First thing first: Here’s a list of teams in the Irvine Regional.
#1 UC Irvine Anteaters (43-13)
#2 Virginia Cavaliers (43-12-1)
#3 San Diego State Aztecs (40-21)
#4 Fresno State Bulldogs (32-28)
ESPN knows it’s a brutal region because they’ll be sending their TV cameras out to Orange County to cover each and every game from Anteater Ballpark (via ESPNU). To see exactly how difficult the Regional sets up, all you have to do is look at the Oxford Region (whose winner will face the Irvine survivor). The top 2 seeds in the Oxford region are #12 Ole Miss and #23 Missouri. Compare that to the top heavy #1 UC Irvine Anteaters paired with the #7 Virginia Cavaliers (not to mention the best pitcher in college baseball and the defending national champs on the bottom half of the Region). They clearly didn’t do any favors for the Anteaters, who are hosting their first Regional ever.
UC Irvine pitcher Christian Bergman is one of 8 Anteaters on the All Big-West team
The UC Irvine Anteaters have been at the top of just about every major poll since the middle of April. In recent years they’ve made their mark with great pitching, great defense and small ball. This season, they’ve mixed in a potent offense making them one of the most well-rounded teams in the nation. The #1 Anteaters feature the Big West Player of the Year (Ben Orloff), Pitcher of the Year (Daniel Bibona) and Coach of the Year (Mike Gillespie). But it’s their overall team DEPTH that is their strongest attribute.
Going into the Regionals, the Anteaters are hitting .315 as a team. They have 11 guys that are currently hitting over .300 for the season, 7 guys that have an on-base percentage over .400 and 5 guys that are slugging over .500. Not only are those good stats—that’s a lot of guys with good stats. UCI has 5 players that have earned spots on the All-Big West 1st Team (Orloff, Bibona, Eric Deragisch, Francis Larson and Eric Pettis) and an additional 3 players that have earned spots on the All-Big West 2nd Team (Christian Bergman, Ronnie Shaeffer and Casey Stevenson). Put simply, they’re really good all over the field.
On the mound, UCI features a starting rotation of Bibona (11-1), Bergman (9-2) and Crosby Slaught (7-0). Anytime you have a starting rotation that is a combined 27-3 and the best closer in the Big West, you know that pitching is one of the strong points of the squad. But for all of the talent and excellence that the Anteaters have displayed on the field, they were “rewarded” with an absolutely BRUTAL Regional draw. Here are the rest of the teams that will battle it out at Anteater Ballpark.
The Virginia Cavaliers were 43-12-1 over the course of the season—good enough to earn them a #7 ranking in the final Baseball America poll. Unfortunately, it also only earned them a #2 seed in their region and a 3000 mile flight to Orange County where the #1 team in the country awaits. It’s interesting that the ACC has 4 teams that are hosting their own Regionals this weekend—and the team that WON their conference tournament is NOT one of them. Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Florida State and Clemson are all getting their own Regionals—but the team that beat them all for the ACC crown is a #2 seed in Irvine?
Just look at how the top 2 seeds in the Irvine Regional are in the polls, compared to their seeding. With their #6 National Seed, the committee basically said that Virginia is the 26th best team in the country. Really? In what world are the ACC Champion and winner of 43 games in the regular season a team that couldn’t even crack the Top 25?
The #7 ranked Cavaliers will be rewarded with the tough task of facing the San Diego State Aztecs. For outsiders, they’ll know the Aztecs because of their Hall of Fame Head Coach Tony Gwynn. That’s nice and all, but once they get on the field, they’ll see that Gwynn is the least of their concerns. It’s actually ironic that such a great hitter would be led by such a strong pitching staff!
Stephen Strasburg is easily the most dominant pitcher in all of college baseball this year. He’ll take his 13-0 record and his 1.24 ERA to Irvine to face the Cavaliers in their opening round game. He’s even better on the road (and neutral site games), with an 8-0 record and an ERA of 1.07. Last season he had two 1-hitters and another game when he only allowed 2 hits. Earlier this month, he topped those efforts with a 17 strikeout no-hitter against Air Force. Forget runs, the man doesn’t even give up hits. He racked up 180 strikeouts in only 14 starts. Are you kidding me? That’s would be equivalent to a major league pitcher having 425 K’s in a single season. THAT’S how dominant the guy has been.
Strasburgh has been straight nasty all season-- NOBODY wants to face this guy in the playoffs...
Backing him up is Tyler Lavigne with his 7-2 record (3.32 ERA). Oh, and if you can’t get to the starters, don’t expect the late innings to be any easier. Aztec closer Addison Reed has been just as impressive with his 19 saves and microscopic 0.68 ERA. And they’re the 3rd seed in the Regional!
As impressive as San Diego State is as a #3 seed, the Fresno State Bulldogs might be even MORE impressive as a #4 seed. How many times do you see a defending National Champion match up with the #1 team in the country in one of the first games of a Regional? That’s the story when the Bulldogs go head-to-head against the Anteaters on Friday night. Even though Fresno State looks like they’re a step below the team that made their magical run last year, they have a few things going in their favor. Last year, the Bulldogs opened up their post-season in Long Beach against the Big West champion. Likewise, they’ll open against the Big West Champ again in Southern California. Secondly, do you remember the last time a defending champion snuck into the National Tournament as a #4 seed? That would be Oregon State in 2007; and it worked out pretty well for them! Just to refresh your memory, OSU won the last 2 championships before Fresno State.
Surviving the Irvine Region is only the first step on the Road to Omaha. The winner of the Regional will most likely get either Mississippi (40-17) or Missouri (34-25) from the Oxford Region. But when you look closer, it could be even worse than that. After its recent renovations, the Rebels’ home in Oxford holds more than 10,000 people. I mean, Ole Miss plays at Swayze Field—a college baseball field that has SUITES!
On the other hand, Anteater Ballpark’s official capacity is 2,900. They brought in some portable stands in order to host the Regionals and they’ve put in a bid to host the Super-Regionals—but am I the only one that thinks that Ole Miss will get the home games?
But first thing first. Whoever escapes from Irvine can worry about the Super-Regionals when they get there. Whoever makes it through will have earned it—and will be much more tested that any other team that comes out of any other Regional. Time will only tell if that means anything.
