Briefs: Gillespie honored again

UC Irvine’s Mike Gillespie has been named West Region Coach of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches Assn. after leading the Anteaters to a fifth-place finish at the College World Series.

It’s the third time in his career that Gillespie has earned the honor, the previous two during his 20-year tenure at USC.

Gillespie led UCI to its second College World Series appearance, guiding the Anteaters past UNLV and No. 1 national seed Oregon State at the Corvallis Regional, then guiding the team to a sweep of Oklahoma State at the Stillwater Super Regional.

UCI (41-25) went 1-2 in Omaha, splitting a pair against Texas and falling to Vanderbilt.

It was the Anteaters’ fourth season with at least 40 wins and the fifth NCAA postseason appearance in Gillespie’s seven seasons at the helm.

Gillespie, who was recently had his contract extended, is 1,037-615-2 in 27 seasons as a Division I coach. He was named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Assn. Coach of the Year last week.

During his time at UCI, he has mentored six Big West Pitchers of the Year, 50 All-Big West Conference honorees and his players have collected more than 30 All-American awards since 2008.

— From staff reports

—

UCI’s Moore honored

UC Irvine junior pitcher Sam Moore won the Gregg Olson Award winner that goes to college baseball’s Breakout Player of the Year.”

The award is named after former Auburn and major league pitcher Gregg Olson, a Newport Beach resident. Olson became one of the top collegiate players in the nation after an initial season filled with only mixed success. He went on to become a two-time All American, first-round draft pick, American League Rookie of the Year and MLB All-Star.

Moore, who led the nation with 23 saves, one shy of the NCAA single-season record, saw limited action in his first two seasons with the Anteaters. The right-hander made a combined 16 appearances with 11 strikeouts in 14 2/3 innings with a 5.52 earned-run average.

In 2014, he emerged as the team’s closer, erasing the school and Big West Conference single-season save records with a 1.85 ERA. He had 39 strikeouts in 43 2/3 innings, spanning 32 appearances.

He earned multiple All-American honors and was a first-team All-Big West and an All-West Region performer.

Moore was selected in the 40th round of the Major League Drarft by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“Mr. Olson called to tell me I had won,” Moore said. “It was a great and a humbling experience to talk to the man himself and this is a rewarding accomplishment. Having this sort of turn-around personally, along with the team’s success this year, speaks to how well we’ve done as a program.”

Moore and the Anteaters went 41-25 and finished fifth at the College World Series.

— From staff reports