CORVALLIS REGIONAL
[1] Oregon State Beavers (42-14, 19-10 Pac-12)
[2] UC Irvine Anteaters (43-12, 22-8 Big West)
[3] Nicholls Colonels (38-20, 16-8 Southland)
[4] Tulane Green Wave (35-24, 15-12 American Athletic)
Goss Stadium at Coleman Field (3,500) - Corvallis, Ore.
Friday - 1:00 PM | ESPN+ | KUCI| Live Stats
Saturday - 7:00 PM | ESPN2| KUCI| Live Stats
Sunday - 12:00 PM or 6:00 PM | ESPN+ | KUCI| Live Stats
Monday (if necessary) - TBD| ESPN+ | KUCI| Live Stats
Friday: UCI LHP Nick Pinto vs. NICH RHP Jacob Mayers
Saturday: UCI RHP Trevor Hansen vs. OSU RHP Jacob Kmatz
Sunday: TBD
Monday: TBD
Game Notes
Corvallis Regional Bracket
10th -UC Irvine reached its 10th NCAA Regional, all since 2004, with its eighth as an at-large, second under coach Orloff, and second time to Corvallis
20 -The 'Eaters are the only team in the country to win 20 games at home and on the road, and are 43-12 away from home over the past two seasons
1869 -Every single one of UCI's 1,869 at-bats from the 2023 squad has returned for 2024 including Woody Hadeen who missed 2023 with injury
166 -UC Irvine hitters have been hit by pitch 166 times which is the new single-season NCAA record
+ UC Irvine baseball reaches its 10th NCAA Tournament as a Division I program, second time under head coach Ben Orloff.
+ This is the eighth berth as an at-large for UCI earning automatic bids in 2009 and 2021 as Big West champions
+ UCI is heading to the Corvallis Regional for a second time with the other coming in 2014 when UCI took down the No. 1 national seed
ÞThe Anteaters are 6-5 all-time vs. Oregon State. UCI went 3-1 at Goss Stadium in the 2014 Regional including 2-1 vs. the Beavers, and the sides played series in 2021 at Irvine and 2022 at Corvallis in which the home team went 2-1 in each
ÞUCI's opens vs. the 3-seed Nicholls Colonels. This is the first meeting between the programs. The 'Eaters have also played Louisiana schools LSU (5 times), Louisiana (3), New Orleans (3), Southern (2), and Grambling (1) for a combined record of 8-6 in addition to their history against Tulane
ÞThe 4-seed Tulane and UC Irvine have become acquainted with each of the last two years. UCI has won all six matchups in those series to take a 10-2 lead in the all-time series.
+ UC Irvine has remained in the national polls the entire season finishing the regular season in the top 25 from all five major polls.
+ Head Coach Ben Orloff returns to the postseason for the seventh time as an Anteater: 4 times as a player from 2006-09, once as an assistant coach in 2014, and now twice as the head coach. Orloff's Anteaters won 43 games in the regular season, tying the program's regular season record, and fifth overall 40-win regular season for UCI
+ UC Irvine stands among the national leaders leading the nation with 166 hit by pitch and top 50 in on-base percentage (2nd), runs per game (10th), batting average (11th), hits (11th), doubles per game (13th), runs (15th), walks (15th), sac flies (22nd), sac bunts (28th), strikeout-to-walk ratio (30th), ERA (30th), walks allowed per 9 innings (40th), and triples (48th).
+ Anteaters among the nation's best start with Woody Hadeen at 7th in walks, 8th in on-base, and 9th in runs per game, Myles Smith at 9th in on-base, 12th in batting, and 15th in BB per game, Caden Kendle at 16th in sac flies, 23rd in hits per game, and 28th in batting, Anthony Martinez at 30th in RBIs and 58th toughest to strikeout, Nick Pinto at 16th in wins, 51st in K-to-BB ratio, 75th in strikeouts, and 84th in ERA, Jo Oyama at 9th in HBP, 17th in sac bunts, and 45th in triples, and Ricky Tibbett 12th in saves and 48tih in appearances.
+ Anteater records fell with Woody Hadeen setting single season runs and walks records, Anthony Martinez the season RBI record, and the Anteater offense as a whole has new single-season highs of HR (60), runs (497), BB (324), and now the NCAA record of 166 HBP.
