UCI, A&M; clash

The UC Irvine baseball team, ranked No, 5 by Baseball America, will face a pair of teams in the top 10, including No. 1 Texas A&M;, in three games beginning today at the Houston College Classic at the University of Houston’s Minute Maid Park.

The Anteaters (3-1), who opened their season at Hawaii last weekend, will face Texas A&M; today at 10 a.m.

The Aggies opened with a four-game sweep of Wright State.

Junior Danny Bibona, who no-hit Hawaii through seven innings to earn his first victory of the season Feb. 20, will start for UCI He has a 1.17 earned-run average. Bibona will oppose left-hander Brooks Raley, who is 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA.

UCI faces Houston Saturday at 10 a.m., then squares off against No. 9-ranked UCLA Sunday at 9 a,.m.

Houston is 1-2, while UCLA, coached by former Anteaters’ head man John Savage, enters today’s action with a 4-0 record.

Junior Christian Bergman (1-0 with a 1.12 ERA) is scheduled to start against Houston, which has not named a starter.

Neither UCI or UCLA have named a starter for Sunday’s contest.

UCI is led offensively by junior catcher Francis Larson, who shared Big West Conference Player of the Week honors by hitting .462 with one home run and five runs batted in at Hawaii.

— Barry Faulkner