COLLEGES:Anteaters eager for title shot

Ranked No. 10 nationally by Baseball America, owning a school Division I record 38 wins, seven straight victories, the best offensive lineup the school has had for perhaps 30 years, and the NCAA career saves leader, UC Irvine baseball coach Dave Serrano has plenty to be proud of this season.

And he was talking proud Sunday, after the Anteaters (38-14-1, 13-5 in the Big West Conference) finished off a dominant sweep of woeful Cal State Northridge at Anteater Ballpark.

“It started last September with team meetings, conditioning, weights, fall ball, more weights, more conditioning, with January practices and with 53 games together,” Serrano said of the program’s Big West title series showdown beginning Friday at UC Riverside (36-17, 15-3).

“Because of the commitment this team has made and the effort the players put forth, and the passion they have to be a team, we get the opportunity to play for the Big West championship.”

UCI, which enters tied for second with Long Beach State, needs a sweep to claim the program’s first Big West crown.

But for the first time since it resurrected its baseball program after a nine-season hiatus before the 2002 season, UCI appears to have averted the dreaded bubble identified with teams awaiting at-large bids to the 64-team NCAA regionals.

With a regional bid virtually assured, the Anteaters are anxious to learn if their bid to host a regional will be accepted.

“If the [NCAA selection] committee doesn’t recognize us as a good baseball team … “ Serrano said. “I think we’re very deserving as a host, whether we finish first or second. This is a good baseball team and I’m sure there are many [programs] in the country that don’t want to have to deal with us, come playoff time.”

Serrano also said he believes four teams from the Big West will be invited to play in the regionals, which would be a historic departure from a time-honored trend of perceived slights for Big West posteason candidates.

Regional sites will be announced Sunday.

And while junior right fielder Bryan Petersen has been added to Serrano’s bullpen rotation, having resumed a pitching career that was halted midway through his freshman season, Serrano said he has been refining Petersen’s pitching skills for more than a month.

“We’re not pulling a rabbit out of our hat,” said Serrano, who first used Petersen on the mound May 12 at Pacific. Including a start Tuesday at Pepperdine and a relief outing Sunday, Petersen has thrown 3 1/3 innings, striking out four, walking four and allowing four hits. His ERA is 2.70.

“He’s been throwing simulated games for weeks and he was up to 93- to 96-mph at Pepperdine,” Serrano said. “He gives us another weapon at the end of games that is pretty special. He throws strikes, he’s a great athlete and he’s got a power arm.”

The primary late-game weapon, of course is senior closer Blair Erickson, who has 53 career saves.

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