stumbled a bit in the immediate aftermath of the series win against UCSB. It lost at Southern California and then lost a series at UC San Diego, the reigning conference champion, to fall to 25-7 on the season.
The Anteaters didn’t need a reminder about how long and arduous the college baseball season is, but they got one anyway. Everything they want to do this season—win the conference, make the NCAA Tournament and compete for a national title—is still ahead of them. But for a program in the often-overlooked Big West, nothing can be taken for granted and everything must be earned.
No one is more familiar with that than UCI. A year ago, Orloff and the Anteaters were feeling good about their Field of 64 chances at the end of the season. Going into Selection Monday, they were 38-17, ranked 49th in RPI and were riding a six-game winning streak. The tournament bubble had tightened over the weekend because of conference tournament upsets—but UCI still looked like an NCAA Tournament team to Baseball America.
The selection committee didn’t see things quite the same way. It left UCI out of the field, listing it among the first four teams to miss the cut—a bitter consolation for the Anteaters, who had seen their season come to a sudden end.
The Anteaters had gathered to watch the selection. In the room, there was a feeling of disappointment and shock.
“It was dead quiet in that room afterwards,” lefthander Nick Pinto said. “It was one of the worst experiences I’ve had. We were finishing the year strong, hearing buzz we would be in, getting ready to go play somewhere and then having that feeling, you could hear a pin drop in there.”
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1398697516/1716204865/articles/uKJoNEDEi1716980728602/7477577717.jpg]
The Anteaters had to quickly move on from the disappointment, because college baseball’s offseason begins immediately. Seniors begin the next stage of their lives, many players head off for summer ball and coaches hit the recruiting trail. This year’s team doesn’t talk about last season’s ending, but it’s stuck with them and none of them wants to repeat the feeling.
For many years, the Big West was college baseball’s premier mid-major conference. Cal State Fullerton has won four national titles. Stars like Shane Bieber, Mark Kotsay, Troy Tulowitzki and Jered Weaver played in the league. Teams from the conference consistently advanced to the CWS deep into the super regional era.
But as college sports has changed, with more power and money being concentrated in just a few major conferences, the Big West’s place in the sport has shifted as well. The conference has not received an at-large bid in three of the last four seasons, no team from the conference has advanced to the CWS since 2017—also the last time it hosted a regional—and none has won a regional since 2018.
The reasons for the change are myriad, some of the conference’s own doing, some far beyond its control. No matter how it got there, however, the Big West does not rate well in the metrics the selection committee uses to build the NCAA Tournament. That makes it all the more important to win the conference title and secure the automatic bid that comes with it.
“I don’t think the league gets the respect it deserves based on how good the teams and players are,” Orloff said. “It puts a lot of pressure on you because the clear path to the postseason is to win the league.”
UCI is a part of the Big West’s baseball tradition. The program’s history is strong both in the dugout and on the field. John Savage, Dave Serrano and Mike Gillespie led the program before Orloff took over at his alma mater in 2019, and big leaguers such as Keston Hiura and Andre Pallante have played there.
Orloff, the 2009 Big West player of the year, has spent most of his adult life at UCI. He believes everything is in place for the Anteaters to continue to build on the program’s tradition.
“The things are here for us to compete to win a national championship,” he said. “I live one mile from campus. There are a lot of things here that make this a really good place. That’s part of why Irvine has won for so long. Our kids live in Newport Beach, so there’s a lot worse places I have to imagine than where we’re at.”
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1398697516/1716204865/articles/uKJoNEDEi1716980728602/2754754177.jpg]
This season’s Anteaters have a chance to add to the program’s legacy. Their lineup is one of the best and most experienced in the nation. They returned every regular from last season’s team, including outfielder Caden Kendle, the 2023 Big West co-player of the year; and first baseman Anthony Martinez, a 2023 Freshman All-American who was invited to USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team. It also got back shortstop Woody Hadeen, who missed the 2023 season due to injury.
The lineup has lived up to its hype, even as it’s dealt with some injuries this spring. Kendle was even better than he was a year ago, while Hadeen and Martinez had also starred.
Kendle’s return has been as significant as it was surprising when he announced it la...
That program wasn’t Arkansas or Texas A&M or Wake Forest, the three teams this year to rank No. 1 in the Top 25. It wasn’t Clemson, Florida State or Oregon State, powerhouses that have consistently ranked in the top 10 this spring.
Instead, it was UC Irvine. The Anteaters were producing as one of the most complete and consistent programs in the country.
UCI has a rich tradition of its own, having reached the College World Series twice in the last 20 years—2007 and 2014—and won the Big West Conference in 2009 and 2021. But they have never started a season this well.
