Mound injuries threaten OCC, UCI

Just when it appeared the Orange Coast College baseball team may be headed to an Orange Empire Conference title, injuries to two of its top starting pitchers in a matter of days hit the Pirates like a fastball between the shoulder blades.

Sophomore ace Kyle Robeniol left Tuesday’s home game with Riverside in the second inning after experiencing elbow discomfort.

Earlier in the week, it was learned that former Newport Harbor High hurler Cameron Jabara, who leads the team with six victories, would miss his start Thursday, due to a balky right pitching arm.

But Coach John Altobelli reported Wednesday that both ailments were minor and both University of Oregon bounce-backs could return as soon as next week.

The Pirates (21-4, 8-2 in conference) entered Thursday’s game at Riverside in a first-place tie with the No. 12-ranked Tigers (20-7, 8-2). The two teams complete their three-game series on Saturday at OCC at noon.

’Eaters open conference

UC Irvine opens its Big West Conference baseball season on Friday at home against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Coach Mike Gillespie’s Anteaters (11-10) have lost five straight and are battling a string of pitching injuries. Included among those sidelined is senior ace Cameron Bishop, who strained an oblique muscle days before the season opener and just recently began throwing.

The team earned-run average is 5.77, last in the nine-team Big West, though the Anteaters entered the week leading the conference in batting average (.299), slugging (.432) and on-base percentage (.393).

Junior Keston Hiura, listed in the latest Baseball America mock draft to be the 10^th overall pick in the June Draft, enters Friday hitting a conference-best .403, and has six home runs and 21 runs batted in. Of his 31 hits, 19 have been for extra-bases to fuel an .805 slugging percentage. His on-base percentage is .505.

Senior center fielder Evan Cassolato leads the ’Eaters with 32 hits and is batting .386, while senior shortstop Mikey Duarte is hitting .348.

Cole Kreuter with 20 RBIs on 19 hits, and freshman Christian Koss (15 RBIs on 10 hits), are also notable.

UCI leads the nation in fielding percentage (.986) with just 11 errors this season.

Cal Poly (8-15), coached by former OCC player Larry Lee, has the lowest winning percentage among Big West schools.

Locals aid Titans

Cal State Fullerton, picked to win the conference in a preseason poll in which UCI was picked fifth, is off to a 15-9 start and is ranked No. 10 by Baseball America.

The Titans include several local products, including Friday night starter Connor Seabold, a junior out of Newport Harbor who is 2-3 with a 3.00 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 42 innings.

Dillon Persinger, a junior out of Golden West College and Fountain Valley High, is hitting .247 with nine RBIs and is eight stolen bases in 10 attempts.

OCC products Chris Prescott (nine hits and two RBIs in 14 games) and JT McLellan (two hits and three RBIs in six games) are Titans reserves.

UCI finishing strong

The UCI men’s volleyball team is streaking down the stretch with three regular-season matches remaining. Coach David Kniffin’s Anteaters (16-6, 10-5 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) have won five straight matches, eight of their last nine, and are ranked No. 5 in the nation.

UCI visits No. 9-ranked Stanford on Friday at 8 p.m., then concludes the regular season with home matches against Stanford (April 7) and Pepperdine (April 8).

UCI is fourth in the MPSF and, if form holds, would play host to fifth-place UCLA in an MPSF Tournament quarterfinal on April 15.

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Twitter: @BarryFaulkner5