Latest news with #UC Irvine
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Chase Call hits 2 of 5 UC Irvine home runs and Anteaters stay alive with win over Arizona State
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chase Call hit two of UC Irvine's five home runs and the Anteaters defeated Arizona State 11-6 on Sunday to advance to the championship round of the Los Angeles Regional. Alonso Reyes, Jacob McCombs and James Castagnola also went deep for UC Irvine. Advertisement The Anteaters (43-16) advanced to play UCLA later Sunday. A UCLA win would wrap up the home regional for the Bruins. A UC Irvine win would force a deciding game on Monday. Call and Reyes hit two-run home runs in a four-run fourth inning that gave the Anteaters a 6-1 lead. UC Irvine starter Ryder Brooks had a 7-2 lead heading to the bottom of the sixth but was pulled after allowing a two-run double by Brandon Compton. Ricky Ojeda replaced Brooks and gave up an RBI double by Beckett Zavorek to make it 7-5. Brooks was charged with five runs. The Anteaters responded in the top of the seventh, scoring four runs that included a two-run home run by Castagnola. Advertisement Brooks (7-3) got the win. Ojeda and David Utagawa combined to allow one run in 3 2/3 innings. Derek Schaefer (3-1) allowed five runs in three-plus innings for the Sun Devils (36-24). ___ AP college sports:
Associated Press
3 days ago
- General
- Associated Press
James Castagnola's 3-run homer sparks UC Irvine in 8-3 victory over Fresno State in elimination game
LOS ANGELES (AP) — James Castagnola hit a two-out three-run homer in the second inning and UC Irvine never looked back in an 8-3 victory over Fresno State on Saturday in an elimination game of the Los Angeles Regional. No. 2 seed UC Irvine (42-16) awaits the loser of the nightcap between top-seeded host UCLA and No. 3 seed Arizona State in a Sunday elimination game. Fresno State finishes 31-29. Castagnola's homer came after Fresno State starter Aidan Cremarosa (6-6) hit Jacob McCombs leading off before walking Blake Penso with one out. McCombs hit a two-out solo shot in the third and Alonso Reyes walked and scored on a double play in the fourth for a 5-0 advantage. Lee Trevino singled in an unearned run that Anteaters reliever David Utagawa (2-0) inherited from starter Riley Kelly in the fourth and Eddie Saldivar hit a two-out solo homer off Utagawa in the fifth to get the Bulldogs within 5-2. McCombs, who went 3 for 4, singled in a run in the seventh and Colin Yeaman and Anthony Martinez had RBIs in the ninth for UC Irvine. Justin Stransky had an RBI single in the eighth off Anteaters reliever Max Martin, who replaced Utagawa after he allowed a leadoff single to Saldivar. Kelly surrendered two runs — one earned — on four hits in 4 2/3 innings. Martin allowed a hit in two scoreless innings to close it out. Cremarosa yielded five runs in six innings. Drew Townson followed and gave up three runs while retiring four batters. ___ AP college sports:
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
James Castagnola's 3-run homer sparks UC Irvine in 8-3 victory over Fresno State in elimination game
LOS ANGELES (AP) — James Castagnola hit a two-out three-run homer in the second inning and UC Irvine never looked back in an 8-3 victory over Fresno State on Saturday in an elimination game of the Los Angeles Regional. No. 2 seed UC Irvine (42-16) awaits the loser of the nightcap between top-seeded host UCLA and No. 3 seed Arizona State in a Sunday elimination game. Fresno State finishes 31-29. Advertisement Castagnola's homer came after Fresno State starter Aidan Cremarosa (6-6) hit Jacob McCombs leading off before walking Blake Penso with one out. McCombs hit a two-out solo shot in the third and Alonso Reyes walked and scored on a double play in the fourth for a 5-0 advantage. Lee Trevino singled in an unearned run that Anteaters reliever David Utagawa (2-0) inherited from starter Riley Kelly in the fourth and Eddie Saldivar hit a two-out solo homer off Utagawa in the fifth to get the Bulldogs within 5-2. McCombs, who went 3 for 4, singled in a run in the seventh and Colin Yeaman and Anthony Martinez had RBIs in the ninth for UC Irvine. Justin Stransky had an RBI single in the eighth off Anteaters reliever Max Martin, who replaced Utagawa after he allowed a leadoff single to Saldivar. Advertisement Kelly surrendered two runs — one earned — on four hits in 4 2/3 innings. Martin allowed a hit in two scoreless innings to close it out. Cremarosa yielded five runs in six innings. Drew Townson followed and gave up three runs while retiring four batters. ___ AP college sports:
Washington Post
19-05-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
CalHOPE Courage Award winners Bermudez, Wang overcame physical and mental health challenges
Will Bermudez was simply trying to chase down a pop fly when his life changed forever. In May 2019, the 17-year-old Air Force baseball commit collided with a teammate during a travel baseball game. The collision left Bermudez temporarily paralyzed from the waist down. He also temporarily lost five years of memory due to a traumatic brain injury. Bermudez suffered his first epileptic seizure two months after the injury and was ultimately diagnosed with myoclonic juvenile epilepsy. The Air Force rescinded its offer for him to play baseball there as a result. 'Going to the Air Force Academy, I wanted to be an aeronautical engineer. I wanted to build aircraft and then be able to fly the jets,' Bermudez said. 'But after my injury, math and chemistry and that stuff just didn't click how it used to before.' A difficult path forward awaited Bermudez, but his comeback culminated in a return to the diamond. Bermudez, now a redshirt senior at UC Irvine, and Mya Wang, a junior at Cal, have been selected as the recipients of the 2024-25 CalHOPE Courage Award. Wang will be presented her award Wednesday before the San Francisco Giants' game against the Kansas City Royals as part of Mental Health Awareness Month. Bermudez will receive his trophy during baseball practice this week. Presented monthly since February 2022, the CalHOPE Courage Award honors student-athletes at California colleges and universities who have overcome stress, anxiety, and mental trauma associated with personal hardships and adversity. Wang and Bermudez were selected from the 14 student-athletes who were honored throughout the year as those whose journeys best represent the spirit of the award. Bermudez engaged in extensive rehabilitation, as well as developed coping skills through mental health counseling. Steadily, Bermudez improved. He first enrolled at UC Davis as a student, and then transferred to Mount San Antonio College to give baseball another crack. Bermudez impressed on the diamond and got on the radar of UC Irvine's coaching staff. He transferred there in 2023, and became a starter at second base. 'I have a different gratitude towards the sport and towards life in general,' Bermudez said. 'There was a time where I thought I was never going to be able to walk again.' Bermudez is now majoring in psychology with a minor in sociology thanks to his personal experiences and is dedicated to helping people struggling with mental health challenges. Wang faced her own challenges when she was just two weeks away from graduation from University High School in Irvine. She was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. 'I felt very blindsided by it,' Wang said. 'Hearing the words, the doctor telling me I have cancer — mentally, I don't think I processed it fast because I just never expected to hear those words.' After her diagnosis, Wang faced a tumultuous two-year journey that included a pair of surgeries and much time spent soul-searching and learning mental coping skills. Wang withdrew from the lacrosse team as a freshman at Cal to focus on her healing and carve a path forward. There were times she wondered if she would ever come back to the sport and instead quit lacrosse. Yet Wang persisted. After recovering from her first surgery, Wang played for team Hong Kong at the 2022 World Championships, which reignited her drive to return to Cal's team. 'I was like, 'This is a commitment I made. I'm going to follow through on it and see how I feel,'' Wang said of the 2022 championships. 'And that was a big turning point for me. That in combination with reading all those self-help books and building upon my mental health.' Unfortunately for Wang, she required a second surgery. This time, though, she was much better prepared because of the coping mechanisms she had already developed. Wang ultimately returned to the Cal lacrosse team in 2023. Though Wang has since called it quits on her college lacrosse career, she couldn't be more proud of her comeback. 'It made me realize I don't have to give up,' Wang said. 'I still have so much ahead of me. Just because I had something happen to me doesn't mean I need to give up all my goals. If anything, it's more motivation to prove that I still have the ability to do that, even if something challenging happens to me.'