+ UCI's 22-8 Big West record was good for a second place finish. In 10 Big West series, UC Irvine went 8-2 with four sweeps
+ The Anteaters went 21-4 in non-conference action including four Quad 1 wins and a non-conference RPI of 18 toward its overall RPI of 27
+ UCI finished with the second best road record for a second straight season at 20-5 and a 3-0 neutral site mark. The 'Eaters left the state for six games going 6-0 in them, and those six games were the only six they played on artificial turf like they will play on this weekend at Goss Stadium and Coleman Field
+ The cardiac Anteaters erased 9th-inning deficits five times including three 3-run deficits. UCI was also 5-1 in extra innings walking off three of those wins, adding one 9th-inning walkoff, and even had a walkoff on the road throwing out the tying run at home at LMU
+ UCI's offense uses the big inning with 119 innings with multiple runs compared to 67 one-run frames all season. That includes 21 innings with 5 or more runs, 8 innings with 7+, and three double-digit run innings.
+ Anteater starting pitching was run by the youth with true freshmen starting 33 of the team's 55 games in 2024 and another five starts from redshirt freshmen or 'Eaters with less than 10 career innings.
+ Fifth-year Anteater starter Nick Pinto is 1 of 4 Anteaters to reach 300 career strikeouts and stands alone in third place with 325 just 8 away from breaking his coach Daniel Bibona's program record of 332. He leads current Division I pitchers in career starts, and Friday he'll set the UCI career record.
ÞMyles Smith has caught fire after a hip injury early in the season. He's won Big West Field Player of the Week in three of the last five weeks, and enters the postseason with a 31-game on-base streak and 10-game hit streak that includes his first 5-hit game, one of his two 2-HR games, and has raised his average to .434 in conference play to lead the Big West.
ÞRicky Ojeda continues his impressive freshman year. His scoreless inning streak recently ended at 18.1 IP which included 10 consecutive strikeouts, and raised his season total to 69 which is second on the squad
ÞCaden Kendle's return in 2024 has seen him hover around .400 all year and is hitting .400 with 2 outs. He's hit when it mattered including 3 of his 5 home runs that have given the 'Eaters a lead, and two of been for grand slams including one in a win over UCLA in Dodger Stadium
ÞDub Gleed has fought through three different hamstring injuries during the season missing a total of 26 games and limiting him to DH in the last few weeks. It hasn't stopped him from hitting .424 in conference play, .433 in May with 18 RBIs, and has multiple hits in six straight games an multiple RBIs in his last five
ÞRicky Tibbett has energized the closer's role with 10 saves this year, the 11th 10-save season in UCI history, and has turned it on in his last 12 outings allowing five runs, striking out 19, and picking up three wins and four saves including a win and two saves in a three-game sweep of his former program, SDSU. He enters the postseason on a scoreless streak of 10 innings
ÞLuke Spillane made his return to the field twice vs. CSUN after tearing his ACL in March at Hawai'i. The 5th-year 'Eater has 191 career games.
Nicholls is back in an NCAA Regional for a second straight year after a 25-year drought both coming in head coach Mike Silva's first three seasons at the helm. Last year's trip to the Tuscaloosa Regional saw a one-run loss to Alabama followed by a 14-6 loss to Boston College. The Colonels are out of the Southland Conference where UCI has history with conference mate Lamar (2-0) and games against New Orleans in the Division II College World Series back in the 1970s.
The Colonels finished second in the Southland in 2024 at 38-20 behind the 44-15 Lamar, but Nicholls is in the NCAAs by way of winning the Southland Tournament. Notable regular season results include a 1-10 combined mark against LSU, Southern Miss, LA Tech, Nebraska, Louisiana, and Tulane with the one win coming in extras over USM and an 0-2 mark against regional partner, Tulane.
The offense has some pop with a .305 average and 8.3 runs a game. They top the NCAA with 48 sacrifice flies and top 30 in hits, runs, doubles, and walks. They are led by their own version of Anthony Martinez in senior Edgar Alvarez hitting .411 with 90 hits and 51 walks to go with 12 HR and 63 RBI as the Southland Player of the Year. Other big contributors include everyday guys Garrett Felix (.316, 6 HR, 45 RBI), Basiel Williams (8 HR, 47 RBI), and Parker Coddou (70 H, 64 R, 6 HR, 40 RBI) in their potent attack.
