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UCI baseball picked No. 2 in Big West

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UC Irvine has been picked to finish second in the Big West Conference, according to a preseason poll of coaches released on Thursday.

The Anteaters, who are ranked No. 30 in the preseason by Collegiate Baseball and No. 33 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Assn., received 82 points, including one of 10 first-place votes to land behind defending champion Cal State Fullerton.

The Titans, who have won 10 Big West titles in the last 17 seasons, had nine first-place votes and 99 points.

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Following UCI in the poll are: Long Beach State (75 points), Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (68), UC Santa Barbara (58), Hawaii (57), UC Riverside (38), Cal State Northridge (34), UC Davis (25) and Pacific (14).

UCI is led by first-team all-conference pitcher Andrew Thurman, who was 8-3 with a 2.66 earned-run average as a sophomore in 2012.

The Anteaters open their season with a three-game home nonconference series against Baylor, beginning Feb. 15 at 6:30 p.m.

— From staff reports

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