Briefs: UCI men’s soccer picked second

The UC Irvine men’s soccer team has been picked to finished tied for second in South Division in the Big West Conference coaches preseason poll.

Anteaters seniors Michael Sperber and Thomas Janjigian were named to the preseason all-conference team.

UCI produced 20 points, tied with Cal State Northridge in the four-team South Division that is topped by Cal State Fullerton (31).

UC Riverside is fourth with nine points.

UC Santa Barbara (32) was picked atop the North Division that also includes Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (19), UC Davis (18) and Sacramento State (11).

UCI finished third in the South Division last season, when it compiled a 5-11-4 record, 3-5-2 in conference.

Sperber, a defensive midfielder, is a two-time preseason all-conference honoree. He was first-team All-Big West in 2014 and received second-team laurels last season.

Sperber started all 18 games he played in as a junior, posting one assist.

Janjigian, a 6-foot-3 defender, was one of four UCI players to start all 20 games in 2015. He had one one assist on his way to second-team all-conference recognition.

Coach Chris Volk’s Anteaters open the season Aug. 26 against Notre Dame at the Fighting Irish’s own tournament in South Bend, Ind.

— From staff reports

UCI baseball honorees

Adam Alcantara, who will be a senior for the UC Irvine baseball team next spring, as well as incoming Anteaters freshman Christian Koss earned first-team All-West Coast League honors for summer competition.

Konnor Zickefoos, who has transferred to UCI after earning Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year laurels as a freshman third baseman at Chapman University last season, and Cameron Bishop, who will be a senior in 2017, were named to the second team.

Koss, out of JW North High in Riverside, played second base for the Yakima Valley Pippins. He hit .306 with 22 runs batted in and 12 stolen bases in 13 attempts in 180 at-bats over 45 WCL games. He had one home run and scored 28 runs, though he did commit 16 errors and struck out 34 times.

Alcantara, a first-team All-Big West Conference performer as a junior, hit .333 with three home runs and 16 RBIs in 114 at-bats for the Victoria (British Columbia, Canada) HarbourCats.

Bishop, a left-handed pitcher voted by scouts as the top prospect in the WCL All-Star Game, posted a 1.45 earned-run average in 31 innings for the Corvallis (Ore.) Knights, who won the WCL crown.

Bishop, who made six starts and appeared in seven games, struck out 43 and allowed just 18 hits to fashion a 1-3 record. He started the deciding third game of the league championship series against Bellingham on Tuesday {Aug. 16}. He left the game in the fifth inning, trailing, 3-1, but his team rallied for a 6-4 triumph to capture the best-of-three series.

Bishop also had five hits and three runs batted in while appearing in 12 games as a hitter.

Zickefoose, who hit .423 with seven home runs and 38 RBIs for Chapman last season, hit .300 with 16 RBIs in 120 at-bats for the Gresham (Ore.) GreyWolves this summer.

— Barry Faulkner