ANTEATERS HOST CAL STATE FULLERTON: UC Irvine, 19-3 overall and 2-1 in the Big West entertains Cal State Fullerton (15-9, 2-1 Big West) in conference play this weekend (Apr. 4-6) at Anteater Ballpark.

LINTON ON BLUE AND GOLD: Junior Ollie Linton (Winnetka/Crespi HS) will be a guest on the Blue and Gold Report, UCI's weekly radio show highlighting Anteater Athletics. Linton joins women's tennis player Brooke Bartlett and men's volleyball player Cory Yoder. Due to previously scheduled programming, the Blue and Gold Report for April 1st will be an Internet-only broadcast. Please click on the link to access the broadcast Tuesday.

GORGEN TO OPEN SERIES AGAINST CROSS-COUNTY RIVALS: All-American pitcher Scott Gorgen (Concord/Clayton Valley HS) will open the series against Cal State Fullerton Friday. The right-hander is 5-1 with a 1.39 ERA on the season and has struck out 55 batters in 45.1 innings. Gorgen, who has walked a team-high 13 batters, has given up just seven earned runs on 20 hits and is holding opposing teams to a .127 average. Against Cal Poly, the junior ace was touched for four early runs, but rebounded by surrendering just two hits and a walk in the final four frames of his eight-inning stint.

GORGEN TIES CAREER HIGH: Gorgen tied a career high with 12 strikeouts against Cal Poly last week and has amassed 259 strikeouts. He is averaging 10.92 strikeouts per game.

ANTEATERS ON THE AIR: Friday's game against Cal State Fullerton will be televised tape-delayed by Cox3 Sports. Check local listings for air dates and times.

STEVENSON BACK IN THE GAME: After sitting out the first half of the baseball season due to NCAA clearinghouse issues, sophomore Casey Stevenson (Saugus/College of the Canyons) was declared eligible prior to UCI's series against Cal Poly.

Stevenson had a solid debut as an Anteater, going 2 for 4 with an RBI and two runs scored Friday. Stevenson singled up the middle in his first, scored his first run in the UCI sixth and recorded his first RBI in the ninth on a sacrifice.

ANTEATER ROTATION: Bryce Stowell (La Habra/Pepperdine) and Daniel Bibona (Lake Forest/Santa Margarita HS) will face Cal State Fullerton Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

Stowell suffered his first loss of the season to fall to 4-1 after UCI's 4-2 loss to Cal Poly Saturday. Stowell held the Mustangs to four runs (three earned) on six hits while walking two and striking out five. Stowell has a 2.36 ERA and has struck out 32 in 34.1 innings while walking just nine.

Bibona improved to 4-1 after leading UCI to a win Sunday to clinch the series finale. Bibona held Cal Poly to three runs on six hits and struck out six. After allowing two runs in the second, Bibona held Cal Poly scoreless until the seventh when the Mustangs pushed a run across. Bibona has struck out 38 batters in 33.1 innings and has allowed 10 runs on 25 hits this season. Batters are hitting just .212 against the southpaw.

CUSICK, BARDEEN, ORLOFF WEEK'S TOP HITTERS: Jeff Cusick (Mission Viejo/Santa Margarita HS), Brock Bardeen (Fallbrook/HS) and Ben Orloff (Simi Valley/HS) were the team's leading hitters as UCI went 3-1 last week.

Cusick topped the trio, hitting .533 (8 for 15) with a double, an RBI and two stolen bases. Cusick went 2 for 3 against Harvard and came around to score what would be the eventual game-winning run in UCI's four-run first. Friday after opening the game at 0-2, Cusick rebounded with three consecutive hits and scored twice to help spark the team's come-from behind win in the conference opener. Saturday, the first baseman added two more singles and went 2 for 3 with a walk and Sunday, Cusick capped the weekend with a double and a run scored.

Bardeen was 5 for 12 (.2 (.417) with five RBI in three games. Bardeen was 2 for 4 against Harvard with an RBI. Friday, Bardeen drove in UCI's first run of the game and then drove in the tying and eventual game-winning runs in a 12-4 win. Sunday, Bardeen hit a solo home run to cut into Cal Poly's 2-0 lead and sparked a rally that led the team a 3-2 advantage that it would not relinquish.

Orloff batted .353 in four games last week, going 6 for 17 with a pair of doubles and three RBI. The junior shortstop doubled in a run Friday for his first hit of the series and then went 3 for 5 Saturday, scoring UCI's second run of the game. Sunday, Orloff had a single and doubled in two runs.

PETTIS PICKS UP A PAIR OF SAVES; MOVES TO FIFTH IN RECORDS: Sophomore Eric Pettis (West Hills/El Camino Real HS) earned two saves last week to move to a tie for fifth in the UCI season records with seven. Pettis struck out one, walked one and yielded two hits in 2.1 shutout innings last week.

Last Tuesday, Pettis picked up in relief for Matt Dufour (Placentia/Santa Ana CC). After giving up consecutive singles, Pettis induced a pop-up and a game-ending double-play grounder.

