Titans, Serrano at UCI

The ink circles on calendars and schedules have long dried, some raw nerves have calmed and some of the emotion expected to carry over into the Big West Conference baseball series between Cal State Fullerton and host UC Irvine has been diffused.

But even so, few are denying that the return of Dave Serrano to Anteater Ballpark sets the stage for high drama between the two Orange County and conference rivals, who begin a three-game set tonight.

Serrano guided UCI to its first College World Series last season, then accepted the head coaching job with the Titans, for whom he played and was an assistant coach.

“I’ve got to believe it’s going to be pretty electric around here,” said first-year Anteaters Coach Mike Gillespie, whose squad (19-3, 2-1 in conference), ranked No. 4 by Collegiate Baseball, will take on the Titans (16-9, 2-1), ranked No. 19 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Assn., tonight at 6, Saturday at 5 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.

“I’m not so naive that I don’t realize this is an emotional weekend for a lot of people,” Gillespie said. “Our players were recruited by that staff [Serrano, as well as former UCI assistants Greg Bergeron and Sergio Brown, both of whom went with him to Fullerton] and they have a rapport with that staff. But we want to put those feelings aside and play baseball.”

Serrano said he will also need to deal with his emotions this weekend. His departure was controversial, due to his statement a week before taking the Fullerton job that he had no interest in the opening created when his former mentor, George Horton, left to become coach at Oregon.

“I don’t look forward to this like other people have looked forward to it,” Serrano said. “I know it’s not going to be a normal weekend and I think it’s going to be packed [the ballpark capacity is listed at 3,500 and that is expected to be approached at least the first two games], which is a good thing for our team and a great thing for their program.”

Serrano said he is aware that there is some lingering bitterness surrounding his departure, but he believes none of that will be present in the opposing dugout.

“I think there will be some deep emotion as I look across the field,” Serrano said. “I’ve followed what they’ve done this season and their success has not surprised me. I’m not too prideful to say that we’re going to have our hands full this weekend.”

Serrano’s desire to compete with Fullerton helped fuel UCI’s two victories in three games at Fullerton last season. It was the Anteaters’ first series win over the Titans since 1980.

“When I was in [the UCI] dugout, we had a grudge against Fullerton,” Serrano said. “We had something to prove last year and I think UCI has even more to prove this year. I’m hoping our guys want to get something back that we felt Irvine took away from us last year. This is an Irvine program that kind of manhandled [the Titans] last year, winning three of four and knocking them out of the College World Series.”

UCI junior shortstop Ben Orloff, whose younger brother Mike verbally committed to play at Cal State Fullerton next season, said the series is more important than dealing with Serrano’s return.

“It’s going to be weird seeing our former coaches in Fullerton uniforms, but we’re going to try to do our best to take the emotion out of it and just play Anteater baseball,” Orloff said. “This is a big chance for us to make a statement. We open up [conference play] with Cal Poly [San Luis Obispo], Fullerton and Long Beach State [next weekend]. We know if we put three straight good weekends together, it’s going to give us a chance to be one of the frontrunners in the Big West.”

UCI senior catcher Aaron Lowenstein also said putting emotions aside will be the Anteaters’ goal. But, he acknowledges it will be a tough task.

“It’s always a big series, just because it’s Fullerton, so the situation with the coaches is something I’m not very worried about,” Lowenstein said. “But I know once I see Serrano and Bergy and Serg in those [Fullerton] colors and pinstripes, It’s going to hit me a little bit.”

UCI junior All-American pitcher Scott Gorgen was outspoken over the summer about his anticipation of the Fullerton series.

“I’m shooting for April 4, 5 and 6,” Gorgen said then. “That’s my thing. I want Fullerton.”

Gorgen, who has not allowed an earned run in two conference starts against the Titans, covering 14 2/3 innings, has a 1.25 career earned-run average in three starts against Fullerton. Gorgen, 5-1 with a 1.39 ERA in six starts this season, will start tonight’s game.

Sophomore Bryce Stowell (4-1, 2.36 ERA) and sophomore Danny Bibona (4-1, 2.70) are UCI’s projected starters for Saturday and Sunday, respectively. UCI’s pitching staff has a combined ERA of 2.12, best in the nation.

Cal State Fullerton, with a team ERA of 4.23, will start senior Jeff Kaplan (3-1, 5.97) tonight, freshman Daniel Renken (3-1, 3.27) Saturday and Cory Abriso (4-2, 3.96) Sunday.

The Anteaters will also be led by junior center fielder Ollie Linton (.356 and tied for the national lead with 22 stolen bases), sophomore first baseman Jeff Cusick (a conference-leading .449 which ranks 14th nationally), freshman second baseman Ryan Fisher (.342 with two home runs and 25 RBIs) and sophomore designated hitter Francis Larson (.329, a team-best five homers and 24 RBIs).

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at [email protected].