UCI has comfort of home

IRVINE — UC Irvine junior All-American closer Eric Pettis is among those thankful to have avoided a flight that has accompanied the Anteaters’ appearance in NCAA Regionals and Super Regionals, the last two seasons.

“I think the most important part about hosting is that it takes out all the variables,” Pettis said. “You know what to expect from the park, you know what to expect with the atmosphere and you know what to expect from the weather. So it’s less that you have to worry about and you can just worry about playing baseball.”

UCI Coach Mike Gillespie, who said he enjoyed a handful of home regionals in 20 seasons at USC, said the comforts of home provide the best part about playing host to Fresno State, San Diego State and Virginia in the four-team, double-elimination tournament.

“That’s the primary reason why, in the end, we elected to put in a bid,” Gillespie said. “You’re comfortable in your environment. You know the field, you know the weather, you know what the fans are like and you know where Taco Bell is.”

UCI senior shortstop Ben Orloff came up with another reason why playing at home is beneficial … sort of.

“It will be nice to be at home in June, after traveling across the country the last two years,” Orloff said. “We get to go to class a little bit more.”

Then Orloff, sitting between teammates Pettis and Danny Bibona, hesitated, apparently considering the veracity of his statement.

“Well, I guess that can be good and bad,” he said.

 Pettis, Orloff and Bibona seemed nonplussed by the fact that UCI received the No. 6 national seed, while Cal State Fullerton, which finished five games behind the Anteaters in the Big West Conference standings and lost two of three to UCI, got the No. 2 national seed.

“I don’t think anyone is debating the strength of schedule and the kind of year [the Titans, for whom his younger brother, Matt is a redshirt freshman] had,” Orloff said. “They have 42 wins, so they’ve had a big year. I don’t think anyone is complaining about us being No. 6 and them being No. 2.”

Pettis said the numbers associated with the eight national seeds really boil down to mere semantics.

“If you’re a national seed, you’re a national seed,” Pettis said. “One through eight doesn’t matter.”

Orloff said the significance of being a national seed is that, should UCI survive the regional, it would automatically play host to a Super Regional.

Gillespie was less rosy about being seeded worse than Fullerton.

“I’m trying to take the high road on this,” Gillespie said. “We’ve come to peace with the reality of the situation. It was very important to be a national seed, in the event that if we play next weekend, we are at home, instead of being in Civil War country.”

 UCI senior Brock Bardeen amassed six home runs and 16 runs batted in with his first 26 at-bats, spanning his first 14 games as a hitter. The six homers are tied for second among Anteaters this season.

But since then, Bardeen, who is 5-0 with one save and has pitched 44 2/3 innings, almost all out of the bullpen, has gone hitless in his five at-bats.

Gillespie said the fact that Bardeen experiences pain in his shoulder when he swings has prevented him from hitting since his last at-bat, April 5 at Cal State Fullerton.

And while Bardeen has said he is healthy, Gillespie prefers not to put one of his top relievers at risk of tweaking the shoulder and not being able to take the mound.

“It’s amazing that he is not in the mix to hit,” Gillespie said. “It’s nuts. I think the only way we could put him back in there [as a hitter], is to actually get to Omaha, and get to the end of Omaha and say ‘Hey, if you get hurt, we don’t care.’ But, now, we can’t afford to get him hurt.”

 Orloff and Pettis have associations with players on other teams in the regional field.

Pettis and Virginia shortstop Tyler Cannon were teammates with the Bourne Braves in the Cape Cod League last summer.

Orloff said he played in the Junior Olympics with the brother of Fresno State infielder Danny Muno.

 Gillespie said he was thrilled that regional ticket sales were brisk.

“I love it,” Gillespie said. “I think it’s going to be electric.”