UC Irvine Professional Athletes

Two UC Irvine alumni are making late-season statements in MLB — from opposite dugouts, no less.

Koss Powers the Giants' Offense

Christian Koss has been one of San Francisco's most productive bats over the past week, and his biggest moment came in a 9-5 shellacking of the Mets, where he went deep twice alongside Rafael Devers in a multi-homer performance. The 2B didn't slow down in the Cardinals series either, notching a solo home run in a tight 2-1 Giants win Wednesday, going 2-for-4 while driving in a run and scoring one. Through Saturday's doubleheader against San Diego — where he scored in both games and drew walks — Koss pushed his average up to .228 after spending much of the stretch below .210.

It's been a genuine hot streak at the right time. Koss has hit safely in every game captured in the research window, collecting hits, runs, and extra bases against three different opponents. For a Giants team grinding through late-season positioning, that kind of consistency from the middle infield matters.

Church a Steady Presence in St. Louis

While Koss was making headlines, former Anteater Nathan Church has been quietly doing the dirty work in the Cardinals' lineup. The left fielder went 1-for-something with a run and an RBI in Sunday's loss to the Rockies, then picked up a hit and an RBI in Tuesday's 4-5 setback against San Francisco — the same game in which he squared off against his UCI counterpart Koss on the other side.

Church kept it up Wednesday (1 hit, 1 run, 1 walk in the 1-2 loss) and then broke out for his best game of the stretch on Saturday against the White Sox, going 3-for-something with an RBI as St. Louis won 5-6. His batting average climbed from .243 to .251 across the week — a meaningful tick forward for a player looking to cement his roster standing heading into the offseason.

Worth noting: the two UCI alumni met directly in San Francisco this week, with Church's Cardinals dropping the series to Koss's Giants.

Elsewhere in the UCI Alumni Network

The week wasn't uniformly positive for UCI's MLB contingent. The Athletics designated Taylor Rashi for assignment to make room for a waiver claim, ending his run on Oakland's active roster. And in Miami, the Marlins released Leo Jimenez — a transaction that surfaced the earlier deal sending UCI infielder Dub Gleed to Toronto. Gleed's current status with the Blue Jays organization remains part of the broader roster churn this time of year.

Andre Pallante, meanwhile, made the most of his Wednesday start against the Giants — going five innings, allowing just one earned run, and striking out four — though the Cardinals couldn't back him up in the loss. Calvin Faucher logged clean relief appearances for Miami. Troy Taylor was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma after the Mariners reinstated Víctor Robles from the family medical emergency list.

The headline story, though, belongs to Koss and Church: two Anteaters, one league, and a week that neither will want to forget.

UC Irvine Alumni Report | MLB | Aug. 30–Sept. 5

Christian Koss has been quietly building a case all week, and Saturday he made it loud.

The Giants second baseman went off against the Mets on Sept. 5, going 2-for-the-day with two home runs, three RBI, and two runs scored — a performance that lifted his season average from .203 to .211 and served as the punctuation mark on a strong week at the plate. It wasn't a fluke, either. Koss had been on a steady roll since Tuesday, when he went 2-for-the-day with an RBI and two runs against Pittsburgh, then added another hit and two runs Wednesday against the Pirates again. A quiet Friday — a hit, two runs, and a walk against the Mets — set the table perfectly for his Saturday eruption.

The pop was unexpected from a player whose average spent much of the stretch hovering around the Mendoza line, but a .211 clip with multi-homer upside is a profile worth watching as rosters expand in September.

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Cardinals Duo Makes Good on Colorado

While Koss was doing damage in New York, two of his Irvine brethren were handling business in St. Louis.

Andre Pallante took the ball against the Rockies on Saturday in a game flagged as a notable return to the rotation, and he delivered five innings of one-run ball — allowing just one earned run while striking out one in a 7-6 Cardinals win. His ERA now sits at a respectable 3.51, and for a Cardinals club fighting for a Wild Card berth, a dependable five-inning outing from a starter is precisely what the pitching staff needs as the calendar flips to its final pages.

Pallante's Cardinals teammate Nathan Church chipped in from the other side of the lineup card. The outfielder went 1-for-the-game and scored a run in the victory, rounding out a solid week in which he collected hits in four of five games — including a two-hit, two-run performance Thursday against the Dodgers. Church's average held steady at .242 throughout the stretch, a reliable floor from a roster contributor on a team with legitimate October ambitions.

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Faucher Grinds Through Marlins' September

In Miami, Calvin Faucher continued to piece together a quietly solid bullpen season in difficult circumstances. The Marlins righty logged two one-inning outings against the Royals early in the week before returning Saturday for a two-thirds of an inning appearance against the Cubs, punching out one. His ERA ticked down to 3.73 by week's end — a respectable number for a reliever on a team that's been anything but a contender. For Irvine's MLB pipeline, Faucher represents the unglamorous but essential back-end relief work that keeps big-league rosters functioning.

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The week was a microcosm of what UC Irvine's MLB presence looks like in 2026: a breakout Saturday from Koss, steady production from Church, a quality start from Pallante, and Faucher grinding out outs in the background. Four Anteaters, four different contributions — all of them meaningful in their own way.

