Anteaters ranked No. 22 in preseason baseball poll

UC Irvine is ranked No. 22 in the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 preseason baseball poll released Friday.

The Anteaters finished 47-17-1 last season, when they finished third at the College World Series in the program’s first trip to Omaha.

UCI finished second in the Big West with a 15-6 mark, won the Round Rock (Texas) Regional and the Wichita Super Regional to advance to the CWS.

The ’Eaters became the first team to post consecutive extra-inning wins at the CWS, ousting Cal State Fullerton, 5-4, in a CWS-record 5 hours, 40 minutes (13 innings), and Arizona State, 8-7, in 10 innings, at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium.

The Anteaters, under first-year coach Mike Gillespie, open the 2008 season with a three-game series at Nevada, beginning Feb. 22.

UCI’s home opener is Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. against USC.

The USA TODAY/ESPN Board of Coaches is made up of 31 coaches at Division I institutions. All are members of the American Baseball Coaches Assn.

Arizona State is first in the poll, followed by North Carolina and South Carolina, respectively.

Cal State Fullerton (No. 15) and Long Beach State (No. 19) are other Big West schools ranked.

— From staff reports