PCAA Baseball Previews : UCI’s Gerakos to Apply Shock Treatment

Mike Gerakos of UC Irvine hopes to raise a few eyebrows during the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. baseball season, which begins tonight.

The more people the Anteater coach can surprise--or maybe even shock--the better.

It’s all part of the master plan under which Gerakos disdains traditional baseball strategy in an effort to transform a group of light-hitting but over-achieving Anteaters into title contenders.

Gerakos will have his slowest runner stealing and his cleanup hitter bunting. He order a hit-and-run with two strikes on the batter. He’ll have runners gambling on the basepaths.

His offense will be equal parts Gene Mauch and Billy Martin. Call it Little Billy Ball.

Opponents, take note: Expect the unexpected.

If Gerakos fails, baseball purists everywhere--those who say you should stick to the book and play the percentages--probably will laugh.

But so what? There isn’t much to lose.

If the Anteaters were to sit back, rely on their batters to hit home runs and their pitchers to shut down opponents, they would finish among the bottom three teams in the conference.

But if they can get decent pitching and solid defense, and if they can make things happen on offense, they might have a chance.

“We have to do a lot of little things right to be successful,” said Gerakos, who is in his seventh year at Irvine. “We can’t wait for the big inning, and we can’t rely on eight singles to score four runs. We have to steal, hit and run and play the short game exceptionally well.”

Any hint of a long game would help. In 26 nonconference games, the Anteaters (12-13-1) have hit only 10 home runs. First baseman John Seeburger leads the team with four, and shortstop Chris Gallego is the only player with two.

“There’s got to be 100 guys in the country who have more home runs than our ballclub,” Gerakos said. “The only fence we hit it over is the backstop. Sometimes that’s a problem.”

But that’s not to say Irvine is a poor hitting team. The Anteaters enter conference play at home against Fresno State tonight with a .304 team batting average, which ranks third in the PCAA and only four points below the leader, Nevada Las Vegas (.308).

Don Nicholson, who replaced the injured Doug Kline at catcher, is hitting .500 (9 for 18) in nine games. Kline was hitting .340 before he hurt his thumb.

Mike Fay (.384, three triples), Frank Spates (.360), Mike Sugar (.353, 8 doubles, 18 RBIs, 20 runs scored) and Seeburger (.317, 20 RBIs) are having fine offensive seasons. The Anteaters have good speed with Fay, Mark Webster, Marcus Robinson, Stacy Parker, Rory Valasek and Jeff Oberdank.

“We don’t have the one guy who is going to get a lot of attention for his offensive prowess,” Gerakos said. “We have a group of players who are good in their own right, just not spectacular.

“But with our big ballpark, and with us playing so many night games, it’s almost to our advantage not to play for the long ball, because the ball isn’t going to carry well at night.”

Irvine pitchers are hoping that the same will hold true when they are on the mound. The last thing they need is for opponents to start hitting home runs in bunches.

They have done a respectable job in that department, having allowed only 16 homers this season. But that’s not to say the Anteaters have a very good pitching staff.

“When you look at our team earned-run average, it opens up your eyes,” Gerakos said.

Actually, it whacks you over the head. It’s 6.08, which ranks seventh in the conference. Opponents are hitting .302 against the Anteaters, averaging 10 hits and 7 runs a game.

The Anteaters have lost three games by 13 or more runs, and they have been outscored, 185-159. In four of their victories, they have allowed six or more runs.

Gabby Rodriguez, a senior left-hander, is the only starter with an ERA below 6.00. He has been Irvine’s most effective and consistent pitcher, with a 4-2 record and 4.18 ERA. The other three starters, juniors Craig Brink and Dean Douty and freshman Jeff Haack, have combined for a 7-5 record, but Haack’s ERA is 15.22.

“We’ve gotten a few good pitching performances, but our bad ones have been disastrous,” Gerakos said. “We don’t have a power pitcher who’s going to strike a lot of people out. The other team will have the opportunity to put the ball in play and get base hits, so we’re going to have to have a player there to catch it or we’ll be in trouble.”

That’s putting it simply, but it couldn’t be more true. The Anteaters don’t have much pitching, so they’ll have to play great defense. They don’t have much offensive power, so they’ll have to scratch and claw for most of their runs.

That won’t be simple. But it’s what they have to do.

“We’re not at a point where we’re going to pull out all stops,” Gerakos said. “But we’re going to have to play our percentages as opposed to baseball’s.”