UC Irvine Anteaters baseball
The UC Irvine Anteaters baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball program of the University of California, Irvine. The team's home venue is Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark located on campus in Irvine, California. UC Irvine baseball has been a member of the NCAA Division I Big West Conference since the start of the 2002 season which was the Anteaters' first season of play following the university's decision to revive its baseball program after the sport had been dropped following the 1992 season.
UC Irvine Anteaters | |
---|---|
2021 UC Irvine Anteaters baseball team | |
Founded | 1970 |
University | University of California, Irvine |
Head coach | Ben Orloff (3rd season) |
Conference | Big West |
Location | Irvine, California |
Home stadium | Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark (Capacity: 2,900) |
Nickname | Anteaters |
Colors | Blue and Gold[1] |
College World Series appearances | |
2007, 2014 | |
NCAA regional champions | |
2007, 2008, 2011, 2014 | |
NCAA Tournament appearances | |
2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014 | |
Conference champions | |
2009 |
The Anteaters won the College Division national championship in 1973 and the Division II national championship in 1974. Since moving to Division I play they have appeared in the NCAA Tournament eight times and the College World Series twice.
History
College Division/Division II
The program was founded prior to the 1970 season and initially played as an independent school in the NCAA College Division, made up of small-school athletic programs.[2] Under head coach Gary Adams, the team qualified for the College Division Tournament in 1970, 1971, and 1972. In 1973, the team ended the regular season with a twelve-game winning streak and again qualified for the tournament. After advancing to the College Division Championship, it defeated Missouri-St. Louis, Eastern Illinois, and Ithaca twice to win a national championship.[3]
In August 1973, the NCAA reorganized its divisions. Prior to then, the NCAA had competed in two divisions, a large-school University Division and a small-school College Division. Following the reorganization, the University Division became Division I, while the College Division split into Division II and Division III. UC Irvine, formerly an independent in the College Division, became a Division II Independent.[2]
In the first season of Division II, the team again won its regional tournament to advance to the Division II Championship. There, the program defeated New Orleans to win its second consecutive national championship.[3] Following the 1974 season, Gary Adams left UC Irvine to become the head coach at UCLA.[4]
UC Irvine continued to play in Division II until following the 1977 season, though it did not qualify for another NCAA Tournament.[3]
Transition to Division I
Prior to the 1978 season, the program joined the newly formed Division I Southern California Baseball Association (SCBA).[5] Former Gonzaga head coach Steve Hertz became the program's head coach prior to the 1979 season, in which the team finished 7th in the SCBA. In 1980, UC Irvine finished second behind Cal State Fullerton, its best season in the SCBA.[6][7][8]
When Steve Hertz returned to Gonzaga following the 1980 season, Mike Gerakos became the program's head coach.[3][9] The team continued to play in the SCBA, though it finished no higher than third until the conference disbanded following the 1984 season. UC Irvine then became members of the Pacific Coast Athletic Association, which was renamed the Big West Conference prior to the 1987 season. UC Irvine had a winning conference record only twice in eight PCAA/Big West seasons through the end of the 1992 season.[3]
Following the 1992 season, state budget cuts caused the university to cut several sports programs, including baseball. At the time it was discontinued, the program had a 643-565-17 record.[10][11][12]
Program revival
In 2000, the university announced plans to revive the varsity baseball program and build a multimillion-dollar on-campus venue for the program.[12] Following the 2000 college baseball season, the school hired USC assistant John Savage as the program's new head coach.[13] The team began play in 2002. Its first game, also the opening of the newly built Anteater Ballpark, was an 8-5 loss to San Diego on January 25, 2002.[3]
