College Baseball

He has become almost as big a fixture in the program as squeeze bunts and ace pitchers, though few know his name and fewer still know his story. Yet almost anyone who has attended a UC Irvine baseball home game the last seven seasons, knows his voice. Keith Franklin, also known as Super Fan, may sit about three rows up from the backstop screen, between home plate and the Anteaters' on-deck circle, but he is the epicenter of UCI baseball fandom. Chanting incessantly, eliciting giggles with his sometimes nonsensical nicknames for players, always relentlessly positive about his Anteaters, yet unflinchingly respectful of the opponent, the 46-year-old Costa Mesa resident continually stirs a notoriously sedate collection of ticket holders.

Baseball All-American Danny Bibona, who twice earned Big West Conference Pitcher of the Year honors at UC Irvine, is the winner of the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, it was announced Friday. The award, chosen by a nationwide vote of Division I baseball coaches, national media and fans, is given annually to the most outstanding senior student-athlete in NCAA Division I baseball. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

LOS ANGLES — There was talk among UC Irvine players and coaches that the sore rib muscles that sidelined UCI senior All-American Danny Bibona for a month leading into the NCAA Los Angeles Regional was a blessing in disguise. And while Bibona's return was less than impressive in Friday's opening loss to LSU, there is a chance that the aforementioned "blessing" could still render dividends. UCI Coach Mike Gillespie announced after Saturday's 19-9 elimination-game win over Kent State that freshman Evan Brock will start Sunday's 2 p.m. game against LSU. Brock was inserted into the weekend rotation during Bibona's absence and used those three starts to not only solidify himself as a valued contributor, but also provide glimpses that he is a future star.

A common notion about community college transfers is that they take a year to make the adjustment to Division I baseball. And despite generating vastly different expectations upon arriving from their respective two-year programs, UC Irvine juniors Drew Hillman and Jon Hurst have just about proved that thinking to be true. Hillman was an All-American at Orange Coast College who had UCI coaches buzzing about his offensive prowess in the fall. Hurst, a two-time All-Orange Empire Conference performer at Cypress College, was a borderline washout after an underwhelming fall.

LOS ANGELES – A UC Irvine baseball team that launched eight home runs, hammered out 55 hits and scored 35 runs in four games, ran out of juice Sunday at the NCAA Los Angeles Regional. Perhaps more importantly, the No. 21-ranked Anteaters (39-21), ran out of bona-fide pitchers, in a 6-2 loss to host UCLA at Jackie Robinson Stadium that ended their season. UCLA third baseman Cody Regis belted a three-run home run in the top of the eighth inning to salt away the regional title for UCLA.

UC Irvine senior Danny Bibona earned Big West Conference Pitcher of the Year laurels for the second straight year to highlight Anteaters who received all-conference recognition announced Tuesday. Bibona, who won all five of his conference starts and is 9-2 with a 2.10 earned-run average heading into the Los Angeles Regional that begins Friday at UCLA, was unbeaten the last two seasons against conference foes, winning 12 games in that span. He has 100 strikeouts in 90 innings this season and is the school's career strikeouts leader with 330. Bibona, who missed his last three starts, all conference games, due to inflamed rib muscles, is scheduled to start against LSU in the regional opener Friday.

Anteaters salvage win The UC Irvine baseball team scored six in the bottom of the eighth inning Sunday to break a 9-9 tie and claim a 15-9 win over James Madison in the finale of the four-game Baseball at the Beach Tournament at BB&T Coastal Field in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The victory halted a three-game losing streak, the longest since the end of the 2006 season. Then-No. 6-ranked UCI improved to 4-3, thanks largely to 11 combined runs batted in from junior third baseman Brian Hernandez, senior first baseman Jeff Cusick and senior catcher Francis Larson.

UC Irvine senior pitcher Danny Bibona was named first-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball on Thursday. Bibona, a repeat first-team All-American, is the first UCI player to earn such distinction. The two-time Big West Conference Pitcher of the Year is 9-2 with a 2.10 earned-run average this season with 100 strikeouts in 90 innings. He missed his final three scheduled regular-season starts with inflamed rib muscles, but returns to the mound today to start against LSU in the opening round of the Los Angeles Regional at 2 p.m. at UCLA's Jackie Robinson Stadium.

