Hard times for UCI baseball

There is one word to describe UC Irvine’s baseball season, thus far:

Frustration. That’s what Coach John Savage said about the plight of

his UCI Anteaters, who have one three-game series left before they

start Big West Conference play.

The Anteaters will host Washington State tonight at 6.

The frustration comes from injuries and low production on offense

which has the ‘Eaters below the expectations they set before the

season. UCI baseball’s second season has been like one of those

over-hyped movie sequels. Think “Speed 2.”

Just as in their first season, since a 10-year hiatus, the

Anteaters appear as if they will be overlooked in the Big West. UCI,

the afterthought? That’s not how it was at the beginning of the

season. The Anteaters were ranked third in the Big West coaches’

preseason poll, just behind national powerhouses Cal State Fullerton

and Long Beach State.

UCI featured a strong pitching staff (still does) and expected the

bats to come alive this season. But that has not been the case.

Matt Anderson, who was one of UCI’s top returning players after

earning second-team All-Big West honors as a freshman last season, is

out indefinitely with a stress fracture in his lower back. Anderson

typifies the Anteaters’ frustration. He was a big reason Savage was

expecting the offense to improve this season.

Sophomore Jaime Martinez has the same injury as Anderson, and

sophomore R.J. Brown is out with an elbow injury, putting the toll up

to three starters who are gone for the season for UCI.

“That has really disrupted the flow of the offense, as well as the

defense,” said Savage, who is not one to make excuses. He, instead

solves the problem, and that’s the task he has before the season

ends.

Savage said, UCI has not played a game with the injured trio

intact since the first game of the season Feb. 4.

“No one is going to feel sorry for us; no one,” Savage said. “We

have to play with what we have and we have to win.”

Winning hasn’t come easy for the Anteaters this season. And, the

losses have only added fuel to the fire of frustration. UCI has

suffered six shutouts this season, and 10 of the ‘Eaters 17 losses

have been by three or less runs.

The Anteaters (10-17) are at the bottom of the Big West in team

batting average (.231) and runs scored (116) through games that ended

Sunday. It also hasn’t helped that UCI has one of the toughest

pre-conference schedules in the Big West.

The pitching has been a bit of a bright spot. UCI is fourth in the

Big West in ERA (3.92). Yet, Savage’s pitchers have also run into the

F-word this season.

Frustration.

That’s defined in Glenn Swanson’s outing against Washington March

21. The sophomore left-handed pitcher pitched a two-run, four-hit

complete game, retiring 21 in a row, but was hit with the loss

because of UCI’s inept offense.

However, the Anteaters know the season is not over. They met the

challenge of being the rookie in the Big West and managed to finish

fourth in the conference. After what they been through thus far this

season, they can only hope they match that finish.

Fullerton and Long Beach State own the conference, and it looks

like the Titans are poised to take the Big West crown this season. UC

Riverside, which is also relatively new to Big West baseball, has

shown big-time improvement, and appears to be building momentum,

though the Highlanders did not have any ranked teams on their

pre-conference schedule.

Savage is confident that his team will be ready for the challenges

of the Big West season. UCI’s 2002 season was considered a success,

but 2003 has been about hard times and currently a question of how

the Anteaters will respond.

“There’s a lot of confidence in our program from top to bottom,”

Savage said. “We don’t play differently because of results or who

we’re playing or where we’re playing them at. It’s really a

professional type of effort that we take on. When the Big West

starts, our confidence will be very high.”

* Interesting to note: Savage, just as men’s basketball coach

Pat Douglass, has also been involved in UCLA coaching rumors.

Senseless.

The Bruins are 14-15 and Coach Gary Adams, a former head man at

UCI, is enduring a season in which critics, mainly the media, are

questioning his future at UCLA. So, a name that has come up is

Savage, who was hired by Dan Guerrero, now the UCLA Athletic

Director.

But, why would Savage leave a program he built from the ground up,

and is still building? In fact, Savage said he was committed to UCI

back when the season started, when the initial rumors started.

Of course there is the prestige of working for a school with rich

tradition, but it seems Savage would rather build tradition than walk

into it. Besides, UCLA would be hard-pressed to justify hiring him if

UCI continues its offensive woes.

* I’m chalking up my bad college basketball prediction as a

lesson learned. The Big West representative was supposed to be in the

Sweet 16, according to me. Well, Utah State did come within three

points of No. 2 seed Kansas. But the Aggies lost in the first round.

I should have known better.

I’m not too much about bashing, but Big West teams it’s called

winning a game in the NCAA Tournament, and even the NIT. The

mainstream media said the Big East was overrated before the Big Dance

started, and those teams made them shut up.

The mainstream media doesn’t even comment on the Big West, and

this season gave them another reason to ignore it, and gave the NCAA

tournament committee another reason to give it a low seed.

* At Vanguard University, the women’s basketball team that

reached the NAIA Tournament’s Final Four for the first time in school

history will be honored with a pep-rally type party Monday at 10 a.m.

in the Pit, the gym at Vanguard.

Coach Russ Davis’ Lions was the surprise of the NAIA Tournament,

becoming the first Golden State Athletic Conference team to ever

reach the semifinals. Senior Robbin Dittenbir earned first-team

all-tournament honors and sophomore guard Lacey Mills brought back

second-team recognition.