Fresno State

Mike Mayne, the Orange Coast College baseball coach from 1977-92, proved to be a bit prophetic with a statement he made before the College World Series began. “... We’re playing pretty doggone good right now and I think we can do some damage here [in Omaha],” Mayne, Fresno State’s pitching coach, told the Daily Pilot in a story published June 15, the day the Bulldogs began their improbable CWS run. “If we win that first game, watch out.” Mayne and Fresno State won that first game and did plenty of damage, becoming the lowest seed to win an NCAA championship on Wednesday night.

The NCAA baseball tournament selection committee didn’t seem to do any favors for UC Irvine, the nation’s top-ranked team. But that doesn’t appear to be much of a concern for the Anteaters, the Big West Conference champions playing in their first regional at home. “The team’s excited to host a regional,” UC Irvine pitcher Danny Bibona said. “We’ve gone on the road for the past few years for the postseason so we’re excited to be at home and to be playing in front of our fans.

Ted Silva, a former Cal State Fullerton All-American, has been chosen by UC Irvine baseball coach Mike Gillespie to become the Anteaters’ pitching coach. Silva was the pitching coach at Fresno State last season, after spending two seasons as volunteer assistant and pitching coach at Cal State Fullerton in 2005-06. Silva becomes the second full-time assistant for Gillespie, the former USC coach who was hired to fill the void created when Dave Serrano left to become coach at Cal State Fullerton.

FRESNO ? UC Irvine Coach Pat Douglass' men's basketball team was trounced by host Fresno State, 82-51, Sunday in the finale of the Basketball Travelers Classic in front of 10,163 at the Save Mart Center. But it was Douglass who said he owed an offseason favor to Bulldogs Coach Steve Cleveland, a UCI graduate who was MVP of the 1975-76 Anteaters and who still spends time every summer in Newport Beach. "I take my hat off to Coach Cleveland; he has a nice club," Douglass said after the Bulldogs (3-0)

UC Irvine All-American candidate Matt Summers will be the starting pitcher when the Anteaters open NCAA Regional play Friday against Fresno State at 2 p.m., UCI Coach Mike Gillespie said Tuesday. Gillespie said determining who would start subsequent games in the four-team, double-elimination Los Angeles Regional that also includes UCLA and San Francisco, would be decided later, based upon the opponent. Summers, a junior right-hander who threw a no-hitter in his final regular-season start, was named Big West Conference Pitcher of the Year on Monday.

UCLA transfer Natalia Ledezma came to UC Irvine to win friends and influence scoreboards. The sophomore had managed the former by blending her unselfish style of play and an infectiously vibrant personality with a group of new teammates, a large number of whom contributed to the Anteaters' 19-3-2 campaign in 2010. Ledezma, a former ESPN Rise second-team All-American at La Mirada High who also played for the U.S. national team at the under-15, U-17 and U-18 levels, wasted little time achieving the latter as well.

It didn't take UC Irvine senior Brian Hernandez long to identify the potential for revenge associated with the Anteaters' placement in the NCAA Los Angeles Regional hosted by UCLA was announced Monday morning. Hernandez, the baseball team's star third baseman and closer, noticed quickly that by winning the four-team regional that also includes Fresno State (40-14) and San Francisco, UCI (39-16) could get a crack at Virginia, the No. 1 national seed, in the subsequent super regionals.

MEN'S BASKETBALL UC Irvine 58, Fresno State 51 FRESNO - The Anteaters finished strong, scoring the game's final 12 points to earn their first road win of the season Saturday night. The victory was UCI's first nonconference road win since a 76-73 victory against Cal State Bakersfield on Jan. 19, 2011. Will Davis II tallied a career-high 15 rebounds to help the Anteaters improve to 5-6. Chris McNealy scored a game-high 13 points and Alex Young added 12 for UCI. Fresno State fell to 5-6.

TUCSON, Ariz. - UC Irvine finished 11th in the Ping Arizona Intercollegiate Tournament that concluded Tuesday afternoon at the Raven Golf Club. Fresno State won the 20-team tournament with a 54-hole total of 848, one shot ahead of Oklahoma State. Pepperdine placed third at 852. UCI and Oregon tied for 11th at 870. Hunter Mahan of Oklahoma State was the tournament medalist, finishing with a 10-under par total of 203 (67-68-68). He defeated Fresno State's Nick Watney by two strokes.

