It was only two weeks ago that it appeared as if four or five teams had a legitimate shot at winning the Big West Conference regular-season championship. Now, with three weeks still remaining in the regular season, UC Irvine has established a commanding lead in the standings.
The Anteaters scored key road wins at UC Riverside and Hawai’i last week to improve to 9-2 in the conference. UC Davis and CSUN are tied for second place at 6-5.
UCI has a magic number of three to clinch its second consecutive Big West regular-season title. The Anteaters host Long Beach State on Wednesday, then travel to CSUN on Saturday.