Northridge rumbles into JRS
Baseball looking to extend win streak against Matadors
By Ruben Gutierrez
After a three-game thrashing of conference rival Arizona this
weekend, the UCLA baseball team hopes to extend its winning streak
to four with a win over Cal State Northridge tonight at Jackie
Robinson Stadium.
The red-hot Bruins (22-17 overall, 10-11 conference) will
attempt to derail the Matadors’ bid to avenge a bitter defeat
earlier this season. In the previous meeting between the two clubs,
ninth inning homers by Tim DeCinces and Zak Ammirato gave UCLA a
4-2 victory at Northridge (19-19 overall) and ruined over eight
scoreless innings on the mound by Matador pitcher Robert
Crabtree.
"I think they’re probably going to want some revenge," UCLA head
coach Gary Adams said. "Whenever we play Northridge, though,
they’re always fired up. We’re going to have to be just as fired up
to play them, because they hate UCLA. They love beating UCLA. I’m
not saying it makes their year, but it sure helps."
Offensively, Northridge is led by a formidable trio of hitters
who make their living on the left side of the plate. Designated
hitter Andy Shaw leads the group with a .374 average. In addition,
Shaw has hit a whopping 12 homers and tallied a club-high 45
RBIs.
Sophomore rightfielder Eric Gillespie is a .340 hitter who leads
the club with 53 hits in a club-high 156 at-bats. Freshman
leftfielder Adam Kennedy has picked up the pace for the Matadors in
the second half of the season and is currently batting .336 with
five home-runs and 12 extra-base hits.
Pitching, however, has proven a weakness for CSUN. Crabtree
remains the ace of the Northridge staff, with an even 5-5 record
and a team-low 4.14 ERA. Crabtree has struck out nearly one batter
in each of his 87 innings worked this season. He struck out 12
Bruin batters before tiring and losing the game in the last contest
with UCLA. Right hander Zeke Barrios is undefeated in three starts
for the Matadors and posts a 4.50 ERA. CSUN has yet to announce its
starter.
Likewise, the UCLA pitcher for tonight is still to be announced,
though sophomore southpaw Ryan Lynch will likely take his 2-1
record and 3.35 ERA to the mound against the Matadors. The Bruins
plan on throwing several pitchers against Northridge, a "staff
effort" in preparation for crosstown rival USC this weekend.
Tonight’s game may have post-season implications for the Bruins
as well.
"One reason why we’re in the playoff picture is not only because
we’ve been hanging in there in the conference games, but also
because we’ve won some key non-conference games," Adams said. "The
selection committee for the playoffs always looks at how you fare
against top teams from other conferences."
Catcher DeCinces leads the UCLA squad with a .347 average and
nine dingers. Rightfielder Eric Byrnes continues at a rapid clip,
tied with second baseman Chad Matoian for the second highest
average on the team, and is third on the team with six homers.
Third baseman Troy Glaus hit a three-run shot against Arizona
this past weekend to raise his season tally to eight round-trippers
and first baseman Peter Zamora whacked two out of the yard, then
retired the side in order to defeat the Wildcats Friday.
"I think everybody who has played recently has contributed and
that’s why we’ve won," Adams said. "It’s been a team effort."