UC Irvine Makes Statement With Weekend Sweep Over UC Santa Barbara

Image credit: UC Irvine coach Ben Orloff (right) (Photo Courtesy of UC Irvine Athletics)

Ben Orloff doesn’t talk much about 2023 anymore.

“It’s in the past,” the seventh-year UC Irvine head coach said as he cracked a wry smile.

But that doesn’t mean he’s forgotten that season—or, specifically, the way it ended.

Left out of the NCAA Tournament despite winning 38 games, a strong Big West finish and top-50 RPI, UC Irvine was a team that, in Orloff’s words, was “deserving” of reaching the postseason. But, in the committee’s eyes, it wasn’t enough. Not with the squeeze on at-large bids. Not for a mid-major. Not for a program that couldn’t leave any doubt.

That phrase—no doubt—has become a quiet refrain inside the Anteater clubhouse.

SEE THE RANKINGS

It’s how 17th-ranked Irvine builds its schedule, stacks its rotation and calibrates its urgency. It shows up in the offseason, when opponents are penciled in years in advance. It lives in the margins, where programs like Orloff’s are expected to win and win loudly.

Because for mid-majors, the room for error isn’t slim. It’s practically nonexistent.

“We can’t leave any doubt about our resume,” Orloff said.

That lesson has calcified in Orloff’s mind and embedded itself into the ethos of his program. There’s no room for soft spots, no luxury of coasting. Every loss feels like the loss. And every win has to mean something.

Doubt, even a sliver of it, is enough to end a season. So the Anteaters play like there’s none left to give.

“I’m always concerned, for lack of a better word, that the kids that are here don’t realize they’re as good as [players at] name-your-school,” Orloff said. “That’s why we played Nebraska. It’s why we played Vanderbilt. It’s why we went to Texas Tech. Just to get that belief—because we have really good players. And when we play well, we can play with anybody in the country. We need to believe that, and we need people outside our program who make decisions on the postseason to believe it, too.”

They’ve had to fight for it, but that belief is now reality.

Irvine’s emphatic three-game weekend sweep of perennial power UC Santa Barbara wasn’t just a series win. It was a declaration.

Behind the electric arms of righthanders Riley Kelly and Max Martin and lefty Ricky Ojeda, UC Irvine suffocated the Gauchos’ bats. At the plate, shortstop Colin Yeaman and center fielder Jacob McCombs set the tone with offensive firepower that left no doubt about the depth Orloff has cultivated.

The performances were as convincing as they were cathartic—a signal that this team, built from new starters and anchored by resilience, is far more dangerous than the one that was left out just two years ago.

“It’s easy to get caught up in all the talent we lost,” Orloff said. “We won 45 games [last year], had four position players go in the top nine rounds … But the talent level [this year] is really good. And it’s been impressive how quickly they’ve turned that into playing well in games.”

That’s not a platitude—it’s a subtle defiance. Because at programs like UC Irvine, wins alone don’t guarantee an invitation to the dance.

In a shifting college baseball landscape where the SEC and ACC continue to expand and dominate the at-large conversation, mid-majors like the Anteaters live on the edge.

“You try to schedule as aggressively as you can,” Orloff said, “but you also have to win them.”

Even that’s not so simple. Programs often lock in series matchups years in advance. Guess wrong on the strength of a future opponent and your RPI—already under constant scrutiny—can take a hit.

That’s why Irvine schedules heavy. This season’s non-conference slate included Nebraska, Vanderbilt, Texas Tech and Louisiana. The Anteaters will also take a break from Big West action in the first week of April to take on fellow West Coast power Oregon State, which is currently ranked No. 9.

The pressure of those matchups manifests differently at Irvine than it might at a major-conference school as there’s no room for narrative-driven bids. The only way in is through the front door, and even then, you better not knock too quietly.

That’s what made this weekend’s sweep of Santa Barbara, which featured wins of 10-0, 9-3 and 9-4 and improved the Anteaters to 17-5 overall and 8-1 in Big West play, so potent. Not just because the Gauchos were undefeated at home last year. Not just because it was a rivalry matchup between the Big West’s top contenders. But because of what it signified.

“It’s huge,” Orloff said after the Friday night opener. “Riley [Kelly] gave us a great start. And when you’re facing [UC Santa Barbara ace and likely top 10 pick Tyler] Bremner, runs are going to be at a premium. You need great starting pitching—and that’s what we got.”

Kelly’s ascent has been years in the making. Injury setbacks stunted his early development, but Orloff beamed when talking about the righthander’s evolution.

“All he’s done is work and improve,” Orloff said. “His ceiling is so high, and I think we all got to see a glimpse of it tonight”

And that’s just the start. Yeaman, the junior college standout now rising up draft boards, has quickly become one of the most dangerous players in the Big West with a batting average that’s hovered around .400 and a team-best seven home runs.

“Most nights, regardless of who he’s played, he’s looked like the best player on the field,” Orloff said.

When the lights were brightest, Yeaman delivered. So did McCombs. So did the arms. And so did a team that replaced nearly half its starting lineup from a year ago.

What remains constant? The chip on their shoulder. The urgency. The impossible math of mid-major postseason hopes.

“Every loss is really significant,” Orloff said. “It’s not pressure, but it’s heightened focus. And I think we (the coaches) probably realize the stakes more than the players, but it’s there. It’s real.”

Hosting a regional would change that equation. The last time Irvine did that was in 2009 when Orloff himself was at shortstop and recorded a postseason hit off now-MLB veteran and college baseball legend Stephen Strasburg.

That memory isn’t lost on him. Neither is the meaning of what lies ahead.

This isn’t just a team trying to win games. This is a program with scars and lessons, standing tall in a system that can overlook schools like theirs. And that’s why Orloff won’t let 2023 fade quietly.

It sharpened him. It sharpened his staff. And it sharpened a roster now proving—one game, one sweep, one series at a time—that it’s better to force the conversation than hope to be included in it.

“We can’t leave any doubt,” Orloff said.