Since kick-starting its baseball program in 2002 after a 10-year hiatus, the Anteaters have usually played in the shadow of Cal State Fullerton, which is graced with one of the best college baseball programs in the country. Not this year. UC Irvine's Anteaters advanced to their second College World Series, after winning three of four games in the Corvallis Regional and toppling fourth-ranked Oklahoma State in the super regional. It won its first game in the world series, beating sixth-ranked Texas, 3-1, before losing to fifth-ranked Vanderbilt and dropping a 1-0 heartbreaker to Texas. The Anteaters were paced by Connor Spencer (.364 batting average) and Taylor Sparks (.506 slugging percentage) on offense, and Andrew Morales (11-2, 1.53 ERA) and Sam Moore (21 saves) on the mound. Most of the key players, with the notable exception of Morales, a senior, return next year.
