Irvine's Bibona shuts down top-ranked Titans: Baseball America's Golden Spikes Spotlight

Cal State-Fullerton coach Dave Serrano knew just what he was up against on Friday night. After all, he recruited Daniel Bibona to UC Irvine and coached him for a year before taking over the head job at Fullerton. So, even though the top-ranked Titans were off to the best start of any team in the nation against a grueling schedule, Serrano was braced for a test.

"Bibona's one of the better left-handed pitchers in the country that not too many people talk about," Serrano said heading into Friday's series opener at Goodwin Field. "We're up for a challenge."

He was right, at least in the first part. Bibona, Irvine's junior left-hander, limited the potent Fullerton offense to four hits and a walk over eight shutout innings, while striking out five. The Anteaters won, 2-1, and then took the huge series with another win Saturday.

Bibona held the Titans hitless until the fifth inning, when Nick Ramirez led off with a single and Khris Davis doubled down the left-field line to put runners on second and third with no outs. But Bibona wriggled out of the jam unscathed, striking out Dustin Garneau and getting Joe Scott to pop up a bunt to first baseman Jeff Cusick on a suicide squeeze, resulting in an inning-ending double play.

"We knew they were going to squeeze," Bibona told the Orange County Register. "Cusick turned into a ballerina and made that diving catch. If they executed, they scored. It was a lot of fun out there. It's always intense playing them."

Bibona doesn't have overpowering stuff, but he does a good job keeping his 85-87-mph fastball down in the zone, and his sinking 73-74-mph changeup is a plus offering. He also mixes in a 73-75-mph curveball to keep hitters off balance.

Bibona might not dazzle with his stuff, but his numbers are downright dominant. In seven starts, Bibona is 5-1 with 2.30 ERA, 52 strikeouts and 12 walks in 47 innings. Opponents are batting .211 against him.

"Bibona's been real consistent," Irvine coach Mike Gillespie said. 

"He's real competitive," Gillespie continued. "He doesn't get rattled, and he typically has good command with his fastball. It's not a power arm, but it's firm enough that, when he throws that changeup and cutter, the fastball can sneak up on you. He typically is hard to have a big inning against."