Anteaters No. 18 in latest preseason baseball poll

UC Irvine is ranked No. 18 in the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 preseason baseball poll.

The Anteaters are ranked in the top 20 in three other preseason polls, the highest at No. 9 by Baseball America.

UCI, which opens its season Feb. 20 in Hawaii, has 20 returning lettermen, one returning redshirt freshman and 13 newcomers. Highlighting the incoming class are junior Cory Olson, an Orange Coast College transfer, sophomore Nick Hoover from Riverside Community College, and freshman Jordan Fox from Bishop Amat High.

Olson, an outfielder, ranks second all-time at OCC with 127 career hits and 203 total bases. A two-time All-Orange Empire Conference selection, Olson was also an all-state honoree last season.

Hoover, a right-handed pitcher was 3-2 with 66 strikeouts in 59 2/3 innings last season. Hoover prepped at Alta Loma High, where he was a three-time first-team All-Baseline League choice.

Fox was the 2008 CIF Player of the Year at Bishop Amat. He also was tabbed the San Gabriel Valley Player of the Year and picked up first-team all-state honors after hitting .536 as a senior with 59 hits and 30 RBIs.

The Anteaters host their annual Alumni Weekend (Feb. 5-7). It features the third annual Grip ‘Em & Rip ‘Em Golf Tournament (Feb. 5), held at the Coyote Hills Golf Course in Fullerton.

Capping the weekend is the Alumni Game (Feb. 7), to which the public is invited with no admission charge.

A recently passed NCAA resolution allows the current players to compete against the alumni.

For information, visit ucirvinesports.com or contact Kerry Boznanski at (949) 824-5550.

— From staff reports