Petersen's turnaround key for UCI

Standing at second base, Bryan Petersen focused in on a wave of cavorting teammates who were emerging from the sea of more than 8,000 stunned Wichita State fans hunched silently in their seats.

He had just doubled in the game-winning run with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning Sunday to clinch a Super Regional sweep and propel the No. 4-ranked UC Irvine baseball team (45-15-1) to its first College World Series.

But before he could think about Omaha, the sculpted 6-foot, 200-pound junior thought first about survival.

"First [teammates Sammy Donabedian and Tyler Vaughn] hugged me, then I saw everyone else coming at me," Petersen said. "I realized 'Oh, my gosh, I'm going down.' So, I just tried to go down and cover up as best as I could, watching my fingers and my ankles and stuff. But I had so much adrenaline running through me that you probably could have put a 2,000-pound block of steel on me and I would have been all right."

Perhaps more than any other Anteater, Petersen has dealt with an oppressive burden since arriving as a prized recruit from national powerhouse Chatsworth High. And he had, until this season, largely buckled under the weight of those high expectations.

"He has got tremendous skills," UCI Coach Dave Serrano said of his right fielder, who is hitting .308 with five homers, 35 RBIs, 41 runs and a team-leading 27 stolen bases (one shy of the school single-season record), heading into Saturday's College World Series opener against Arizona State. "I've said that for three years now. I probably hexed him a little his freshman year, when I [compared] him to Shane Costa, one of the players I had the opportunity to watch play at Cal State Fullerton [as an assistant coach]."

Costa has hit .264 in 99 games with the Kansas City Royals the last three seasons.

Petersen, however, hit a combined .186 his first two years as an Anteater, managing just 16 hits, seven RBIs and four steals.

But during the summer of 2006, Petersen found his batting stroke in the Alaska League, where he hit .365 with 50 hits and 27 runs for the Anchorage Bucs. He brought home a League Co-Player of the Year trophy, and, perhaps just as important, some newfound confidence.