UC Irvine was 24-4 at the midpoint, the best mark in program history, and had just won a showdown series against UC Santa Barbara, which had been picked to win the conference in the preseason coaches poll.
The Anteaters were feeling good about themselves, but they knew the job was far from finished.
“We want to see how good we can be,” coach Ben Orloff said. “I told our players it’s like in your class when you get an A on the midterm. You might want to coast and get a C on the final, but that’s not what we want to be about.”
UCI stumbled a bit in the immediate aftermath of the series win against UCSB. It lost at Southern California and then lost a series at UC San Diego, the reigning conference champion, to fall to 25-7 on the season.
The Anteaters didn’t need a reminder about how long and arduous the college baseball season is, but they got one anyway. Everything they want to do this season—win the conference, make the NCAA Tournament and compete for a national title—is still ahead of them. But for a program in the often-overlooked Big West, nothing can be taken for granted and everything must be earned.
No one is more familiar with that than UCI. A year ago, Orloff and the Anteaters were feeling good about their Field of 64 chances at the end of the season. Going into Selection Monday, they were 38-17, ranked 49th in RPI and were riding a six-game winning streak. The tournament bubble had tightened over the weekend because of conference tournament upsets—but UCI still looked like an NCAA Tournament team to Baseball America.
The selection committee didn’t see things quite the same way. It left UCI out of the field, listing it among the first four teams to miss the cut—a bitter consolation for the Anteaters, who had seen their season come to a sudden end.
The Anteaters had gathered to watch the selection. In the room, there was a feeling of disappointment and shock.
“It was dead quiet in that room afterwards,” lefthander Nick Pinto said. “It was one of the worst experiences I’ve had. We were finishing the year strong, hearing buzz we would be in, getting ready to go play somewhere and then having that feeling, you could hear a pin drop in there.”
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1398697516/1716204865/articles/uKJoNEDEi1716980728602/7477577717.jpg]
The Anteaters had to quickly move on from the disappointment, because college baseball’s offseason begins immediately. Seniors begin the next stage of their lives, many players head off for summer ball and coaches hit the recruiting trail. This year’s team doesn’t talk about last season’s ending, but it’s stuck with them and none of them wants to repeat the feeling.
For many years, the Big West was college baseball’s premier mid-major conference. Cal State Fullerton has won four national titles. Stars like Shane Bieber, Mark Kotsay, Troy Tulowitzki and Jered Weaver played in the league. Teams from the conference consistently advanced to the CWS deep into the super regional era.
But as college sports has changed, with more power and money being concentrated in just a few major conferences, the Big West’s place in the sport has shifted as well. The conference has not received an at-large bid in three of the last four seasons, no team from the conference has advanced to the CWS since 2017—also the last time it hosted a regional—and none has won a regional since 2018.
The reasons for the change are myriad, some of the conference’s own doing, some far beyond its control. No matter how it got there, however, the Big West does not rate well in the metrics the selection committee uses to build the NCAA Tournament. That makes it all the more important to win the conference title and secure the automatic bid that comes with it.
“I don’t think the league gets the respect it deserves based on how good the teams and players are,” Orloff said. “It puts a lot of pressure on you because the clear path to the postseason is to win the league.”
UCI is a part of the Big West’s baseball tradition. The program’s history is strong both in the dugout and on the field. John Savage, Dave Serrano and Mike Gillespie led the program before Orloff took over at his alma mater in 2019, and big leaguers such as Keston Hiura and Andre Pallante have played there.
Orloff, the 2009 Big West player of the year, has spent most of his adult life at UCI. He believes everything is in place for the Anteaters to continue to build on the program’s tradition.
“The things are here for us to compete to win a national championship,” he said. “I live one mile from campus. There are a lot of things here that make this a really good place. That’s part of why Irvine has won for so long. Our kids live in Newport Beach, so there’s a lot worse places I have to imagine than where we’re at.”
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1398697516/1716204865/articles/uKJoNEDEi1716980728602/2754754177.jpg]
This season’s Anteaters have a chance to add to the program’s legacy. Their lineup is one of the best and most experienced in the nation. They returned every regular from last season’s team, including outfielder Caden Kendle, the 2023 Big West co-player of the year; and first baseman Anthony Martinez, a 2023 Freshman All-American who was invited to USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team. It also got back shortstop Woody Hadeen, who missed the 2023 season due to injury.
The lineup has lived up to its hype, even as it’s dealt with some injuries this spring. Kendle was even better than he was a year ago, while Hadeen and Martinez had also starred.
Kendle’s return has been as significant as it was surprising when he announced it la...
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Baseball America (Digital) - 1 Issue, May 2024