Holiday fits in like glove

Two seasons after enrolling at Arizona State University to continue his baseball career, Taylor Holiday realized he and Sun Devils Coach Pat Murphy were not a good fit.

But after making UC Irvine his second home as a college athlete, the former Mission Viejo High football and baseball star has fit like a glove with the Anteaters.

Make that a bag full of gloves.

Holiday, who helps lead the Anteaters (40-15-1) into today’s 11 a.m. NCAA Regional opener against Wake Forest (33-27) at the Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas, has played six positions in two seasons at UCI.

And whatever spot in which he has been used, whether on the diamond or in the batting order, the first-team All-Big West Conference performer has been a consistent factor in the program’s success.

“He brings energy, enthusiasm and leadership,” Serrano said of the redshirt junior first baseman who leads the team in hits (79), runs (59), doubles (21), triples (eight) and total bases (128). “He’s a guy who wants to be in the fire when it gets going hot and I’ll take those guys any day of the week. He wears all kinds of gloves and all kinds of hats for us. He’ll be a hard guy to replace, when we have to replace him.”

Holiday, who played third base, all three outfield positions and even caught one inning in 2006, when he hit .286 with two home runs and 31 RBIs, began this season as the starting center fielder. But early in the conference schedule, Holiday was shifted to first base — a position he had not played, at any level — in order to allow sophomore Ollie Linton, who is hitting .372 to lead all Anteater regulars, to join the lineup.

Holiday had to borrow a teammate’s first baseman’s glove when he made his debut at a position he has played ever since.

“I have kind of been a utility guy my whole life,” said Holiday, who at 23 is the oldest player on the team. “Wherever you throw me, that is where I’m going to go.”

Holiday, one of the more popular players among his teammates, coaches and fans alike, clearly throws himself headlong into his passion for baseball.

“You can’t play this game if you don’t love it, and I do,” said Holiday, who is hitting .346 with four home runs and an impressive 40 RBIs out of the leadoff spot.

“I’ve never been the biggest guy [5-foot-11, 190 pounds] and I’ve never been considered the guy with the most tools. But mentality has always been my strength. I have that understanding that I have to go out there every day and compete as hard as I can. All my life, I’ve just wanted a chance to go outplay the guys people say have all the tools.”

Holiday, who enters the postseason on a 17-game hitting streak, believes this UCI team has what it takes to get to advance out of the four-team, double-elimination regional to a Super Regional.

“Last year, we got to a regional and that was big,” Holiday said of the Anteaters’ second postseason appearance since reviving the program before the 2002 season, following a nine-season hiatus. “But we didn’t win a game [at Pepperdine, dropping one-run decisions to UCLA and Missouri].”

UCI was also 0-2 in its 2004 regional appearance at Notre Dame.

“Our expectation this year is not only to go to a regional, but to win a regional,” Holiday said. “I don’t think anyone is going to be satisfied with anything less.”

Holiday has long been associated with winners. He was a two-time All-CIF Southern Section performer in baseball at Mission Viejo. But he was, perhaps, better known as an All-CIF receiver for the vaunted Diablos teams that won back-to-back section crowns in 2001 and 2002, his final two of three varsity seasons, all of which he led the team in receptions and receiving yards. With Holiday in the lineup, Mission Viejo was 37-3 on the varsity football field.

Holiday said his football background has helped shape him as an athlete.

“In football, you have to be aggressive on every play,” said Holiday, who has 15 stolen bases and has been hit by a pitch 18 times this season. “And the drive and the leadership that football teaches, has definitely helped me with my competitive edge.”

It’s that edge, or perhaps chip on his shoulder, that Serrano believes will serve Holiday well at the next level.

“If my opinion counts for anything, I think Taylor Holiday is going to play this game for a while [professionally],” Serrano said. “I don’t think there’s anyone at the next level who is not going to like what he brings to the table each and every day.

“I’d be lying to you if I told you that I knew he would bring as much as he has brought to this program,” Serrano said. “But he has been involved in 76 victories since he has been here and I don’t think that’s any coincidence. I don’t like to single out one guy, but he’s a guy, when we look back at the end of the season, we’ll realize the impact he has had on the program.”

Holiday, who is two quarters away from obtaining his college degree, said he would relish a chance to begin his professional career after the upcoming first-year player draft.

“[Playing pro ball] is what I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid,” Holiday said. “I’ve been talking to a few teams, so, hopefully, when that bridge comes, we’ll cross it. All I can ask for is for some pro team to give me an opportunity to live out a dream and play professional baseball. I’ll give it my all from there and we’ll see what happens.”

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at barry.faulkner@latimes.com.