UC Irvine Anteaters Final '07 Rank: 4 46-17-1

Fortune smiled upon the UC Irvine Anteaters throughout the 2007 season. During the regular season UCI reached the 40-win plateau and finished with a program-best 15 Big West conference wins to earn the second seed in the Austin/Round Rock Regional. While in Texas, the Anteaters upended the host Longhorns twice to advance to the Wichita Super Regional where the 'eaters swept a pair of one run games to advance to Omaha and their first College World Series. The spry UCI ballclub became the adopted fan favorite of Omaha, going 2-2 and winning a marathon five hours and forty minute elimination game victory over Cal State Fullerton before eventual champion Oregon State finally downed Irvine to end their season at 46-17-1.

There have been some major losses to the '08 roster which will make a return to Rosenblatt difficult. Missing from campus will be offensive leader Cody Cipriano (.339, 14, 60, 10 SBs), big game pitcher Wes Etheridge (12-4, 2.65, 112 Ks) and the NCAA all-time save leader, Blair Erickson (3.19, 13 SVs), who are now playing professionally. Yet the biggest absence in the UCI dugout may be former head coach Dave Serrano who left the Anteaters after 114 wins in three years. Serrano, Baseball America’s 2007 Coach of the Year, took the Cal State Fullerton head position which was vacated by George Horton’s move to Oregon. The move was much to the chagrin of ‘Eater nation who had been assured by Serrano a week prior that he had, “no interest in leaving UC Irvine for Cal State Fullerton.” UCI still landed on their feet however, landing former USC coach Mike Gillespie who had guided the Trojans to 15 postseason appearances in 20 years (1987-2006), four College World Series appearances (1995, 1998, 2000 and 2001) and a national title in 1998.

While the cupboard isn’t stocked for Gillespie, a number of quality players will be back on campus. The most promising return is right handed ace Scott Gorgen. Gorgen, a junior who pitched for the USA Baseball National Team over the summer, broke out in a big way for Irvine in 2007, racking up 13 wins with only three loses and a 2.83 ERA. His 13 victories tied him for third nationally and his ERA was eightieth. He also tied for 22nd in the country with 117 strikeouts. Also returning to the weekend rotation is Eric Pettis. Pettis went 4-0 on the mound with a 4.53 ERA as a freshman. Over the summer Pettis played for the Battle Creek Bombers of the Northwood League and was voted his team’s voted the team's MVP after having a 1.88 ERA in six starts. Another sophomore who showed tremendous potential is Cory Hamilton. Hamilton made five starts in 11 appearances, going 4-1 with an undersized 2.25 ERA. A veteran presence in the bullpen is senior reliever Tom Calahan. Calahan went 2-0, led UCI with a 1.61 ERA and struck out 24 batters in 22.1 innings in 22 appearances.

UCI has relied on playing small ball to score runs and will need to continue to play base-by-base in 2008 as the roster is filled with players build for speed rather than power. Leading the charge is fleet footed junior sparkplug outfielder Ollie Linton. Linton will be back in Anteater blue and gold after emerging to hit .342 with eight triples and 15 stolen bases. Sophomore Sean Madigan hit .333 for season and in the CWS and will be looked upon to step up his game to make up for some of the lost firepower. Dependable junior shortstop Ben Orloff is the epitome of fundamental baseball, doing the little things right to help the Anteaters win ballgames. He led the nation in sacrifice hits per game at .52, had a Big West leading 34 sacrifice bunts and also added 20 stolen bases. While not necessarily one of the top returners stat-wise, fifth year senior Aaron Lowenstein (.296, 45 H, 21 RBI, 13 SH, 10 SB) is unquestionably one of the most valuable members of the UCI roster. Lowenstein and a few others were responsible for keeping the team together during the difficult coaching change, running practices and keeping the Anteaters disciplined in regards to conditioning until the coaches were officially hired. As the starting catcher, he limited opposing teams to a 45% success rate in stolen bases.The returning Anteater with the most homeruns is sophomore infielder Jeff Cusick. Cusick batted .319, hit three homeruns (one of which was a pinch hit grand slam) and had a streak of ten games with a hit in limited action.