UCI has bested injuries

IRVINE — One of the remarkable aspects of this remarkable season for the UC Irvine baseball team has been the amount and severity of injuries and other issues that have kept players off the field.

Junior center fielder Cory Olson (ankle) and freshman outfielder Tommy Reyes (back) are out for the regional.

Junior outfielder Sean Madigan played only six games, before being lost for the season with a blown-out knee.

Freshman third baseman DJ Crumlich missed nearly three weeks after undergoing an appendectomy.

Senior outfielder Tony Asaro missed some time with a leg problem.

Senior two-way player Brock Bardeen was unavailable to pitch for at least one weekend series due to a sore elbow. And, despite having six home runs, which ranks tied for second on the team, he has not hit since April 5 due to a shoulder problem.

Junior catcher Francis Larson missed a handful of games with a sprained wrist.

Junior Kyle Necke missed the first 16 games of the season with a broken right pitching hand.

And, Anteaters Coach Mike Gillespie said the forgotten absence in the entire equation has been junior infielder Brian Hernandez, an infielder who transferred from College of the Canyons. Gillespie said Hernandez, who was ruled ineligible after getting some bad advice from a guidance counselor, and has practiced all season with the team as a redshirt, is UCI’s best hitter.

“In reality, we have had a substantial number of injuries,” Gillespie said. “And I personally think of Brian Hernandez as an injury. And to think that we could do this [go 44-13 heading into Saturday’s winners bracket semifinal against Virginia and be ranked No. 1 in the polls and the No. 6 national seed in the 64-team NCAA field] without him is just not possible.

“There has been a lot of changing of the parts, and as guys have gotten their opportunity, they have sort of seized it and it has kind of been an unsung part of the story.”

 UCI junior reliever Kyle Necke retired the only batter he faced in the Anteaters’ 4-2 regional-opening win over Fresno State Friday.

In his last four outings, heading into Saturday, Necke had struck out 11 in 8 2/3 innings, without issuing a walk. During that span, he had allowed just four hits and one earned run.

After his first five outings, Necke’s earned-run average was 11.57. Entering Saturday, he had trimmed it to 4.55, thanks to recently altering the grip on what had been his slider — now termed a cut fastball.

“He’s a different guy [since the change],” Gillespie said. “It’s the chicken and egg deal, where he has had a little success and, all of a sudden, he has really helped, so he’s really much more confident.

“He and [pitching coach Ted Silva] went to work on doctoring that slider,” Gillespie said. “I don’t even know how they tweaked it, but it’s a better pitch. I think they call it a cutter now, instead of a slider, but, anyhow, it’s better and more consistent. From the side, you can see there is a little depth to it. It’s not flat and it’s not hittable.”

 The Irvine Regional, featuring UCI, Virginia, Fresno State and San Diego State, was generally considered the toughest four-team field of any of the 16 regionals.

That it features the toughest pitching is also difficult to challenge.

Through the first three games, the winning teams’ pitching staffs had allowed a total of four runs.

Though the first two days at the other 15 regionals, only the Louisville regional saw the four losing teams score fewer than 10 runs (eight in four games).

In addition, through three games of the Irvine Regional, pitchers had produced a combined 60 strikeouts. That’s 39.2% of the outs recorded.

 It may have been a tough day for the defending national champion Fresno State baseball team, which was eliminated from the regional in a 4-1 loss to San Diego State Saturday.

But the school’s trophy case got a little more crowded.

Fresno State’s Sark Davidian and Kong Moua won the Western Division event in college fishing Saturday.

The victory netted a $10,000 prize to be split evenly between the university and the school’s bass-fishing club.