Oregon wooing Serrano

UC Irvine baseball coach Dave Serrano said Friday he will fly to Eugene, Ore., on Monday to discuss the possibility of becoming the University of Oregon baseball coach.

Serrano, named 2007 Coach of the Year by Baseball America after leading the Anteaters to the College World Series in his third season at the helm, said he reconsidered his earlier decision to thwart efforts by Oregon Athletic Director Pat Kilkenny to interest him in the position.

“I was approached about three weeks ago by Oregon and their athletic director flew down here to meet with me,” Serrano said. “And what I heard was fabulous. They were pressuring me to come visit and I said yes. But, after a couple days of thinking about it, I decided to turn them down.

“Then, I got to thinking that I didn’t see exactly what it was I was turning down, so I began discussions with [Kilkenny] again.”

Serrano said he is happy at UCI and there are only a few jobs that would ever force him to consider leaving. But he said Oregon, which decided in June to resurrect a baseball program dormant the last 26 years, could be one of those special jobs.

“I decided Oregon was something I had to see,” Serrano said. “I’ve told [Oregon officials] my gut instinct is to remain at UC Irvine. They know there’s a low percentage of me taking that job, but I owe it to my family to look at this opportunity. I have loyalty to a group of players and to this university, which has stepped up to make me and my staff happy here. This is not about UCI not stepping up.”

Serrano said he will fly up Monday and leave Tuesday night for a planned vacation in Las Vegas. He said he would not make an immediate decision, but would need at least a few days to discuss any possible change with his family.

“I’ve apologized to the [UCI] administration about any uproar this may cause, but it was something I had to look at,” Serrano said. “It’s a special opportunity [at Oregon], though I think I have something pretty special here.”

The Oregonian newspaper has reported that Kilkenny courted Vanderbilt Coach Tim Corbin, as well as Dave Brundage, a former Oregon State star who manages the Richmond Braves, a Class AAA affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. But both have removed themselves from consideration.

Serrano, who came to UCI after eight seasons as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Cal State Fullerton, had been rumored to be courted by the University of Tennessee, where Serrano worked one season as an assistant before joining Coach George Horton’s staff at Cal State Fullerton.

But Tennessee announced the hiring of its new coach the day after UCI was eliminated by Oregon State in the College World Series and Serrano said he was happy to be staying at UCI.

Oregon’s athletic budget and financial resources surpass those at UCI, but Kilkenny has said the program will begin offering only four or five scholarships, taking four years to build to the allotted 11.7.

There is also concern that the campus has no room for a baseball stadium, so the Ducks would have to play home games at Civic Stadium, a 6,800-seat facility built in 1938 that is the host site of the Eugene Emeralds, a Class A affiliate of the San Diego Padres.

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