Colleges angle for baseball playoffs

UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton have clinched their spots. So too, it appears, has Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Meantime, UCLA and Loyola Marymount this weekend will get the chance to make their cases for inclusion in the NCAA baseball playoffs. UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara and perhaps Long Beach State also hope to make last-minute statements.

The NCAA will announce the 16 regional playoff sites Sunday and reveal the 64-team field, including eight seeded teams, on Monday.

Big West Conference champion Irvine, atop the Baseball America rankings for the fifth consecutive week, appears on track to be a regional site and possibly gain a national seeding. The Anteaters, 41-12 overall and 20-1 in the Big West, begin a three-game series at Santa Barbara on Friday.

If Irvine wins the series, it can improve a Ratings Percentage Index score that dropped from eighth to 18th nationally after sweeping UC Davis last weekend. If Santa Barbara sweeps, the Gauchos (28-21, 10-11) will lobby for a playoff spot.

Fourth-ranked Fullerton (39-14, 14-7 in the Big West) plays host to Long Beach State (25-26, 11-10). Fullerton, with the best RPI in college baseball, will almost assuredly be a regional host.

“I like how we’re playing right now,” Fullerton Coach Dave Serrano said. “We think we’re worthy of hosting and a national seed.”

No. 19-ranked San Luis Obispo (36-17, 13-8) plays Riverside (31-19, 10-11) in another season-ending Big West series.

In the Pacific 10 Conference, UCLA’s series at third-ranked Arizona State could determine the Bruins’ playoff fate.

UCLA fell to 26-27 by dropping two of three nonconference games against Fullerton last weekend and losing to Irvine in 10 innings Tuesday. But the Bruins are 14-10 in the Pac-10, trailing only Arizona State and Washington State. If UCLA can sweep or win the series at Tempe, Ariz., it might be enough to gain a bid.

USC (26-27, 11-13 in the Pac-10) concludes its season at California and will probably be out of the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.

Loyola Marymount (30-26) can secure its first playoff bid since 2000 by winning the best-of-three West Coast Conference championship series at Gonzaga.

The Lions, under first-year Coach Jason Gill, lost two games at Gonzaga last weekend but won the series finale to clinch a return trip to Spokane, Wash., for this weekend’s championship series.

Gill does not expect a second-place finish to be good enough for a playoff bid.

“We have to win to get in,” he said.

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gary.klein@latimes.com