Two of The Big West’s premier baseball programs hit the spotlight as UC Irvine is set to host UC Santa Barbara at Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark on Sunday, April 19 at 2 p.m. PT in a nationally-televised contest on ESPN2.
UC Irvine is the reigning Big West regular-season champion with a 24-6 conference record, going 43-17 overall. The Anteaters were runners-up in the 2025 Big West Baseball Championship but received an at-large bid to the national tournament and defeated the likes of Fresno State and Arizona State in consecutive elimination games, before falling to host UCLA in the Los Angeles regional final.
In 2025, UC Santa Barbara tied for fourth in the league standings with a 16-14 conference mark, going 36-18 overall. The Gauchos qualified for The Big West Championship and were eliminated by Hawai‘i.
The Anteaters have won two Big West regular-season crowns (2021 and 2025) and have appeared in the national championship thrice (2021, 2024, 2025) in the last half decade.
The Gauchos have captured three of the last six awarded Big West regular-season titles (2019, 2022, 2024) and have appeared in the NCAA Tournament four times (2019, 2021, 2022, 2024) during that span.
UC Irvine returns two All-Big West First Team members from last season in junior left-handed pitcher Ricky Ojeda and junior right-handed pitcher Trevor Hansen. Ojeda was named a Preseason All-American by two outlets in Perfect Game (First Team) and D1Baseball (Third Team) after going 13-1 with a 3.55 ERA and 83 strikeouts over 66.0 innings in 2025. Hansen went 9-3 with a 3.30 ERA and 95 strikeouts over 95.1 innings. Redshirt junior infielder Frankie Carney and redshirt junior left-handed pitcher Ryder Brooks were All-Big West Honorable Mention selections last season.
UC Santa Barbara brings back sophomore right-handed pitcher Jackson Flora, an All-Big West First Team member a year ago with a resume of 6-3, 3.60 ERA, 86 strikeouts and 75.0 innings pitched. Flora was tabbed as a First-Team Preseason All-American by Perfect Game and is expected to be a top prospect in the upcoming 2026 MLB Draft by MLB Pipeline. The Gauchos also return junior infielder Jonanthan Mendez, an All-Big West Second Team selection last season with a .314 batting average, 11 home runs, 40 RBI and 39 runs scored. Redshirt junior infielder Xavier Esquer, senior catcher Nate Vargas and sophomore outfielder Rowan Kelly are also key pieces who were named 2025 All-Big West Honorable Mention.
UC Irvine swept last season’s three-game series, 3-0, in Santa Barbara, Calif. en route to their regular-season title by scores of 10-0, 9-3 and 9-4.
The 2026 Big West Preseason Coaches' Poll is set to be announced on Friday, Feb. 6 and the season commences next week on Friday, Feb. 13, with all 11 teams taking to the field to open the year. Conference play begins on Friday, March 13, with the season culminating in the 2026 Big West Baseball Championship.
A variety of regular-season games and every contest in the Championship are slated to air digitally to subscribers on ESPN+ with over 4,000 games on tap nationwide.
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