Colleges:

It is, of course, ironic that arguably the most revered player in UC Irvine baseball history woke up Monday a suddenly devoted, if somewhat conflicted, Cal State Fullerton fan.

Ben Orloff, the face of what has become a nationally renowned program since he arrived from Simi Valley High in the fall of 2004, did not shed a tear before the assembled media after the Anteaters, the consensus No. 1 team in the nation the previous three weeks, saw their season end in the championship round of the Irvine Regional Sunday night.

Maybe, after a school-record 241 games played, capped by a streak of 215 consecutive starts in which he played every inning, the fast-talking, flat-brimmed epitome of a college baseball player had nothing else to give.

What he gave UCI, and what the program in turn, gave him, was the experience of a baseball life that figures to, someday, land him at the end of the dugout, running a team of his own as a collegiate head coach.

What Orloff and his teammates gave UCI fans this season was nothing short of amazing:

 The No. 1 national ranking for six weeks.

 The program’s first Big West Conference title, including a 22-2 Big West record, a .916 winning percentage that ranks second all-time, behind a 20-1 mark posted by Fresno State in 1988.

 The Big West Player of the Year (Orloff), the Big West Pitcher of the Year (junior Danny Bibona) and the Big West Coach of the Year (Mike Gillespie).

 A 45-15 record, producing the second-best win total in the school’s 23 Division I seasons, trailing only the 2007 College World Series team that won 47.

 Seven victories in games in which UCI was either behind or tied in the ninth inning or later, including dramatic home triumphs over Tulane, Long Beach State, Oregon, USC and UCLA.

 A fourth straight trip to the NCAA tournament, in which the ’Eaters have participated five of the last six seasons.

 And UCI’s inaugural home regional, which produced a season-best crowd of 3,002 for Friday’s opening-night victory over defending national champion Fresno State, as well as a national television audience on ESPNU.

Orloff, who bounces off to the professional ranks with additional school career records for hits (280), runs (178) and at-bats (254), will now root with enthusiasm for younger brother Matt, who redshirted his first season in the Titans’ program this year. Matt Orloff plays for former UCI Coach Dave Serrano, who along with Gillespie, will continually gush about the leadership, baseball IQ and work ethic that has helped Ben Orloff become a finalist for the Brooks Wallace Award given annually to the nation’s top shortstop.

Yet Orloff will always be a proud Anteater.

“God blessed me so much to play for these coaches and with my teammates in this program,� Orloff said after Sunday’s loss. “It has been awesome. I can’t say enough about what UCI means to me and how grateful I am for the opportunity to have played here the last four years.�

Those four years have included an average of 42.5 victories, the aforementioned trip to Omaha in 2007 that included a regional triumph in Texas and a Super Regional win at Wichita State. Last season, the ’Eaters ripped through the regional hosted by Nebraska, then came three outs from silencing the raucous rooters and sweeping host LSU, before the Tigers rallied to win the best-of-three Super Regional and move on to the College World Series.

This season, UCI won all 12 series of at least three consecutive games, including all seven in conference play. Added to that was a 2-1 record against UCLA and Loyola Marymount in sporadic single-game dates, as well as 2-0 sweeps of USC and Oregon.

Only Virginia and San Diego (both 2-0) posted a winning record against UCI in more than one meeting. And the Anteaters’ season-worst losing streak was two (twice).

UCI won 24 of its final 28 regular-season games and, at various times, posted winning streaks of seven, seven, six and five games.

Along the way, the ’Eaters did it with offense (a school record 122 doubles and 294 runs batted in, as well as 432 runs, one shy of the single-season record, and a .317 team batting average); pitching (its top six pitchers posted a combined 42-7 record, including a 29-4 mark by weekend starters Bibona, a first-team All-American who went 12-1, junior Christian Bergman, who was 9-3, and sophomore Crosby Slaught, who was 8-0); and defense (a .979 fielding percentage that included dozens of what Gillespie calls “Film-at-11 plays.�)

And they did it with humility, enthusiasm and class, helping to fortify the ever-expanding Eater Nation.