Christian Koss Powers Up in San Francisco

The week's headliner for UC Irvine's MLB contingent was Giants second baseman Christian Koss, who delivered his most impactful performance of the stretch on Saturday, August 29, against the Diamondbacks. Koss went 1-for-his-at-bats with a home run, two RBI, and a run scored in a 5-9 loss — a personal bright spot in a rough team outing. It was a sharp single-game statement for a player batting .211 on the season, and it capped a quietly productive week at the plate.

Koss had been building toward that moment all week. He scored a run in Friday's 6-1 Giants win over Arizona, notched a hit and a run in Wednesday's 3-1 victory over the Reds, and opened the week with a hit and a run scored against the Red Sox on Sunday. Over the full stretch, Koss was a consistent presence in the lineup — logging hits in multiple appearances and contributing to multiple wins. His season average ticked up from .200 to .211 by week's end, a modest but meaningful climb.

Nathan Church Keeps Rolling in St. Louis

While Koss generated the week's flashiest moment, Cardinals left fielder Nathan Church quietly put together an even more statistically active stretch. The former Anteater recorded at least one hit in four of five games, highlighted by a home run, an RBI, and a run scored on Tuesday against the Orioles. He also drove in three runs across Wednesday and Thursday's games in that same series, flashing the kind of consistent production that has him sitting at a .241 batting average on the season.

Church's Tuesday homer stood out as perhaps the Anteater highlight of the week before Koss went deep on Saturday. Over a five-game window, Church totaled five hits, a home run, five RBI, three runs, and three walks — the kind of all-around line that would make any alumni section proud.

Faucher Logs Bullpen Innings in Miami

Calvin Faucher was the lone pitcher to appear for an Irvine alum this week. The Marlins reliever made two appearances — Sunday against the Nationals and Tuesday against the Red Sox — each time logging exactly one inning and recording one strikeout. He allowed an earned run in Sunday's outing but was clean on Tuesday. His ERA settled at 3.99 by week's end, a number that tells the story of a reliever holding his own in a tough bullpen situation.

The rest of UC Irvine's sizable MLB contingent — which spans rosters from the Twins to the Orioles to the Mariners — was quiet this week, at least in the stat lines reported.

The Big Picture

UC Irvine has quietly assembled one of the more impressive alumni footprints in professional baseball, with more than a dozen former Anteaters currently on MLB rosters. This week offered a snapshot of what that depth looks like: a home run from Koss, a multi-RBI streak from Church, and steady bullpen work from Faucher. Not a bad week for a school better known for research rankings than run production.

The Anteater Angle in St. Louis

UC Irvine's most compelling MLB story this week unfolded in St. Louis, where a pitching injury reshuffled the Cardinals' rotation — and put a familiar Anteater name front and center in the lineup.

Andre Pallante, one of St. Louis's most reliable starters this season, was sent to the injured list ahead of the Cardinals' Saturday night matchup with the Philadelphia Phillies, with Quinn Mathews sliding into his rotation spot. The move capped a tough week for the Cardinals' staff, which also lost Hunter Dobbins to injury, prompting calls for the front office to get creative with pitching prospects down the stretch.

Pallante's last outing before hitting the IL was a gutty one: Monday, Aug. 17 against Cincinnati, where he logged six innings, struck out five, and was charged with four earned runs. It was the kind of performance — competitive but imperfect — that defined his season. His ERA sat at 3.57 at the time of his IL placement. He'll be missed in a rotation that can't afford attrition in the home stretch.

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Church Steps Into the Spotlight

While Pallante watches from the sideline, fellow UCI alum Nathan Church has been quietly delivering in left field for St. Louis. The outfielder strung together a productive week that will catch the eye of anyone following the Cardinals' playoff push.

Church went 1-for-3 Monday against Cincinnati, driving in a run and scoring one. He matched that line Wednesday, again collecting a hit, an RBI, and a run scored against the Reds. By the time the Phillies series rolled around, he had bumped his batting average to .235 — and then delivered his best showing of the week on Saturday, going 2-for-4 with a run scored while the Cardinals faced Philadelphia's Andrew Painter.

The week-long stretch nudged Church's average from .233 to .239, modest gains in terms of the number but meaningful evidence of consistency. With the Cardinals navigating pitching injuries, having a dependable bat in the outfield isn't a luxury — it's a necessity.

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Elsewhere Around the League

Two other UCI alumni put up numbers worth noting this week.

In San Francisco, second baseman Christian Koss had a quietly productive stretch for the Giants. He went 1-for-3 on Tuesday against the Guardians, then turned in a 2-hit, 2-run performance Friday against Boston — lifting his average from .191 at week's start back up to .204 by Friday. Koss's average has fluctuated across the week, a reminder that he's in a battle to hold his roster spot, but the Friday breakout was a bright spot.

Out in Oakland, right-hander Taylor Rashi tossed two innings Thursday against Kansas City, striking out one and allowing one earned run, with his ERA standing at 7.94. The Athletics are in evaluation mode, and every outing is an audition.

Calvin Faucher continued to work out of the Marlins' bullpen in low-leverage situations, logging 0.2 innings Tuesday and a full frame Saturday with an ERA around 3.98 — steady, if unspectacular, work for a Miami team with little left to play for.

The story of the week, though, belongs to St. Louis. One Anteater goes down; another rises. That's the UCI pipeline at work.