In 2004, the team qualified for the NCAA Tournament, its first in Division I. In the South Bend Regional, the team lost consecutive games to Arizona and Notre Dame and was eliminated.[3][14]
Following the 2004 season, John Savage left the program to become the head coach at UCLA.[15] UC Irvine hired Cal State Fullerton assistant coach Dave Serrano to replace him.[16] In 2006, Serrano's second season, the team qualified for the NCAA Tournament. In 2007, the team again qualified for the tournament. After defeating Texas in the Round Rock Regional finals, the Anteaters defeated Wichita State in the Super Regionals to advance to the 2007 College World Series. At the World Series, the team went 2-2 and was eliminated by eventual national champion Oregon State.[3]
Following the 2007 season, Dave Serrano returned to Cal State Fullerton to become the team's head coach.[17] He was replaced by former USC head coach Mike Gillespie.[18] The team qualified for the NCAA Tournament in each of Gillespie's first four seasons (2008-2011). In 2008, the team was eliminated by LSU in the Super Regional round.[3] In the team's 2009 season, the Anteaters won the Big West Championship with a 22-2 conference record and qualified for the NCAA Tournament as the #6 National Seed. It hosted an NCAA Regional at Anteater Ballpark, but was eliminated in the Regional by Virginia.[19][20]
Following the 2009 season, Anteater Ballpark was renamed Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark for former UC Irvine chancellor Ralph J. Cicerone.[21]
In 2010, the team qualified for the NCAA Tournament but was eliminated in the regional round.[22] In 2011, the team won the Los Angeles Regional to advance to its second super regional under Gillespie. In the super regional, the Anteaters lost to Virginia 2 games to 1.[23]
Conference affiliations
- Independent (College Division) (1970–1973)
- Independent (Division II) (1974–1977)
- Southern California Baseball Association (1978–1984)
- Big West Conference (1985–1992, 2002–present)
- Known as the Pacific Coast Athletic Association from 1985–1986
Venues
Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark
Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark has been the program's home venue since it opened in 2002, also the year in which UC Irvine sponsored varsity baseball for the first season since 1992. The venue was known as Anteater Ballpark from 2002-2009, before it was renamed for former university chancellor Ralph J. Cicerone.[24] It has a capacity of 2,900 spectators.[25]
Head coaches
Mike Gerakos, who coached for 12 seasons, is the program's longest tenured coach.[3]
Year(s) | Coach | Seasons | W-L-T | Pct |
---|---|---|---|---|
1970–1974 | Gary Adams | 5 | 185-68-5 | .731 |
1975–1976 | Tom Spence | 2 | 39-47-1 | .453 |
1977–1978 | Eddie Allen | 2 | 47-51-1 | .480 |
1979–1980 | Steve Hertz | 2 | 60-51-2 | .541 |
1981–1992 | Mike Gerakos | 12 | 312-338-8 | .480 |
2002–2004 | John Savage | 3 | 88-84-1 | .512 |
2005–2007 | Dave Serrano | 3 | 114-66-1 | .633 |
2008–2018 | Mike Gillespie | 11 | 393-249 | .612 |
2019 | Ben Orloff | 1 | 37-17 | .685 |
Totals | 9 | 41 | 1275-971-19 | .568 |
Current coaching staff
- Head coach – Ben Orloff
- Assistant coach – J.T. Bloodworth[26]
- Assistant coach – Daniel Bibona[27]
Yearly records
Below is a table of the program's yearly records.[3][7][8][20][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]
Season | Coach | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Independent (College Division) (1970–1973) | |||||||||
1970 | Gary Adams | 33-12-3 | NCAA Regional | ||||||
1971 | Gary Adams | 27-17-1 | NCAA Regional | ||||||
1972 | Gary Adams | 33-19-1 | NCAA Regional | ||||||
1973 | Gary Adams | 44-12 | College World Series | ||||||
College Division Ind.: | 137-60-5 | ||||||||
Independent (Division II) (1974–1977) | |||||||||
1974 | Gary Adams | 48-8 | College World Series | ||||||
1975 | Tom Spence | 15-27 | |||||||
1976 | Tom Spence | 24-20-1 | |||||||
1977 | Eddie Allen | 30-23 | |||||||
Division II Ind.: | 117-78-1 | ||||||||
Southern California Baseball Association (Division I) (1978–1984) | |||||||||
1978 | Eddie Allen | 17-28-1 | 9-15-1 | 5th | |||||
1979 | Steve Hertz | 23-26-1 | 8-18-1 | 7th | |||||
1980 | Steve Hertz | 37-25-1 | 18-9 | 2nd | |||||
