COLLEGE BASEBALL PREVIEW:

The veteran core of the UC Irvine baseball team knows what it’s like to get to Omaha and experience the College World Series. Just as importantly, they also know what it’s like to come up tantalizingly short of their game’s ultimate destination.

“Three outs away” is a mantra that consumed many Anteaters fans in the recent off-season, after UCI took a 7-4 lead into the ninth inning of a would-be-clinching Super Regional game at LSU last season, only to see the Tigers rally for a 9-7 win. LSU then sent the ’Eaters packing with a 21-7 trouncing in the decisive third game to advance to Omaha.

And while they say they did not stew on the bitter juices they were forced to ingest in Baton Rouge, the leaders of this year’s squad, who reside up and down the lineup while also highlighting a talented pitching staff, also say there is a hunger this team brings into the season that begins today at Hawaii.

“I think, as a whole, I’ve never been part of a team that has worked as hard as we have this fall,” said senior shortstop Ben Orloff, who Coach Mike Gillespie as well as each of his teammates acknowledge as the central leadership figure in the clubhouse and on the field. “Every single day after practice, it’s tough to get in the [batting] cages, because, honestly, there are eight to 10 guys every day hitting after practice.”

Junior closer Eric Pettis, a first-team preseason All-American who earned second-team All-American honors as a junior, when he tied the school single-season record with 17 saves, is another who believes experience and talent might form a lethal combination for UCI opponents this season.

“We feel like this is our year,” said Pettis, who, at least initially, will attempt to straddle a closer-starter role. The plan is to use Pettis to close out Friday night games, then have him bounce back to start on Sunday.

“As freshmen, we were touted as a good recruiting class,” Pettis said, “And, even when we were having success the last two years, we were always saying ‘Just wait until next year,’ because we knew there were better things to come.

“And we haven’t taken anything for granted with our preparation and conditioning and all that,” Pettis said. “We’ve worked harder, because we know there is something special out there for us.”

Gillespie, hired in the fall of 2008 after former coach Dave Serrano, who had guided UCI to its first College World Series appearance in 2007, took the job at Cal State Fullerton, did not deflect the high expectations swirling around a group ranked as high as No. 7 in the preseason polls.

“I like an experienced team with guys who have been around a few years,” Gillespie said. “Sometimes, you have guys back that were not good, they’re not good, and they’re not going to be good. But most of these guys have had some success, so I think that translates into reason to believe that you’re in good hands.”

Gillespie and pitching coach Ted Silva will hand the ball with assurance to accomplished junior pitchers Danny Bibona and Christian Bergman, who have both been named to preseason All-American teams.

Bibona, a left-hander, was 9-3 with a 3.02 earned-run average last season. He’ll start Friday games, Gillespie said.

Bergman, who made seven starts among his 25 appearances last year, will leave the bullpen to become the Saturday starter. He posted a staff-best 1.94 ERA in 60 1/3 innings in 2008, when he was 5-2.

Orloff, who has started 155 straight games going into this season, returns after electing not to sign with the Colorado Rockies, who drafted him in the 19th round. He hit .344 with 23 runs batted in, 17 doubles, 50 runs and 19 stolen bases last year. He was a first-team All-Big West Conference performer as a junior.

“We’re lucky to have him back,” Gillespie said. “I get overdramatic about it, but he’s a sensational college player. Pro guys can worry about his tools, but 30 teams should want to draft him and 30 teams will want to draft him. His baseball IQ is beyond belief; it’s just crazy.”

Some believe the UCI offense, with 10 of its top 11 hitters who had at least 100 at-bats last season returning, could be crazy good.

Junior first baseman Jeff Cusick led the regulars with a .363 average last season, with 29 RBIs and 16 doubles in 157 at-bats.

Juniors Sean Madigan (.328 with 24 RBIs) and Dillon Bell (.326 with five home runs and 30 RBIs) will open as starters in the corner outfield spots.

And juniors Francis Larson (catcher), Casey Stevenson (second base) and Eric Deragisch (third base) are also players without need of an introduction to UCI rooters.

Stevenson hit .300 with 14 RBIs and stepped up big in the postseason, while Larson hit .314 with a team-high seven home runs and 40 RBIs. Deragisch hit .299 with 16 RBIs.

Sophomore Ryan Fisher (.299 with 37 RBIs in just 137 at-bats in 2008) will be the primary designated hitter.

Gillespie said senior Tony Asaro (.314 last season), and Brock Bardeen (six dingers in 100 at-bats) should also contribute heavily in the batter’s box, though Bardeen is also expected to reprise his role as a high school pitcher. Asaro was drafted in the 47th round by the Cardinals in June.

Junior Cory Olson, an all-state performer last season at Orange Coast College, will step into the center field spot vacated by Ollie Linton, now in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization.

“I think this has the potential to be a better offense than the year we went to the College World Series,” Orloff said. “We have tough outs one through nine.”

Gillespie said junior catcher Sammy Donabedian, sophomore infielder Tyler Hoechlin, freshmen infielder DJ Crumlich, freshman catcher Ronnie Shaeffer and sophomore outfielder Maverick Olivares could also contribute offensively.

And Gillespie called Matt Summers, a freshman out of Arizona, a future pro prospect as both a pitcher and an outfielder.

Rounding out the pitching, which has always been a staple at UCI, are a crop of players who will need to step up for the program to achieve at the level that has become expected.

Sophomore Crosby Slaught will start one game of Saturday’s doubleheader at Hawaii and Gillespie identified sophomore Riverside Community College transfer Nick Hoover, Bardeen and sophomore Cory Hamilton as additional candidates to start.

Senior Matt Dufour and senior left-hander Noel Avison anchor the bullpen, where junior Kyle Necke should eventually return after recovering from a broken right pitching hand sustained earlier this month.

Other noteworthy losses from last year’s 42-18 squad are starting pitchers Scott Gorgen and Bryce Stowell, as well as catcher Aaron Lowenstein, drafted by St. Louis, Cleveland and San Francisco, respectively.

UCI, which plays 11 of its first 12 games on the road, was picked to finish second in the Big West, behind Cal State Fullerton, in the coaches’ preseason poll.

The Anteaters home opener is March 3 against Loyola Marymount.

UCI opens the Big West schedule with a three-game home series with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on March 27-29.

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