UC Irvine Anteaters | |
---|---|
2025 UC Irvine Anteaters baseball team | |
Founded | 1970 |
University | University of California, Irvine |
Head coach | Ben Orloff (7th season) |
Conference | Big West |
Location | Irvine, California |
Home stadium | Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark (Capacity: 2,900) |
Nickname | Anteaters |
Colors | Blue and gold [1] |
NCAA Tournament champions | |
1973*, 1974* | |
College World Series appearances | |
1973*, 1974*, 2007, 2014 | |
NCAA regional champions | |
1973*, 1974*, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2014 | |
NCAA Tournament appearances | |
1970*, 1971*, 1972*, 1973*, 1974*, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2021, 2024 *at Division II level | |
Regular season conference champions | |
2009, 2021 |
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 following the sport's discontinuation in 1992.
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 ten times and the College World Series twice.
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]
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]
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]
Since joining Division I in 1978, the Anteaters have made 10 appearances in the NCAA Division I baseball tournament and qualified for the College World Series in 2007 and 2014.
Year | Record | Pct | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2004 | 0–2 | .000 | South Bend Regional |
2006 | 0–2 | .000 | Malibu Regional |
2007 | 7–2 | .778 | College World Series 3rd place, Wichita Super Regional Champs |
2008 | 4–2 | .667 | Baton Rouge Super Regional, Lincoln Regional Champs |
2009 | 2–2 | .500 | Hosted Irvine Regional |
2010 | 2–2 | .500 | Los Angeles Regional |
2011 | 4–2 | .667 | Charlottesville Super Regional, Los Angeles Regional Champs |
2014 | 6–3 | .667 | College World Series 5th Place, Stillwater Super Regional Champions |
2021 | 3–2 | .600 | Stanford Regional |
2024 | 2–2 | .500 | Corvallis Regional |
TOTALS | 30–21 | .588 |
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]
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–present | Ben Orloff | 6 | 203-97 | .677 |
Totals | 9 | 46 | 1441–1051–19 | .578 |
Below is a table of the program's yearly records. [3] [7] [8] [20] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32]
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 | |||||
2020 | Ben Orloff | 8-7 | 8-7 | 7th | |||||
2021 | Ben Orloff | 43-18 | 32-8 | 1st | NCAA Regional | ||||
2022 | Ben Orloff | 32-24 | 16-14 | 6th | |||||
2023 | Ben Orloff | 38-17 | 19-11 | 4th | |||||
2024 | Ben Orloff | 45-14 | 22-8 | 2nd | NCAA Regional | ||||
PCAA/Big West: | 920-692-8 | 378-305 | |||||||
Total: | 1358-1020-19 | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion |
Below is a list of notable former Anteaters and the seasons in which they played for the program. [33] [34] [35] [36]
Ralph John Cicerone was an American atmospheric scientist and administrator. From 1998 to 2005, he was the chancellor of the University of California, Irvine. From 2005 to 2016, he was the president of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). He was a "renowned authority" on climate change and atmospheric chemistry, and issued an early warning about the grave potential risks of climate change.
The UC Irvine Anteaters are the athletic teams fielded by the University of California, Irvine. Its athletics programs participate in the NCAA's Division I, as members of the Big West Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. For earlier years of the school's existence, the teams participated at the Division II level with great success as explained below.
Michael James Gillespie was an American college baseball coach. He served as the head coach at UC Irvine and head coach at USC from 1987 to 2006. He led USC to the 1998 College World Series championship, having previously won it as a player in 1961.
Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark is the ballpark at the University of California, Irvine in Irvine, California, United States. It is the home stadium of the UC Irvine Anteaters baseball team. Opened in 2002, the stadium has 908 seats and can accommodate up to an additional 2,500 people on a grass berm.
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The 2009 UC Irvine Anteaters baseball team represented the University of California, Irvine in the NCAA Division I baseball season of 2009. The team played their home games at Anteater Ballpark in Irvine, California. The team was coached by Mike Gillespie in his second season at Irvine.
John Joseph Savage is an American college baseball coach and former pitcher, who currently serves as the head baseball coach for the UCLA Bruins. He played college baseball at Santa Clara for coaches Jerry McClain and John Oldham from 1984 to 1986 before playing in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) for three seasons (1986-1988). After serving as an assistant coach with Nevada and USC in the 1990s, he became the head coach for the UC Irvine Anteaters (2002–04). Savage became UCLA's head baseball coach in July 2004 and has guided the Bruins in that role for the past 18 seasons.
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Stephen Lawrence Hertz is an American former college baseball coach. He was the head coach of the Gonzaga Bulldogs in 1978 before holding the same position at UC Irvine from 1979 to 1980. Hertz returned to Gonzaga prior to the 1981 season and coached there through the 2003 season. Under Hertz, Gonzaga appeared in two NCAA tournaments, six Pac-10 Northern Division Tournaments (1986–1991), and one West Coast Conference Championship Series (2001). His career head coaching record was 697–678–5 (.507).
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Gary Adams is an American former college baseball coach, the head baseball coach of the UCLA Bruins from 1975–2004. Adams also served as the first head coach at UC Irvine from 1970–1974, winning two Division II national championships there.
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The UC Irvine Anteaters women's basketball team is the basketball team that represents the University of California, Irvine. The team currently competes in the Big West Conference, NCAA Division I.
The 1977–78 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team represented the University of California, Irvine during the 1977–78 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This was the program's first season in Division I after spending the previous 12 season in Division II. The Anteaters were led by ninth year head coach Tim Taft and played their home games at Crawford Hall as members of the Pacific Coast Athletic Association. They finished their inaugural season 8–17 and were 2–12 in PCAA play to finish 8th place. The anteaters did not receive an invitation to the 1978 PCAA tournament.
The 2010–11 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team represented the University of California, Irvine during the 2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Anteaters, led by first year head coach Russell Turner, played their home games at the Bren Events Center and were members of the Big West Conference. They finished the season 13–19, 6–10 in Big West play to finish tied for seventh place.
The 1969–70 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team represented the University of California, Irvine during the 1969–70 NCAA College Division men's basketball season. The Anteaters were led by first year head coach Tim Tift and played their home games at Crawford Hall. The anteaters finished the season with a record 17–9.
The 2021 UC Irvine Anteaters baseball team represented the University of California, Irvine during the 2021 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Anteaters played their home games at Anteater Ballpark as a member of the Big West Conference. They were led by third-year head coach Ben Orloff.
The 2024 UC Irvine Anteaters baseball team represented the University of California, Irvine during the 2024 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Anteaters played their home games at Cicerone Field as a member of the Big West Conference. They were led by head coach Ben Orloff, in his sixth season as manager.
Priess had planned to attend UC Irvine until the Anteaters dropped their program last spring.