1981 | Mike Gerakos | 31-23 | 13-15 | 6th | |||||
1982 | Mike Gerakos | 28-29-1 | 11-17 | 6th | |||||
1983 | Mike Gerakos | 25-25 | 16-12 | 3rd | |||||
1984 | Mike Gerakos | 23-34-1 | 11-16 | 6th | |||||
SCBA: | 184-190-5 | 86-102 | |||||||
Pacific Coast Athletic Association/Big West Conference (1985–1992) | |||||||||
1985 | Mike Gerakos | 27-28-1 | 14-13 | 3rd (South) | |||||
1986 | Mike Gerakos | 20-26-2 | 9-12 | 5th | |||||
1987 | Mike Gerakos | 27-26-1 | 13-8 | 2nd | |||||
1988 | Mike Gerakos | 30-28-1 | 9-12 | t-5th | |||||
1989 | Mike Gerakos | 20-35-1 | 6-15 | 7th | |||||
1990 | Mike Gerakos | 34-25 | 10-11 | t-5th | |||||
1991 | Mike Gerakos | 24-32 | 6-15 | 8th | |||||
1992 | Mike Gerakos | 23-27 | 10-14 | 6th | |||||
No program (1993–2001) | |||||||||
Big West Conference (2002–present) | |||||||||
2002 | John Savage | 33-26 | 14-10 | t-4th | |||||
2003 | John Savage | 21-35 | 8-14 | t-5th | |||||
2004 | John Savage | 34-23-1 | 10-11 | 6th | NCAA Regional | ||||
2005 | Dave Serrano | 31-25 | 10-11 | 5th | |||||
2006 | Dave Serrano | 36-24 | 11-10 | 3rd | NCAA Regional | ||||
2007 | Dave Serrano | 47-17-1 | 15-6 | t-2nd | College World Series | ||||
2008 | Mike Gillespie | 42-18 | 14-10 | t-3rd | NCAA Super Regional | ||||
2009 | Mike Gillespie | 45-15 | 22-2 | 1st | NCAA Regional (#6 National Seed) | ||||
2010 | Mike Gillespie | 39-21 | 17-7 | 2nd | NCAA Regional | ||||
2011 | Mike Gillespie | 43-18 | 16-8 | 2nd | NCAA Super Regional | ||||
2012 | Mike Gillespie | 31-25 | 13-11 | 4th | |||||
2013 | Mike Gillespie | 33-22 | 15-12 | t-4th | |||||
2014 | Mike Gillespie | 41-25 | 15-9 | 3rd | College World Series | ||||
2015 | Mike Gillespie | 33-23 | 15-9 | 3rd | |||||
2016 | Mike Gillespie | 31-25 | 11-13 | 8th | |||||
2017 | Mike Gillespie | 23-33 | 9-15 | 7th | |||||
2018 | Mike Gillespie | 32-24 | 13-11 | 3rd | |||||
2019 | Ben Orloff | 37-17 | 17-7 | 2nd | |||||
PCAA/Big West: | 837-643-8 | 322-276 | |||||||
Total: | 1275-971-19 | ||||||||
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
|
Notable former players
Below is a list of notable former Anteaters and the seasons in which they played for the program.[35][36][37][38]
- Brady Anderson (1983-1985)
- Garrett Atkins
- Dylan Axelrod (2006-2007)
- Justin Cassel (2004-2006)
- Keston Hiura (2015-2017)
- David Huff (2004)
- Doug Linton (1984-1986)
- Ben Orloff (2006-2009)
- Bryan Petersen (2005-2007)
- Sean Tracey (2002)
- Gary Wheelock (1972-1974)
References
- UCI Art Sheet (PDF). May 1, 2017. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
- Liska, Jerry (August 7, 1973). "NCAA Splits Into Three Divisions". The Portsmouth Times. Portsmouth, Ohio, USA. The Associated Press. p. 8. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
- "Anteater in the Draft/Year-by-Year Results" (PDF). 2010 UC Irvine Baseball Media Guide. UC Irvine Sports Information. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 14, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
- "#13 Gary Adams". UCLABruins.com. UCLA Sports Information. Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
- Telander, Rick (May 23, 1977). "School of Soft Knocks". SI.com. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
- "2012 Baseball Record Book" (PDF). GoZags.com. Gonzaga Sports Information. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 7, 2012. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
- "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1979". BoydsWorld.com. Archived from the original on July 29, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
- "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1980". BoydsWorld.com. Archived from the original on July 29, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
- "Steve Hertz Back as Gonzaga Coach". The Spokane Daily Chronicle. July 9, 1980. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
- "Budget's Hit List Readied". The Press-Courier. The Associated Press. June 10, 1992. p. 3. Archived from the original on January 24, 2013. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
- "Local Notes: Brea-Olinda Standout Priess Signs to Play Baseball at San Luis Obispo". Articles.LATimes.com. The Los Angeles Times. August 4, 1992. Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
Priess had planned to attend UC Irvine until the Anteaters dropped their program last spring.
