Fresno State

WOMEN'S SOCCER UC Irvine 2, Fresno State 0 FRESNO - Sophomore Victoria Russo scored with an assist from sophomore Jasmine Nickelberry in the 27th minute for all the visiting Anteaters would need in the exhibition match on Friday. Senior Zoya Farzeneh added an unassisted goal in the 67th minute for UCI, for which junior Jennifer Randazzo made three saves to preserve the shutout, her second in two exhibition games. UCI posted an 11-8 edge in shots. The Anteaters open the regular season at home against No. 20-ranked Cal on Friday at 7 p.m.

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.

Ramsey Hufford's dream is to play in the NFL. If that doesn't pan out, he wants an education to fall back on. Hufford, Newport Harbor High's 6-foot-4, 300-pound lineman, said on Tuesday he verbally committed to the UC Davis football program. He said academics played a key role in his decision to join the Aggies, an NCAA Football Championship Subdivision program, instead of Fresno State, which competes in the higher NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision. Fresno State and UC Davis each gave Hufford offers before his senior season at Newport Harbor, where he went on to excel at left tackle and defensive tackle.

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.

Ramsey Hufford's dream is to play in the NFL. If that doesn't pan out, he wants an education to fall back on. Hufford, Newport Harbor High's 6-foot-4, 300-pound lineman, said on Tuesday he verbally committed to the UC Davis football program. He said academics played a key role in his decision to join the Aggies, an NCAA Football Championship Subdivision program, instead of Fresno State, which competes in the higher NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision. Fresno State and UC Davis each gave Hufford offers before his senior season at Newport Harbor, where he went on to excel at left tackle and defensive tackle.

With two teams firing in threes and draining the majority of their shots, including two three-pointers in the final 2.1 seconds, the most glaring miss was the opportunity to begin what may be a landmark UC Irvine men's basketball season with a victory Friday night. The Anteaters, who led for most of the contest and never trailed by more than one, fell to visiting Fresno State, 98-97, when senior guard Allen Huddleston banked in a leaning, 42-foot three-pointer just before the buzzer in overtime, the last of 25 combined three-pointers in the nonconference season opener for both teams at the Bren Events Center.

UC Irvine Pregame Vs. Fresno State Friday 7 p.m. at Bren Events Center The Anteaters open Coach Russell Turner's fourth season at the helm against a former Big West Conference rival, now competing in the Mountain West Conference. UCI, coming off a 21-16 season, defeated Division III representative Chapman, 89-61, in its only exhibition on Saturday at the Bren Events Center. Senior guard Chris McNealy led the way with 17 points, while John Ryan, a 6-10 junior who began his career at Fresno State, had 15 points and seven rebounds.

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL UC Irvine Tournament IRVINE — UC Irvine was in the drivers' seat of the UC Irvine Tournament with a 2-0 record but Fresno State won the final three sets in a 24-26, 25-23, 26-24, 26-24 decision to defeat the Anteaters Saturday at the Bren Events Center. UCI (9-5), Fresno State (6-6) and American University each finished with 2-1 records and the title was decided by sets with the Bulldogs posting an 8-4 set record to claim the championship. UCI finished at 7-6 while American was 7-7. Aly Squires and Shelley Anderson were named to the all-tournament team for the Anteaters.

WOMEN'S SOCCER UC Irvine 2, Fresno State 0 FRESNO - Sophomore Victoria Russo scored with an assist from sophomore Jasmine Nickelberry in the 27th minute for all the visiting Anteaters would need in the exhibition match on Friday. Senior Zoya Farzeneh added an unassisted goal in the 67th minute for UCI, for which junior Jennifer Randazzo made three saves to preserve the shutout, her second in two exhibition games. UCI posted an 11-8 edge in shots. The Anteaters open the regular season at home against No. 20-ranked Cal on Friday at 7 p.m.

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.