Associated Press
19-05-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
CalHOPE Courage Award winners Bermudez, Wang overcame physical and mental health challenges
Will Bermudez was simply trying to chase down a pop fly when his life changed forever. In May 2019, the 17-year-old Air Force baseball commit collided with a teammate during a travel baseball game. The collision left Bermudez temporarily paralyzed from the waist down. He also temporarily lost five years of memory due to a traumatic brain injury. Bermudez suffered his first epileptic seizure two months after the injury and was ultimately diagnosed with myoclonic juvenile epilepsy. The Air Force rescinded its offer for him to play baseball there as a result. 'Going to the Air Force Academy, I wanted to be an aeronautical engineer. I wanted to build aircraft and then be able to fly the jets,' Bermudez said. 'But after my injury, math and chemistry and that stuff just didn't click how it used to before.' A difficult path forward awaited Bermudez, but his comeback culminated in a return to the diamond. Bermudez, now a redshirt senior at UC Irvine, and Mya Wang, a junior at Cal, have been selected as the recipients of the 2024-25 CalHOPE Courage Award. Wang will be presented her award Wednesday before the San Francisco Giants' game against the Kansas City Royals as part of Mental Health Awareness Month. Bermudez will receive his trophy during baseball practice this week. Presented monthly since February 2022, the CalHOPE Courage Award honors student-athletes at California colleges and universities who have overcome stress, anxiety, and mental trauma associated with personal hardships and adversity. Wang and Bermudez were selected from the 14 student-athletes who were honored throughout the year as those whose journeys best represent the spirit of the award. Bermudez engaged in extensive rehabilitation, as well as developed coping skills through mental health counseling. Steadily, Bermudez improved. He first enrolled at UC Davis as a student, and then transferred to Mount San Antonio College to give baseball another crack. Bermudez impressed on the diamond and got on the radar of UC Irvine's coaching staff. He transferred there in 2023, and became a starter at second base. 'I have a different gratitude towards the sport and towards life in general,' Bermudez said. 'There was a time where I thought I was never going to be able to walk again.' Bermudez is now majoring in psychology with a minor in sociology thanks to his personal experiences and is dedicated to helping people struggling with mental health challenges. Wang faced her own challenges when she was just two weeks away from graduation from University High School in Irvine. She was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. 'I felt very blindsided by it,' Wang said. 'Hearing the words, the doctor telling me I have cancer — mentally, I don't think I processed it fast because I just never expected to hear those words.' After her diagnosis, Wang faced a tumultuous two-year journey that included a pair of surgeries and much time spent soul-searching and learning mental coping skills. Wang withdrew from the lacrosse team as a freshman at Cal to focus on her healing and carve a path forward. There were times she wondered if she would ever come back to the sport and instead quit lacrosse. Yet Wang persisted. After recovering from her first surgery, Wang played for team Hong Kong at the 2022 World Championships, which reignited her drive to return to Cal's team. 'I was like, 'This is a commitment I made. I'm going to follow through on it and see how I feel,'' Wang said of the 2022 championships. 'And that was a big turning point for me. That in combination with reading all those self-help books and building upon my mental health.' Unfortunately for Wang, she required a second surgery. This time, though, she was much better prepared because of the coping mechanisms she had already developed. Wang ultimately returned to the Cal lacrosse team in 2023. Though Wang has since called it quits on her college lacrosse career, she couldn't be more proud of her comeback. 'It made me realize I don't have to give up,' Wang said. 'I still have so much ahead of me. Just because I had something happen to me doesn't mean I need to give up all my goals. If anything, it's more motivation to prove that I still have the ability to do that, even if something challenging happens to me.'
