The UC Irvine Anteaters baseball team is the varsity
NCAA Tournaments, seven of those in Division I. It has won one regular season conference championship. As of the start of the 2012 Major League Baseball season, 5 former Anteaters have appeared in Major League Baseball
.
History
College Division/Division II
The program was founded prior to the 1970 season and initially played as an independent school in the
Division III. UC Irvine, formerly a independent in the College Division, became a Division II Independent.[1]
In the first season of Division II, the team again won its regional tournament to advance to the Division II Championship. There, the program defeated New Orleans to win its second consecutive national championship.[2] Following the 1974 season, Gary Adams left UC Irvine to become the head coach at UCLA.[3]
UC Irvine continued playing in Division II until following the 1977 season, though it did not qualify for another NCAA Tournament.[2]
Transition to Division I
Prior to the 1978 season, the program joined the newly formed
When Steve Hertz returned to Gonzaga following the 1980 season, Mike Gerakos became the program's head coach.
Pacific Coast Athletic Association, which was renamed the Big West Conference prior to the 1987 season. UC Irvine had a winning conference record only twice in eight PCAA/Big West seasons through the end of the 1992 season.[2]
Following the 1992 season, state budget cuts caused the university to cut several sports programs, including baseball. At the time it was discontinued, the program had a 643-565-17 record.[9][10][11]
Program revival
In 2000, the university announced plans to revive the varsity baseball program and build a multimillion dollar on-campus venue for the program.
Anteater Ballpark, was an 8-5 loss to San Diego on January 25, 2002.[2]
In
South Bend Regional, the team lost consecutive games to Arizona and Notre Dame and was eliminated.[13][2]
Following the 2004 season, John Savage left the program to become the head coach at
2007 College World Series. At the World Series, the team went 2-2 and was eliminated by eventual national champion Oregon State.[2]
Following the 2007 season, Dave Serrano returned to Cal State Fullerton to become the team's head coach.
Known as the Pacific Coast Athletic Association from 1985-1986
Venues
Cicerone Field
Main article:
Cicerone Field
Cicerone Field has been the program's home venue since it opened in 2002, also the year in which UC Irvine sponsored varsity baseball for the first season since 1992. The venue was known as Anteater Ballpark from 2002-2009, before it was renamed for former university chancellor
Ralph J. Cicerone.[23] It has a capacity of 2,900 spectators.[24]
Head coaches
Mike Gerakos, who coached for 12 seasons and had 312 wins, is both the program's longest tenured coach and wins leader.[2]
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
Conference regular season champion
Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
Division regular season champion
Division regular season and conference tournament champion
Conference tournament champion
^ abLiska, Jerry (7 August 1973). "NCAA Splits Into Three Divisions". The Portsmouth Times. Portsmouth, Ohio, USA. The Associated Press. p. 8. Archived from the original on 2012-08-12. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
^Stephens, Eric (2 July 2004). "Bruins Hire Irvine Coach". Articles.LATimes.com. The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2012-08-14. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
^Stephens, Eric (12 July 2004). "Irvine Hires Titan Aide". The Los Angeles Times. p. D13. Archived from the original on 2012-08-14. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
^"Coaching Staff". UCIrvineSports.com. UC Irvine Sports Information. Archived from the original on 2012-08-13. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
^Faulkner, Barry (19 July 2012). "Bibona Returns to UCI:". Articles.DailyPilot.com. The Daily Pilot. Archived from the original on 2012-08-13. Retrieved 13 August 2012.