And while everyone escaped injury, Wes Etheridge, who became the epicenter of the mass of humanity by posting his first save of the season, said he was lucky to escape in tact.
"I got crushed," said Etheridge, a 6-foot-1, 175-pound junior who considers himself "probably the heaviest guy with no muscle, ever on this planet. I think my shoulders actually touched."
Etheridge, however, said that was better than his previous dogpile experience, after his Marina High team won the CIF Southern Section championship in 2003.
The pile was at home plate," he said. "I jumped and missed the whole thing. I went over everyone and landed on my head."
The dogpile drill was repeated seven times on June 8, when seven Anteaters were chosen on the second day of the Major League First-Year Player Draft.
"As soon as a guy's name was called, we ran to his room and dogpiled on him," UCI sophomore pitcher Scott Gorgen said. "Last year's draft happened after our season was over, so guys experienced it on their own. This year was really fun, because we got to experience it as a team."
Gorgen's experience two days later in the dogpile that followed a dramatic 3-2 clinching victory at Wichita State, was somewhat less fun.
"I dived into the pile and I must have hit somebody's elbow or knee, because I came out with a bloody nose," Gorgen said. "But I wasn't going to let that ruin my celebration. I just stared wiping it off on my jacket."
GORGEN NAMED ALL-AMERICAN
Gorgen, who is the starting pitcher today against ASU, had a much better experience Friday, when it was announced that he had been named third-team All-American by Baseball America and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Assn.
Gorgen, 12-2 with a 2.68 earned-run average, has allowed just one run in his last 37 innings and has completed each of his last four starts, three of which were shutouts.
