UCI realizes diamond dream

OMAHA, Neb. — Anteaters are mostly nocturnal creatures, so maybe that's why some people are confused that UC Irvine's baseball program has, with its unexpected run to the College World Series, shuffled into the glow of the national spotlight.

All week, the university's coaches and athletic department officials have been dealing with reporters mangling the school's name — Cal-Irvine, California-Irvine, you name it.

Coach Dave Serrano even addressed the preferred usage of the school's name — UC Irvine or UCI — when the coaches talked to hundreds of reporters Thursday at Rosenblatt Stadium. He aims to refine the public perception of a program that was largely unknown until this notable postseason run.

"We do have a Division I baseball team," Serrano told the reporters, with a smile. "We're located in Orange County, just south of Newport Beach."

All but the most ardent college baseball fanatics, however, have ample justification for their ignorance of these blue-white-and-gold-clad Anteaters, who, as recently as 2001 were, at least on the baseball diamond, extinct.

Spurred by budget cuts, UCI disbanded its baseball program after the 1992 season, after 15 mostly mediocre seasons in Division I.

Most, if not all of the marquee success achieved by a program that began in 1970 occurred at the Division II level.

A student referendum in 1999 provided funding for baseball, and then-athletic director Dan Guerrero, who played college baseball at UCLA, helped usher in the program's return after a nine-year hiatus, including construction of Anteater Ballpark.

Guerrero hired then-USC pitching coach John Savage as head coach after the 2000 season, allowing Savage plenty of time to build a staff and a roster for the 2002 season.

Savage's first team, comprised almost completely of players who had never played against Division I competition, finished 33-26, 14-10 in the Big West Conference, and immediately fueled expectations that the 'Eaters could pose a threat to perennial Big West powers Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State.

Injuries sabotaged the 2003 season, when UCI finished 21-35, 8-13. But the program, powered by strong pitching and a scrappy offense, rebounded to go 34-23 in 2004. That was good enough to earn its inaugural trip to an NCAA Regional, the first step in the 64-team national tournament that sends eight teams to Omaha.