COLLEGES:UCI eyes date with Fullerton

UC Irvine baseball coach Dave Serrano has never been shy about embracing expectations. And the expectations for this season ascended after the Anteaters won two of three from perennial Big West Conference contender Long Beach State over the weekend.

The Anteaters (21-7-1, 2-1 in conference), ranked No. 21 in the coaches poll, faced their first ranked team this season in the 49ers, whose preconference schedule reads like a who’s who of college baseball.

UCI can add to the emerging belief that something special may be occurring this season when it battles Orange County rival Cal State Fullerton (18-10, 3-0) in a three-game Big West road series that begins Thursday at 7 p.m.

UCI had dropped 10 of its last 12 conference games against Long Beach, before defeating the Dirtbags Friday and Saturday to win its seventh straight series.

The ‘Eaters enter Thursday having never won a conference series from the Titans, who are 11-4 against against UCI since the Anteaters revived their program for the 2002 season. In those games, Fullerton has outscored UCI, 99-50.

But after Sunday’s disappointing 12-4 loss to Long Beach, Serrano said his team is ready for the challenge.

“We’re going to make a run at this [conference title],” Serrano said. “I know we have guys who believe in that and I know I believe in that.”

The Anteaters are adding believers with a formidable combination of offense and pitching.

UCI leads the Big West in virtually every offensive category, including batting average (.326), home runs (23), runs (198), stolen bases (72) and sacrifice bunts (49).

On the bump, senior closer Blair Erickson (eight saves, 0.84 ERA), junior reliever-turned-starter Wes Etheridge (8-0, 1.23 ERA) and sophomore starter Scott Gorgen (5-1, 2.82 ERA) have been giving hitters fits.

Individually, senior outfielder Matt Morris leads all Big West hitters with a .417 batting average, 15 points ahead of UC Santa Barbara senior Robbie Blauer, who matriculated there from Orange Coast College.

Morris has 25 RBIs, one fewer than leadoff man Taylor Holiday, who belted two homers Sunday.

Senior second baseman Cody Cipriano has picked up where he left off last season. His seven homers are second in the Big West and his 14 career dingers rank fifth all-time in UCI annals. He has 22 RBIs this season.

Junior third baseman Tyler Vaughn (.330, 19 RBIs), junior right fielder Bryan Petersen (.323 with 20 RBIs and a conference-best 18 steals), sophomore shortstop Ben Orloff (.345) and junior catcher Aaron Lowenstein (.347) have also joined the hit parade this season.

“We’ve seen the other teams and we believe we have just as good a players as anyone in this conference,” Serrano said.

Friday’s game is 7 p.m., with Saturday’s finale at 1 p.m. at Goodwin Field.

UCI (22-4, 15-4 in conference) is currently in second place in the MPSF, though BYU (14-4) figures to win out and it holds the tie-breaker edge with UCI.

Pepperdine (21-1, 17-1) can clinch the outright regular-season conference crown with one more win.

UCI visits UCLA Friday at 7 p.m. at Pauley Pavilion.

The defending NCAA champion Bruins (15-10, 10-9), for whom Speraw played and was an assistant coach, feature a pair of middle blockers out of Newport Harbor High.

Jamie Diefenbach, a 6-8 redshirt sophomore, leads the team with 99 total blocks and his 188 kills rank fourth on the team.

Brett Perrine, a 6-4 redshirt freshman, has 143 kills and 71 blocks.