Anteaters ranked No. 22 in baseball writers poll

The UC Irvine baseball program has been ranked No. 22 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers’ Assn. preseason poll.

The Anteaters were 47-17-1 last season, when they finished third at the College World Series, the school’s first trip to Omaha as a Division I program.

The Anteaters, under first-year coach Mike Gillespie, open the season Feb. 22 at Nevada. UCI is led by junior starting pitcher Scott Gorgen, a third-team All-American last season who has been named to several preseason All-America teams.

Other top returners include preseason All-American outfielder Ollie Linton, fellow junior shortstop Ben Orloff and senior catcher Aaron Lowenstein.

UCI was previously ranked No. 26 in the Collegiate Baseball preseason poll and No. 15 in the CSTV fall poll.

Arizona State received the top ranking, followed by North Carolina, Rice, South Carolina and Arizona.

Two-time defending champion Oregon State is ranked No. 11, while the Big West Conference is also represented by Cal State Fullerton (No. 14) and Long Beach State (No. 18).

UC Riverside, the defending Big West champion, was among schools that received votes.

— From staff reports