- McLeod, Paul (June 20, 2000). "UC Irvine Baseball Could Be Diamond in the Rough". Articles.LATimes.com. The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
- McLeod, Paul (July 5, 2000). "UCI Hires USC Assistant to Bring Back Baseball". Articles.LATimes.com. The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
- "2004 NCAA Postseason Tournament Results". D1Baseball.com. Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
- Stephens, Eric (July 2, 2004). "Bruins Hire Irvine Coach". Articles.LATimes.com. The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
- Stephens, Eric (July 12, 2004). "Irvine Hires Titan Aide". The Los Angeles Times. p. D13. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
- Faulkner, Barry (September 8, 2007). "Serrano Leaves UCI for Fullerton". Articles.DailyPilot.com. The Daily Pilot. Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
- Yoon, Peter (September 25, 2007). "Gillespie to Coach Baseball at UC Irvine". Articles.LATimes.com. The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
- "2009 NCAA Regional Results". D1Baseball.com. Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
- "2012 Big West Baseball Record Book" (PDF). BigWest.org. The Big West Conference. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 14, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
- Vasich, Tom. "Cicerone's Field of Dreams". UCI.edu. UC Irvine Office of Communications. Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
- "2010 NCAA Regional Results". D1Baseball.com. Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
- "No. 10 UC Irvine Ends Season with Fourth 40-Win Season". UCIrvineSports.com. UC Irvine Sports Information. June 20, 2011. Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
- "Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark". UCIrvine.PrestoSports.com. UC Irvine Sports Information. Archived from the original on August 13, 2012. Retrieved August 13, 2012.
- "UCSB Heads to Irvine; Will Be Featured on ESPN". UCSBGauchos.com. UC Santa Barbara Sports Information. May 3, 2012. Archived from the original on August 13, 2012. Retrieved August 13, 2012.
- "Coaching Staff". UCIrvineSports.com. UC Irvine Sports Information. Archived from the original on August 13, 2012. Retrieved August 13, 2012.
- Faulkner, Barry (July 19, 2012). "Bibona Returns to UCI:". Articles.DailyPilot.com. The Daily Pilot. Archived from the original on August 13, 2012. Retrieved August 13, 2012.
- "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1977". BoydsWorld.com. Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
- "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1978". BoydsWorld.com. Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
- "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1981". BoydsWorld.com. Archived from the original on July 29, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
- "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1982". BoydsWorld.com. Archived from the original on July 29, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
- "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1983". BoydsWorld.com. Archived from the original on July 29, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
- "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1984". BoydsWorld.com. Archived from the original on July 29, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
- "2013 Big West Conference Baseball Standings". D1Baseball.com. Jeremy Mills. Archived from the original on May 28, 2013. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
- "University of California, Irvine Baseball Players Who Made it to the Major Leagues". Baseball-Almanac.com. Archived from the original on January 5, 2006. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
- "#11 Dave Huff". UCLABruins.com. UCLA Sports Information. Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
- "#6 Ben Orloff". UCIrvineSports.com. UC Irvine Sports Information. Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
- "#2 Bryan Petersen". UCIrvineSports.com. UC Irvine Sports Information. Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2012.