Fri May 16, 2008
|
|
No. 10 UC Irvine Travels to UC Riverside; Hosts PacificMay 5, 2008
UC IRVINE GOES TO UC RIVERSIDE; HOSTS PACIFIC: UC Irvine, 30-12 overall and 8-7 in the Big West travels to UC Riverside (May 6) for a non-conference, mid-week game and hosts Pacific this weekend (May 9-11) at Anteater Ballpark. GORGEN ON BROOKS WALLACE REVISED WATCH LIST: Right-hander Scott Gorgen (Concord/Clayton Valley HS) is one of the remaining 100 baseball players vying for the Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Award, given by the College Baseball Foundation. The list will be pared down to three finalists, which will be announced following super regional action with the winner to be announced at an awards banquet July 2. CALAHAN TAKES ON UC RIVERSIDE: Senior lefty Tom Calahan (Mission Viejo/Santa Ana CC) is slated to make the start tomorrow against UC Riverside. Calahan, making his second start of the season for UCI, is 0-1 with a 2.40 ERA. He has not allowed an earned run to score against him in his last eight appearances. Calahan was solid in his first start, a midweek contest against Loyola Marymount, when the southpaw held the Lions to just four hits in 3.1 innings. A UCI error allowed two unearned runs to cross the plate but Calahan did not figure in the decision. GORGEN EYES STRIKEOUT RECORD: Scott Gorgen struck out 10 batters last Friday to accumulate 296 career strikeouts in just three seasons. Gorgen, the team leader in wins with nine, needs just three strikeouts to become the UC Irvine all-time career leader by passing Glenn Swanson, who totaled 298 from 2002-06. STOWELL STELLAR IN LONGEST OUTING OF SEASON: Redshirt sophomore Bryce Stowell (La Habra/Pepperdine) hurled 7.2 innings against Cal State Northridge and gave up just two hits while striking out eight to lead UC Irvine to a 1-0 shutout. The shutout win was UCI's seventh of the season and Stowell improved to 6-2 on the season. After giving up a leadoff single, Stowell retired the next eight batters before surrendering his second hit in the CSUN third. Stowell then retired 10 of the next 12 batters, giving up a walk in the seventh. After yielding a two-out walk, Stowell handed the ball off to Tom Calahan who ended the inning for Stowell. BIBONA PUTS UP QUALITY START: Sophomore Daniel Bibona (Lake Forest/Santa Margarita HS) gave the Anteaters a strong start Sunday but was hit with the loss to fall to 6-2. The lefty retired the first 11 batters he faced before hitting a batter with the pitch. Bibona then yielded a double but induced an inning-ending groundout to escape the threat. Bibona struck out eight batters and scattered five hits while allowing four runs (one earned) to score in 6.2 innings. ORLOFF TOPS CLUB: Ben Orloff (Simi Valley/HS) moved to the top of the stats with a .346 batting average. The junior shortstop is the team leader with 13 doubles and is second with 56 hits, 32 runs scored and 16 stolen bases. Orloff has worked a team-best 20 base on balls and has struck out just 10 times in 162 at bats. LOWENSTEIN RECORDS FIRST CAREER HOME RUN: Catcher Aaron Lowenstein (Calabasas/HS) recorded his first career home run Friday against Cal State Northridge. The senior hit a two-run round-tripper over the left-centerfield fence to extend a one-run UCI lead to three for a 4-1 win. ASARO BELTS EVENTUAL GAME-WINNER: Junior Tony Asaro (Torrance/Pepperdine) hit his fourth home run of the season Friday, scoring the eventual game-winning run Friday. Asaro is batting .313 with 21 hits, six doubles and 13 RBI this season. `EATERS DOUBLES STREAK ENDS: The Anteaters, who had recorded at least one double in 10 straight games, were held without one Saturday against the Matadors. UCI has 73 doubles on the season and is led by Orloff's baker's dozen. Francis Larson (Yorba Linda/Esperanza HS) is second with 12 doubles while Jeff Cusick (Mission Viejo/Santa Margarita HS) is third with 11. ABOUT UC RIVERSIDE: UC Riverside is 16-25 overall and 10-5 in the Big West Conference. The Highlanders are led by Drew Garcia, who is batting .327 with a team-high 55 hits, 12 doubles and 35 RBI. Joey Gonzalez is second on the team with a .304 clip and 48 hits. Eddie Orozco is