UC IRVINE NOTEBOOK : Goodcase Trying to Come to Grips With Season

It was the sort of day to remember for a long time, a springtime Saturday when Mike Goodcase hit a grand slam, a double and drove in six runs for UC Irvine.

It was March 30, the day before Easter, and some of Goodcase’s family sat in the stands to share the glory.

The only problem was the final score: Goodcase’s team lost, 22-12.

“We got ripped,” Goodcase said.

Cal State Fullerton dominated UC Irvine, winning two of three games in that series, but Goodcase did some dominating of his own.

He went eight for 11 against Fullerton, with a double, a triple and a grand slam, lifting his average 48 percentage points.

Fast forward to the next weekend. Irvine is swept by Fresno State. This time, Goodcase goes two for 10.

“That’s what makes it so frustrating,” said Goodcase, who is batting .348 and has hit safely in 12 of the past 13 games. “I’m seeing the ball well. The difference is just a few inches. But this is a game of inches.”

Goodcase went two-for-the-weekend. Granted, one of those two hits was a home run. But it came in another Irvine loss, this one Sunday by a 6-3 score to the Bulldogs.

“You go home and have these mixed emotions,” Goodcase said. “You feel mixed up inside.”

Irvine is 17-20 and 1-5 in the Big West Conference.

“We had real high expectations,” Goodcase said. “I would never have expected us to be in the situation we’re in at the beginning of the season, or even a couple of months ago.”

The Anteaters have ability, but they suffer from “little lapses,” Goodcase said.

“Some of it’s concentration,” he said. “Things start to carry over. An error on defense affects the pitcher. If the pitchers are having a bad day the hitters start trying to do too much.”

But even when Goodcase’s performance earned him Big West player of the week honors last week, it wasn’t enough.

“It’s real frustrating. My main objective is for the team,” he said. “Even last weekend, the honors I got, it takes away from it somewhat.”

Brian Pajer, a All-American in swimming at Irvine in 1989 and ‘90, has qualified for the University Games in England this summer.

Pajer qualified in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1 minute 3.35 seconds at the senior nationals at Seattle last weekend. He finished seventh. Pajer was a two-time Big West Conference swimmer of the year.

Irvine’s track teams will be home for a three-way meet against Fresno State and San Diego State at the UCI track stadium Saturday, with field events beginning at 11:30 a.m. and the first running event at 1 p.m.

Last weekend, the Irvine women’s 4 x 400 relay team set a school record at the Sun Angel Classic in Tempe, Ariz. The relay team of sophomore Desiree Bracey, senior Maria Akraka, freshman Gniesha Dinwiddie and sophomore Shelly Tochluk finished in 3:44.85, taking third place and breaking the school record of 3:45.45 set last year.

In another meet, the Fresno Relays, sophomore Traci Goodrich won the 5000-meter race in 17:06.86.

Anteater Notes

With four matches remaining in the season, the men’s volleyball team is 4-14 overall, but ranked 18th nationally by the Tachikari coaches top 20 poll. . . . Mike Roberts, a junior who has won 14 of his past 16 matches, has moved up to 29th in the national collegiate tennis rankings. Freshman Brett Hansen-Dent, who Friday defeated 10th-ranked Jose Luis Noriega of the University of San Diego, is ranked 69th. Freshman Brett Stern has won six consecutive matches and eight of his past nine. . . . Ali Yoshimoto has won 12 consecutive matches and 13 of her past 14 for the women’s tennis team, which lost to 24th-ranked USC Tuesday, 6-3. . . . The baseball team plays the University of San Diego at Anteater Field at 7 tonight before traveling to Stockton for a three-game Big West series against Pacific.