COSTA MESA - The Master's College scored twice in the first inning for all it would need in a 6-0 nonconference baseball victory at Vanguard University Thursday. Ryan Damback went 2 for 2 to pace the Lions' five-hit attack against starter Josh Higgins, who struck out four and walked two in eight innings to get the win. Vanguard fell to 4-26. NONCONFERENCE The Master's 6, Vanguard 0 The Master's 230 000 100 - 6 6 0 Vanguard 000 000 000 - 0 5 0 Higgins, Wood (9)

BAKERSFIELD - Only seven times in 44 games this season did Orange Coast College baseball Coach John Altobelli have to address his players after a loss. But when it came time to speak from the heart after being eliminated from the California Community College Athletic Assn. State Championship on Saturday, the words he delivered to his team were as obvious as they were true. "I told them that we loved them," Altobelli said of the aftermath of a 5-4 defeat in 12 innings to Rio Hondo in the four-team, double-elimination tournament at Bakersfield Community College.

He has become almost as big a fixture in the program as squeeze bunts and ace pitchers, though few know his name and fewer still know his story. Yet almost anyone who has attended a UC Irvine baseball home game the last seven seasons, knows his voice. Keith Franklin, also known as Super Fan, may sit about three rows up from the backstop screen, between home plate and the Anteaters' on-deck circle, but he is the epicenter of UCI baseball fandom. Chanting incessantly, eliciting giggles with his sometimes nonsensical nicknames for players, always relentlessly positive about his Anteaters, yet unflinchingly respectful of the opponent, the 46-year-old Costa Mesa resident continually stirs a notoriously sedate collection of ticket holders.

Baseball All-American Danny Bibona, who twice earned Big West Conference Pitcher of the Year honors at UC Irvine, is the winner of the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, it was announced Friday. The award, chosen by a nationwide vote of Division I baseball coaches, national media and fans, is given annually to the most outstanding senior student-athlete in NCAA Division I baseball. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

While former UC Irvine baseball coach John Savage prepares his UCLA team for its College World Series opener today, Anteaters head man Mike Gillespie and his staff are following the development of players who will try to help UCI make a run at Omaha in 2011. Gillespie said seven of the eight UCI players selected in the Major League draft last week have signed and departed for their minor league assignments, while All-American pitcher Danny Bibona is still negotiating with the St. Louis Cardinals.

LOS ANGELES — LSU is no longer the equivalent of a four-letter word for the UC Irvine baseball program, which dispatched the defending national champion Tigers with a 4-3 victory in an elimination game of the NCAA Los Angeles Regional Sunday at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The win propelled the No. 21-ranked Anteaters (39-20) into the first of two must-win showdowns against host UCLA later Sunday night. Should UCI beat UCLA Sunday, the two teams would play Monday at 6 p.m. for the right to advance to a Super Regional.

LOS ANGELES – A UC Irvine baseball team that launched eight home runs, hammered out 55 hits and scored 35 runs in four games, ran out of juice Sunday at the NCAA Los Angeles Regional. Perhaps more importantly, the No. 21-ranked Anteaters (39-21), ran out of bona-fide pitchers, in a 6-2 loss to host UCLA at Jackie Robinson Stadium that ended their season. UCLA third baseman Cody Regis belted a three-run home run in the top of the eighth inning to salt away the regional title for UCLA.

LOS ANGLES — There was talk among UC Irvine players and coaches that the sore rib muscles that sidelined UCI senior All-American Danny Bibona for a month leading into the NCAA Los Angeles Regional was a blessing in disguise. And while Bibona's return was less than impressive in Friday's opening loss to LSU, there is a chance that the aforementioned "blessing" could still render dividends. UCI Coach Mike Gillespie announced after Saturday's 19-9 elimination-game win over Kent State that freshman Evan Brock will start Sunday's 2 p.m. game against LSU. Brock was inserted into the weekend rotation during Bibona's absence and used those three starts to not only solidify himself as a valued contributor, but also provide glimpses that he is a future star.

LOS ANGELES — UC Irvine senior pitcher Eric Pettis is an All-American who has become known for his guts. But the LSU baseball team has now become notorious for ripping them out. For the second time in two seasons, the No. 23-ranked Tigers rallied in the late innings to deny Pettis, who has 40 career saves, the satisfaction of nailing down a monumental postseason win. LSU posted a two-out rally to tie the score in the bottom of the...