Pitching comes in with a 5.16 ERA allowing less than nine hits a game with 9.1 strikeouts an outing. Their innings leader hasn't made a start in Nico Saltaformaggio (7-4, 2 Sv, 3.88) with 69.2 IP in 27 relief appearances. The weekend rotation is built on last year's National Freshman Pitcher of the Year Jacob Mayers (5-1, 4.28) and his 105 strikeouts in 69.1 innings along with Michael Quevedo (5-0, 5.01) over his 13 starts. Four arms have multiple saves like Gavin Galy (33 G, 34 IP, 1-1, 4.24) and Devin Desandro (6-4, 3.94) pacing an arsenal of arms that have amassed the innings this year
SCOUTING THE BEAVERSOregon State and UC Irvine are back in the same regional like they were in 2014 when the No. 1 National Seed fell to UCI on the 'Eaters' way to the College World Series. The programs also met in Omaha in the 2007 CWS with the Beavers eliminating UCI before winning their first of back-to-back titles. UCI has the all-time edge, 6-5, with each time winning two of three in a home series in 2021 in Irvine and 2022 in Corvallis. The Beavers are back in the postseason for a 23rd time and for the 10th time since 2005 and 12th time in their history are hosting an NCAA Regional. A year ago they were shipped out to the Baton Rouge Regional only to lose to the eventual national champs, LSU, in the regional final.
The Beavers have gone 42-14 finishing second in the Pac-12 behind a 24-2 record in Goss Stadium. OSU has been ranked top-15 for the entire college baseball season. Notably, they have a run-rule win over Michigan, sweep of UCLA, four-game sweeps of North Dakota State and CSUN, and played USC at Cicerone Field where they lost twice and had a third game rained out.
The offense rides behind potential No. 1 overall draft Travis Bazzana who is top five nationally in batting, on-base, slugging, and walks with 26 home runs and 80 runs scored. As a team, they're hitting .302 with 112 long balls and average 8.8 runs a game. Complimenting Bazzana are bats like Gavin Turley (62 H, 18 HR, 69 RBI), Dallas Macias (62 H, 13 2B, 37 RBI), and a healthy Micah McDowell (.379, 6 HR, 40 RBI).
Pitching again is just as strong with a 3.99 ERA and microscopic 1.33 WHIP all while the fielding ranks middle of the road committing 62 errors. Ace Aiden May (6-0, 2.71, 70 K) has turned a corner with five quality starts in his last seven. The rest of the rotation in Jacob Kmatz (6-2, 3.48, 79 K) and freshman Eric Segura (6-1, 4.61, 69 K) make a solid staff along with lively bullpen arms like Joey Mundt (2-0, 1.59), Nelson Keljo (3-0, 4.75, 49 K), and closer Bridger Holmes (3-4, 2.17, 12 saves, 42 K) all stifling offenses all year.
SCOUTING THE GREEN WAVETulane and the Anteaters have met each of the last two season with UCI earning a sweep at home in 2023 and sweeping the Green Wave at their place early in 2024. All-time, the series is now 10-2 UCI which includes 2 of 3 series wins at Tulane in 2008 and at home in 2009
The Green Wave are back in a regional for a 23rd time in program history and second straight season. Tulane ran through the conference tournament in 2023 as an 8-seed with just 19 wins before going 0-2 in the Baton Rouge Regional losing their opener to eventual national champion LSU before being eliminated by Sam Houston State
The offense ranks pretty high in most categories while batting .284 with 7.4 runs a game. They top their conference in triples (16), home runs (90), and walks (288). Brady Marget bruises in the middle of the lineup hitting .340 with 10 HR and a team-high 57 RBIs. He joins four other hitters with double-digit homers including Jackson Linn's 16 and Teo Banks' 14. Transfer Connor Rasmussen was in the 2023 Regional with ECU and now is hitting .322 with 51 runs and 48 RBIs
Pitching and defense are formidable with a 5.24 ERA and .973 fielding percentage. The Green Wave have turned 51 double plays while on the mound starters Chandler Welch (7-3, 4.24) and Luc Fladda (4-3, 5.28) each have over 75 innings and 147 strikeouts between them. Virginia transfer Billy Price is on the rise with five saves and a 2.76 ERA and a complete game as a starter. Others lurking in the 'pen include Trey Cehajic with his four saves, UCSB transfer Carter Benbrook (3-1, 38.2 IP, 45 K), and two-way player Michael Lombardi is 4-3 with a 3.49 and 51 strikeouts in 38.2 IP with lots of options to lock down wins like they did in the 2024 AAC Tournament.
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