The UC Irvine baseball team lost a 3-0 lead, as nonconference host Fresno State used a six-run fifth inning that helped grab a 9-5 victory Tuesday night in front of 2,544 at Beiden Field. The Anteaters (2-6) built a 3-1 lead after 1 1/2 innings, as UCI freshman Mark Wagner collected an RBI single and senior Jon Horwitz scored on a balk in the top of the second. -- NONCONFERENCE Fresno State 9, UC Irvine 5 Score by Innings UC Irvine 120 000 011 - 5 9 1 Fresno St 010 260 00x - 9 14 3 2B -- Klemm (UCI)

MEN'S BASKETBALL UC Irvine 58, Fresno State 51 FRESNO - The Anteaters finished strong, scoring the game's final 12 points to earn their first road win of the season Saturday night. The victory was UCI's first nonconference road win since a 76-73 victory against Cal State Bakersfield on Jan. 19, 2011. Will Davis II tallied a career-high 15 rebounds to help the Anteaters improve to 5-6. Chris McNealy scored a game-high 13 points and Alex Young added 12 for UCI. Fresno State fell to 5-6.

When it comes to college football, it's safe to say Andrew Albers has come full circle. Albers, a 6-foot-8, 295-pound standout offensive lineman for Costa Mesa High and Orange Coast College, has accepted a scholarship to play at the University of Utah, where he initially committed out of Costa Mesa. Albers' father, Frank, announced on Facebook Tuesday night: "So very happy and proud to report that my son Andrew Albers has accepted a scholarship and has committed to play football for the University of Utah Utes.

UCLA transfer Natalia Ledezma came to UC Irvine to win friends and influence scoreboards. The sophomore had managed the former by blending her unselfish style of play and an infectiously vibrant personality with a group of new teammates, a large number of whom contributed to the Anteaters' 19-3-2 campaign in 2010. Ledezma, a former ESPN Rise second-team All-American at La Mirada High who also played for the U.S. national team at the under-15, U-17 and U-18 levels, wasted little time achieving the latter as well.

The UC Irvine men's basketball team's gaping hole in the middle left by the transfer of three-year starter Eric Wise to USC looks a little less huge with Coach Russell Turner's announcement Monday of the addition of Fresno State transfer John Ryan. Ryan, a 6-foot-10, 250-pound center, played in 17 games for the Bulldogs as a freshman last season. He produced 19 points, 18 rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots. He will sit out the 2011-12 season, per NCAA transfer rules, then have three years of eligibility remaining for the Anteaters.

LOS ANGELES — First came the breaks, then the rare game-breaker. UC Irvine junior designated hitter Jordan Leyland hit a three-run home run to cap a five-run first and the Anteaters went on to defeat Fresno State, 12-6, in the opening baseball game of the NCAA Los Angeles Regional on Friday at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Leyland added a two-run single to post a career-high five runs batted in as UCI (40-16) posted 10 runs, half of those unearned, against All-American starter Greg Gonzalez, who came in with an 11-0 record and a 1.43 earned-run average.

UC Irvine All-American candidate Matt Summers will be the starting pitcher when the Anteaters open NCAA Regional play Friday against Fresno State at 2 p.m., UCI Coach Mike Gillespie said Tuesday. Gillespie said determining who would start subsequent games in the four-team, double-elimination Los Angeles Regional that also includes UCLA and San Francisco, would be decided later, based upon the opponent. Summers, a junior right-hander who threw a no-hitter in his final regular-season start, was named Big West Conference Pitcher of the Year on Monday.

It didn't take UC Irvine senior Brian Hernandez long to identify the potential for revenge associated with the Anteaters' placement in the NCAA Los Angeles Regional hosted by UCLA was announced Monday morning. Hernandez, the baseball team's star third baseman and closer, noticed quickly that by winning the four-team regional that also includes Fresno State (40-14) and San Francisco, UCI (39-16) could get a crack at Virginia, the No. 1 national seed, in the subsequent super regionals.

Collin Woods, the Arizona 5A-II Division Player of the Year last season who is ranked No. 48 among high school point guards by ESPN.Com, picked UC Irvine in the November signing period for men's basketball. The 6-foot-2 Woods averaged 17.5 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.0 steals per game last season at Horizon High in Scottsdale. He chose UCI over Air Force, Arizona State, Colorado, Colorado State, San Diego State, Fresno State and UTEP. Another early signee for the Anteaters is 7-0 center Thanos Thodos from Greece.

Rhett Soliday travels about an eighth of a mile to his office every day. But having now settled into his seat as the Vanguard University men's basketball coach, the former UC Irvine and Concordia University assistant has learned the Lions' program has miles to go to get where he wants it to be. A process as much as a journey, believes Soliday, who turns 30 in July and is prepared to dig in for the long haul. "I think there are a lot of things that need to get done here," said Soliday, hired April 5 to replace Fred Litzenberger, who resigned after four seasons.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL NAIA Tournament SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Vanguard University closed out pool play with a 25-21, 25-14, 25-17 loss to Cal Baptist Thursday and was eliminated. The Lions dropped all three matches in Pool B, including a 13-25, 26-24, 25-18, 25-19 setback to Mobile of Alabama Wednesday at the Tyson Events Center. Heather DeJongh, Kelsey Wirt and Newport Harbor High product Jamie Heenan all had nine kills apiece for the Lions Thursday.