UC Irvine Anteaters baseball

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. 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.

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.

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.

UC Irvine continued to play in Division II until following the 1977 season, though it did not qualify for another NCAA tournament.

Transition to Division I

Prior to the 1978 season, the program joined the newly formed Division I Southern California Baseball Association (SCBA). 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.

When Steve Hertz returned to Gonzaga following the 1980 season, Mike Gerakos became the program's head coach. 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.

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.

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. 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.

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.

Following the 2004 season, John Savage left the program to become the head coach at UCLA. UC Irvine hired Cal State Fullerton assistant coach Dave Serrano to replace him. 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.

Following the 2007 season, Dave Serrano returned to Cal State Fullerton to become the team's head coach. He was replaced by former USC head coach Mike Gillespie. 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.

Following the 2009 season, Anteater Ballpark was renamed Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark for former UC Irvine chancellor Ralph J. Cicerone.

In 2010, the team qualified for the NCAA tournament but was eliminated in the regional round. 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.

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

UC Irvine in the NCAA Tournament

Since joining Division I in 1978, the Anteaters have made 11 appearances in the NCAA Division I baseball tournament and qualified for the College World Series in 2007 and 2014.

Venues

Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark

Main article: 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. It has a capacity of 2,900 spectators.

Head coaches

Mike Gerakos, who coached for 12 seasons, is the program's longest tenured coach.

Yearly records

Below is a table of the program's yearly records.

Notable former players

Below is a list of notable former Anteaters and the seasons in which they played for the program.

• Brady Anderson (1983-1985)
• Garrett Atkins
• Dylan Axelrod (2006-2007)
• Justin Cassel (2004-2006)
• Keston Hiura (2015-2017)
• David Huff (2004)
• Christian Koss (2017–2019)
• Doug Linton (1984-1986)
• Ben Orloff (2006-2009)
• Andre Pallante
• Bryan Petersen (2005-2007)
• Sean Tracey (2002)
• Gary Wheelock (1972-1974)

References

References

1. Liska, Jerry. (7 August 1973). "NCAA Splits Into Three Divisions". The Portsmouth Times.
2. "#13 Gary Adams". UCLA Sports Information.
3. Telander, Rick. (23 May 1977). "School of Soft Knocks". SI.com.
4. "2012 Baseball Record Book". Gonzaga Sports Information.
5. (10 June 1992). "Budget's Hit List Readied". The Press-Courier.
6. (4 August 1992). "Local Notes: Brea-Olinda Standout Priess Signs to Play Baseball at San Luis Obispo". [[Los Angeles Times]].
7. McLeod, Paul. (20 June 2000). "UC Irvine Baseball Could Be Diamond in the Rough". [[Los Angeles Times]].
8. McLeod, Paul. (5 July 2000). "UCI Hires USC Assistant to Bring Back Baseball". [[Los Angeles Times]].
9. Stephens, Eric. (2 July 2004). "Bruins Hire Irvine Coach". [[Los Angeles Times]].
10. Stephens, Eric. (12 July 2004). "Irvine Hires Titan Aide". The Los Angeles Times.
11. Faulkner, Barry. (8 September 2007). "Serrano Leaves UCI for Fullerton". The Daily Pilot.
12. Yoon, Peter. (25 September 2007). "Gillespie to Coach Baseball at UC Irvine". [[Los Angeles Times]].
13. Vasich, Tom. "Cicerone's Field of Dreams". UC Irvine Office of Communications.
14. "2010 NCAA Regional Results". D1Baseball.com.
15. (20 June 2011). "No. 10 UC Irvine Ends Season with Fourth 40-Win Season". UC Irvine Sports Information.
16. "Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark". UC Irvine Sports Information.
17. (3 May 2012). "UCSB Heads to Irvine; Will Be Featured on ESPN". UC Santa Barbara Sports Information.
18. "Anteater in the Draft/Year-by-Year Results". UC Irvine Sports Information.
19. "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1980". BoydsWorld.com.
20. "2012 Big West Baseball Record Book". The Big West Conference.
21. "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1977". BoydsWorld.com.
22. "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1978". BoydsWorld.com.
23. "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1981". BoydsWorld.com.
24. "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1982". BoydsWorld.com.
25. "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1983". BoydsWorld.com.
26. "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1984". BoydsWorld.com.
27. "2013 Big West Conference Baseball Standings". Jeremy Mills.
28. "University of California, Irvine Baseball Players Who Made it to the Major Leagues". Baseball-Almanac.com.
29. "#11 Dave Huff". UCLA Sports Information.
30. "#6 Ben Orloff". UC Irvine Sports Information.
31. "#2 Bryan Petersen". UC Irvine Sports Information.