Sunday, with the margin at 9-6 in the eighth and a runner in scoring position, UCI went to Pettis again, who issued a walk before striking out the final batter to end the rally. Pettis then retired the ninth in order to help preserve the win

Pettis 1-0 with a 1.23 ERA and has struck out 12 in 14.2 innings. The right-hander is holding opposing teams to a .189 average and has allowed just two earned runs on 10 hits.

BERGMAN SHUTS OUT OPPOSITION IN START AND RELIEF: Sophomore Christian Bergman (Altadena/St. Francis HS) remains undefeated at 4-0 and his 0.89 ERA leads the Big West Conference. In a pre-determined start Tuesday, Bergman shut out the Crimson for four innings, striking out three and scattering five hits while walking none to pick up his fourth victory.

The Anteaters then turned to the right-hander Saturday to pick up for Stowell. Bergman struck out one, walked one and yielded two hits in two scoreless innings.

LARSON JOINS GRAND SLAM CLUB: Sophomore Francis Larson (Yorba Linda/Esperanza HS) hit his first collegiate career grand slam Tuesday to give UCI a 4-0 lead over Harvard. Larson also muscled a two-run home run over the left-field wall at Baggett Stadium Sunday to become the team leader in round-trippers with five.

The last grand slam hit by an Anteater was Jeff Cusick in 2007 against Pacific.

CUSICK TOPS CONFERENCE: Jeff Cusick's .449 average places him at the top of the Big West Conference, out-pacing UC Davis' Ryan Scoma, who is belting .436 to sit second. Cusick also currently holds the top on-base percentage at .541.

ANTEATERS IN THE BIG WEST: Cusick is eighth in the Big West in slugging (.609) while Francis Larson is ninth at .605. Ollie Linton is tied for fifth with 24 runs scored while Ben Orloff is eighth in the same category with 23. Ryan Fisher (Manteca/East Union HS) is tied for third with 25 RBI and Larson is tied for fifth (24). Larson is also tied for third with five home runs. Linton remains atop of the conference leaders with 22 stolen bases.

Gorgen is second in ERA at 1.39 while Stowell (2.36) and Bibona (2.70) are sixth and eighth, respectively. Gorgen's .127 opposing batting average tops the league with Bibona (.212) and Stowell (.235) coming in at fourth and fifth. Gorgen also is the leader with 55 strikeouts with Bibona tied for fourth with 38. Pettis owns the top spot in saves with seven and games finished with 12.

ABOUT CAL STATE FULLERTON: Cal State Fullerton is ranked 25th by Baseball America. The Titans are 15-9 overall and 2-1 in the Big West. The Titans defeated San Diego prior to splitting a pair of extra-inning thrillers against UC Riverside. Fullerton won the series finale Sunday and is tied for third in the standings with UC Irvine.

CSUF is led by Josh Fellhauer, who is batting .402 with a team-high 41 hits and is tied for first with 10 doubles. Eight Titans have reached double-digits in the RBI category with Jared Clark topping the club with 22.

THE SERIES: Cal State Fullerton owns a 65-32 all-time series lead against the Anteaters. In 2007, UC Irvine defeated Cal State Fullerton twice in the regular season conference series and then defeated the Titans in a thrilling 5-4, 13-inning victory at the College World Series.

WEEKLY WRAPUP: The Anteaters went 3-1 last week, defeating Harvard in a mid-week contest, 5-2, and winning two of three games against Cal Poly to open Big West action at 2-1.

Larson highlighted a four-run first with a grand slam that gave UCI a 4-0 lead. The Anteaters showcased seven arms with Christian Bergman picking up the win. Noel Avison (Bakersfield/San Diego Mesa CC), Kyle Necke (Walnut/HS), Crosby Slaught (Santa Barbara/HS), Matt Dufour and Pettis combined for four shutout innings while Harvard managed two unearned runs against Tom Calahan (Mission Viejo/Santa Ana CC) in the Crimson seventh. UCI trailed early Friday against Cal Poly as Gorgen allowed his first two home runs of the season in his outing. Cal Poly took a 4-0 lead but UCI took the lead with a single run in the fifth and four in the sixth. The offense then erupted for seven runs in the ninth to win 12-4. The designated hitter's spot produced six RBI with Brock Bardeen and Tyler Hoechlin (Corona/Arizona State) recording three runs batted in apiece. Hoechlin hit his first triple of the season to clear the bases in the ninth.

The Anteaters trailed again Saturday as Stowell gave up a pair of home runs to the Mustangs. Unlike the series opener, the Anteater offense was stilled by the Cal Poly bullpen, which gave up just two hits in the final 4.2 innings. Orloff was 3 for 5 to lead the team as UCI lost 4-2. Cal Poly led UCI for the third time in as many days with two runs in the second but UCI responded with five runs in two innings and went on to win 10-6. Four Anteaters tallied two RBI each with Linton's sacrifice bunt scoring the eventual game-winner.

Source: UC Irvine