July 5, 2007

Ex-CV pitcher on fast track in college baseball
• Gorgen, a sophomore, plays a major role in UC Irvine's run to the 2007 College World Series
By James Leonard

STAFF WRITER

Scott Gorgen says he knew all along that his UC Irvine baseball team would make it to the College World Series.

So when the Anteaters allowed No. 8 Wichita State to tie the score at 2-2 in the ninth inning of their Super Regional game on June 10, he wasn't worried. Neither were his teammates.

"You would think there would be a sense of panic, like, 'There goes our season, three outs from going to Omaha,'" said Gorgen, UC Irvine's top pitcher and a former Clayton Valley High School star. "But there wasn't. There was a sense of relaxation -- 'We're going to get this done.' That's the way this team has been all year long."

The Anteaters' rally in the bottom of the ninth to beat Wichita State 3-2 sent them to the College World Series, and it was the end of an improbable stretch that included consecutive victories over national power Texas in the NCAA regional and a pair of one-run wins over the Shockers in the Super Regional.

But UC Irvine didn't just fade away when it got to Omaha, Nebraska.

After a 5-4 loss to Arizona State in their opener, the Anteaters became the first team in College World Series history to win consecutive games in extra innings, beating league rival Cal State Fullerton 5-4 in 13 and avenging the loss to Arizona State with an 8-7 win in 10.

Only a loss to eventual national champion Oregon State prevented the Anteaters from earning a spot in the best-of-three championship series.

"Obviously our ultimate goal is to win the national championship," Gorgen said. "But nothing can take away from finishing in the final four teams in country. It was a satisfying year, but coming back next year we need to improve upon what we accomplished the year before."

That could be a tall order for Gorgen. The sophomore starter didn't even become a pitcher until his senior year at Clayton Valley, but he earned a scholarship from UC Irvine and was named the Big West freshman pitcher of the year and a freshman All-American after going 7-5 with a 2.54 ERA and 118 strikeouts in 82 innings in 2006.

He knew it would be a tough act to follow.

"I was a little nervous," Gorgen said. "I had one good year of college baseball. I'd heard so many stories of pitchers having one good year and not being able to come back and have a productive year."

But the potential Gorgen flashed as a freshman was realized in his sophomore season, which began in almost storybook fashion with a 4-3 victory over Cal and twin brother Matt, also a former star pitcher at Clayton Valley.

Gorgen went on to win 13 games this season, tying him for third in the country, and he led the team with 117 strikeouts and was second with a 2.83 ERA. He has a 20-8 record the past two seasons with the Anteaters.

And he really made a name for himself in the postseason.

He tossed a complete game in a 3-1 win over Texas on June 2, followed that with an eight-hit shutout in a 1-0 win over Wichita State, then made up for his only loss of the postseason with two innings of shutout relief and a win against Arizona State.

With another year like this one, Gorgen should prove to be a hot commodity when he becomes eligible for the Major League Baseball draft after his junior season. But he's not worrying about that yet.

Gorgen says his childhood dream was never to win the World Series. It was to win the College World Series, and this year's run has him feeling pretty good about his team's chances next season.

Considering UC Irvine didn't even have a baseball program six years ago and competes in a league with perennial powers like Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton, that's saying something.

"We're going to be a championship team," he said. "We're going to be in the running for a national championship next year. Everybody (on the team) who's coming back has said the exact same thing. We paved the road to go to Omaha every year."