Colleges:

It is, of course, ironic that arguably the most revered player in UC Irvine baseball history woke up Monday a suddenly devoted, if somewhat conflicted, Cal State Fullerton fan.

Ben Orloff, the face of what has become a nationally renowned program since he arrived from Simi Valley High in the fall of 2004, did not shed a tear before the assembled media after the Anteaters, the consensus No. 1 team in the nation the previous three weeks, saw their season end in the championship round of the Irvine Regional Sunday night.

Maybe, after a school-record 241 games played, capped by a streak of 215 consecutive starts in which he played every inning, the fast-talking, flat-brimmed epitome of a college baseball player had nothing else to give.

What he gave UCI, and what the program in turn, gave him, was the experience of a baseball life that figures to, someday, land him at the end of the dugout, running a team of his own as a collegiate head coach.

What Orloff and his teammates gave UCI fans this season was nothing short of amazing:

 The No. 1 national ranking for six weeks.

 The program’s first Big West Conference title, including a 22-2 Big West record, a .916 winning percentage that ranks second all-time, behind a 20-1 mark posted by Fresno State in 1988.

 The Big West Player of the Year (Orloff), the Big West Pitcher of the Year (junior Danny Bibona) and the Big West Coach of the Year (Mike Gillespie).

 A 45-15 record, producing the second-best win total in the school’s 23 Division I seasons, trailing only the 2007 College World Series team that won 47.

 Seven victories in games in which UCI was either behind or tied in the ninth inning or later, including dramatic home triumphs over Tulane, Long Beach State, Oregon, USC and UCLA.

 A fourth straight trip to the NCAA tournament, in which the ’Eaters have participated five of the last six seasons.

 And UCI’s inaugural home regional, which produced a season-best crowd of 3,002 for Friday’s opening-night victory over defending national champion Fresno State, as well as a national television audience on ESPNU.