College Baseball: UC Irvine headed to Corvallis for NCAA Regional

UC Irvine’s season continues as the Anteaters will play in the Corvallis (Ore.) Regional beginning Friday at Goss Stadium.

Coach Mike Gillespie’s UCI squad, the No. 3 seed in the regional, opens against second-seeded UNLV at 2 p.m. Friday. Oregon State, the national No. 1 seed, will face fourth-seeded North Dakota State at 8 p.m. The games will be carried on the ESPN family of networks with UCI’s game Friday afternoon on ESPN3.

The regional, with a double-elimination format, will continue Saturday, Sunday and Monday (if necessary).

The ‘Eaters are making the program’s eighth postseason appearance in the past 11 years. UCI is 35-22 overall this season and finished third in the Big West Conference with a 15-9 mark.

Anteater junior right-hander Sam Moore leads the nation in saves with 23. Junior first baseman Connor Spencer ranks third in the Big West with a .361 batting average and senior right-hander Andrew Morales (9-2, 1.56 ERA) is second in the league in wins.

UNLV is 35-23 overall and was 20-10 in the Mountain West Conference, sharing the title with New Mexico. The Rebels were the top seed for the MW Tournament and fell to San Diego State, 4-3, in the championship game.

The Bison of North Dakota State are 25-24 overall and were 10-12 in the Summit League, but won the conference tournament, defeating Western Illinois, 9-0, in the final to earn the program’s first NCAA Division I tournament appearance.

Oregon State is 42-12 overall and won its second consecutive Pac-12 title with a 23-7 record.

— From staff reports

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Corvallis Regional

Goss Stadium – Corvallis, Oregon

Friday

2 p.m. - #3 UC Irvine (35-22) vs. #2 UNLV (35-23) --- ESPN3

8 p.m. - #4 North Dakota State (25-24) vs. #1 Oregon State (42-12) --- ESPNU

Saturday, Sunday and Monday (if necessary) TBD