Baseball charges at Matadors
Bruin southpaw pitching will come in handy vs. Cal State
Northridge
By Brian Purcell
Daily Bruin Contributor
The UCLA baseball team opens a season of high expectations
today, as it hosts the Cal State Northridge Matadors at 3 p.m. at
Jackie Robinson Stadium.
The Bruins are ranked No. 10 in the nation by Baseball America,
and believe they have the ability to become the first UCLA team to
reach the College World Series. They have returning starters at
every position, with the exception of centerfield, and have brought
in freshman Eric Valent to anchor center. Valent is good enough to
be regarded by Baseball America as the best freshman player in the
nation.
"I might be more excited about this team than any I’ve had at
UCLA," said Gary Adams, now in his 22nd year as head coach. "We
have so many great young players, and outstanding senior leadership
in Rick Heineman and Zak Ammirato. These two have really stepped up
and been role models for the younger guys."
The lineup looks solid throughout, but offense doesn’t win
championships, and the Bruins will need much improved pitching if
they are to achieve their goals. Last year’s 29-29 staff was
outstanding at times, but very inconsistent.
It appears to be significantly better this year, and is stacked
with left-handers. Staff ace Jim Parque, Tom Jacquez, Nick St.
George, Ryan Lynch and Pete Zamora are all southpaws expected to
see a lot of action. When you add these five to right-handers John
Phillips and Arkansas transfer Kevin Sheredy, it looks like a deep
and solid staff.
The two-game set with Northridge should provide a good early
test for UCLA pitching, as Northridge has traditionally been a team
that comes out swinging.
"Northridge has always had a team that hits well," Adams said.
"They play in that small ballpark, and have always centered their
team around their offense. I know that they have one outstanding
pitcher in Robby Crabtree (8-7, 4.43 ERA in 1995), but I don’t know
much about the rest of their staff."
Northridge had a bloated team ERA of 6.39 last year, so it has
nowhere to go but up.
The Matadors’ offense looks to be strong again, and will be led
by shortstop Adam Kennedy (.360, eight home runs, 54 RBI in 1995),
catcher Robert Fick (.319, 11, 46), and outfielder Eric Gillespie
(.355, eight, 50). All three are left-handed hitters, so UCLA’s
left-handed pitching should be especially useful. Sophomore Parque
will start today, and sophomore Jacquez will start Wednesday at
Northridge.
UCLA staged dramatic victories in both matchups between the
teams in 1995. In the first meeting on Feb. 22, UCLA scored four
runs in the ninth inning to win 4-2, then beat them 4-3 on April
22, when Chad Matoian singled in Jon Heinrichs in the 11th inning.
Nick St. George was the winning pitcher in both games.
Daily Bruin file photo
Senior Zak Ammirato is a "role model" for younger UCLA baseball
team members.
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