UCI picked second

UC Irvine was picked to finish second behind defending champion Cal State Fullerton in the Big West Conference preseason coaches poll announced Tuesday.

The Anteaters, coming off a 43-18 season in which they finished second in conference and advanced to an NCAA Super Regional, received 70 points and three first-place votes.

Cal State Fullerton collected 76 points and six first-place votes.

Long Beach State (58 points), Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (54), UC Riverside (44), UC Santa Barbara (37), Pacific (25), UC Davis (23) and Cal State Northridge (18) rounded out the poll.

Coach Mike Gillespie’s Anteaters, who have made the NCAA regionals each of the last six seasons, open the season Feb. 17 against Alabama State in the Urban Invitational in Houston.

UCI is ranked No. 29 in the Collegiate Baseball preseason poll.

— From staff reports