slated to start Tuesday. The freshman is 0-2 with an 11.57 ERA. He has made 10 appearances for the Highlanders, striking out 16 in 18.12 innings. He has walked 10 while allowed 24 earned runs on 40 hits. THE SERIES: UC Irvine leads 29-17 in the all-time series but the Highlanders took two of three games against the Anteaters in Big West Conference action this season. ABOUT PACIFIC: Pacific is 9-34 overall and 2-16 in the Big West after dropping three games to UC Riverside in Big West action over the weekend. The Tigers are led by Nick Longmire, who is batting .340. Adam Ching tops the club with 56 hits while Kurt Wideman leads the Tigers with 24 RBI. The team is hitting .256 on the season. Mark McCain, Joey Centanni and Tyler Waldron are tentatively slated to start for the Tigers this weekend. McCain is 1-4 with a 4.58 ERA. The junior transfer from Richland College (Texas) leads the team with 70.2 innings pitched. He has struck out 53 batters and walked 20 while giving up 36 earned runs on 80 hits. Opposing teams are hitting .287 against the right-hander. Centanni is 0-3 with a 4.79 ERA. The lefty, who transferred from San Diego, has logged 35.2 innings and started in six games while making seven appearances. He has struck out 11 while surrendering 19 earned runs on 41 hits. Waldron, a freshman right-hander, is 2-5 with a 6.07 earned run average. He is second on the team with 69.2 innings and 50 strikeouts. He has yielded 47 earned runs on 90 hits in 12 starts this season. THE SERIES: UCI is 26-13 against the Tigers. ANTEATERS IN THE BIG WEST: Christian Bergman (Altadena/St. Francis HS) tops the Big West with a 1.41 ERA while Scott Gorgen (1.97) and Bryce Stowell (2.12) are third and fourth, respectively. Daniel Bibona is the fourth Anteater arm to sit among the top 10 and is ninth at 3.27. Gorgen tops the conference in opposing batting average at .165 while Stowell is second at .223. Bibona is third in the category, holding teams to a .243 clip. Gorgen also holds the stop spot in strikeouts with 92 and batters struck out looking with 28 while Stowell is third in strikeouts (73) and tied for fifth in strikeouts looking (19) with Bibona. Bibona is also tied for fifth in strikeouts with 66. Gorgen is tied with Cal State Fullerton's Cory Arbiso with nine wins. Eric Pettis continues to lead the league in saves with 11 and is also first with 22 games finished. Ollie Linton leads the Big West in steals with 31 while Ben Orloff is sixth with 16. Linton is tied for eighth with 42 runs scored while Orloff is ninth with a .440 on base percentage. Francis Larson is tied for seventh with six home runs. Aaron Lowenstein has thrown out 23 base runners this season to lead the Big West. WEEKLY WRAPUP: UC Irvine went 2-2 in action last week, suffering a midweek loss to Loyola Marymount and winning two of three games against Cal State Northridge to win its third Big West Conference series. UC Irvine surrendered a season-high 17 hits in an 11-3 loss to Loyola Marymount. Ollie Linton (Winnetka/Crespi HS), Casey Stevenson (Saugus/College of the Canyons) and Ryan Fisher (Manteca/East Union HS) drove in a run apiece for UCI. In the series opener Friday, Scott Gorgen shut down the Matadors for 7.1 innings, holding CSUN to five hits while striking out 10. The Matadors hit a lone home run in the eighth but Gorgen went on to toss 8.1 innings before handing the ball off to Eric Pettis (West Hills/El Camino Real HS). Pettis walked two and gave up a hit as CSUN loaded the bases against the sophomore but Pettis struck out the final batter to end the game. Saturday, Bryce Stowell led UCI to a 1-0 shuout, giving up just two hits while fanning eight. Francis Larson drove in the lone run on a fielder's choice to score Ben Orloff. Tom Calahan retired the only batter he faced and Pettis walked one and gave up a hit in the Matador ninth before emerging with his Big West-leading 11th save. The Matadors pushed through in the seventh inning against Daniel Bibona Sunday with four runs and went on to avoid the sweep with a 4-1 win. Brock Bardeen (Fallbrook/HS) drove in UCI's lone run while Bibona allowed just one earned run in 6.2 innings while striking out eight. |
