‘Eaters plan to make hay in Nebraska

The UC Irvine baseball team will pick up this postseason about 42 miles from where it left off last year, as the Anteaters learned Monday they will be the No. 2 seed in the four-team, double-elimination regional hosted by top-seeded Nebraska that begins Friday.

UCI (38-16), which won its regional in Round Rock, Texas, then swept its Super Regional at Wichita State last year to reach the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., will open Friday at 5:05 p.m. against No. 3-seeded Oral Roberts (46-12), at 8,500-seat Hawks Field at Haymarket Park in Lincoln.

Nebraska (40-14-1), the top seed, faces Eastern Illinois (27-28) in the opening game Friday at 1:05 p.m.

UCI, ranked No. 14, closed its regular season with two straight wins over visiting UC Santa Barbara to climb into a three-way tie for third in the Big West Conference. The Anteaters are making their third straight NCAA regional appearance, their fourth in the last five seasons.

“We’re going to Lincoln and I’m excited about that,” said UCI junior pitcher Scott Gorgen, who along with then-junior pitcher Wes Etheridge, keyed the ’Eaters extended postseason run last season. “I know we’ve done well in Nebraska, and in nearby Kansas, too. I’m just excited. We’re getting out of here.”

Junior center fielder Ollie Linton was another Anteater thrilled to be in the postseason.

“Before the [ESPN selection] show even started, you could see all the guys had a little bit of nerves going through their body,” Linton said. “A couple guys got some goose bumps. I know I had goose bumps, watching the show. And, now that we know we’re going to Nebraska, we can’t wait to get this roll started toward Omaha once again.”

First-year UCI Coach Mike Gillespie, who guided 15 USC teams to an NCAA regional in 20 seasons there, appeared relieved as much as excited. Gillespie said the final two weeks of the regular season, during which UCI won conference series against UC Davis and UCSB, were a grind.

“Fact is, it’ll be a fun place,” Gillespie said. “You want to be where you can win, but who knows. The ballpark is beautiful, it’s fairly new, and they pack it, so it’s going to be exciting.”

Gillespie and his staff immediately began collecting information on Oral Roberts, which won its 11th straight Summit League title by beating Southern Utah in the league tournament title game Saturday in Tulsa, Okla.

The Golden Eagles are hitting .330 as a team with 74 home runs. They are led, offensively, by league MVP Brian Van Kirk, a senior outfielder who is hitting .421 with 17 homers, 22 doubles and 72 runs batted in.

Oral Roberts, which UCI swept in a three-game nonconference home series in 2006, also features senior right-handed pitcher Carlos Luna, who is 12-0 with a 3.15 earned-run average and leads the nation in wins.

The Golden Eagles’ pitching staff also includes senior lefty Michael Jarmen (11-2, 3.74 ERA) and sophomore 6-foot-4 right-hander Jerry Sullivan (9-2, 3.61). The trio has combined for 292 strikeouts in 291 1/3 innings.

Pitching, however, is something UCI foes will need to deal with.

“I think that our front-line pitching gives us a chance,” Gillespie said of a staff with the second-best ERA in the nation at 2.89. “I can’t imagine anybody else looking at Irvine coming to their regional is licking their chops, saying, ‘Oh, there’s a soft touch.’

“Clearly, we realize after last year that Irvine is not going to sneak up on anybody. But, when [opponents] do their homework, they’ll see the pitching numbers are what they are, and [Gorgen’s] reputation precedes him. The fact is, the pitching is good and it gives us a chance. For that reason, this is a team that can win.”

UCI is hitting .305 as a team, better than Nebraska (.278) and Eastern Illinois (.281). But consistent production has been a concern.

“Offensively, we’re capable and other days we’ve been held down,” Gillespie said. “Like it always is with us, we’ve really got to play well. We can’t be giving away extra outs. And we can’t be fast and loose with the ball and we can’t screw up execution of the play. But, assuming that we play as we’re capable of playing, this is a team that can keep winning.”

The regional has two games scheduled Saturday and Sunday, with a potential final game, if necessary, slated for Monday.

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