Baseball hopes to find Rainbows’ end in Hawaii
By Yoni Tamler
Daily Bruin Contributor
With sunshine, shave ice and a killer break (dude), the UCLA
baseball team will have little time on their hands for the most
important agenda of the weekend: playing ball.
Today UCLA (3-2) embarks on a three-game series against the
University of Hawaii in the second leg of their five-day swing
through the big island. The No. 10 Bruins easily swept Hawaii-Hilo
earlier in the week, and look to extend their winning streak to
seven by sweeping the Rainbows.
But that could be easier said than done. Under head coach Gary
Adams, UCLA is 12-18 against Hawaii and has never swept the
Rainbows on the road.
In tonight’s series opener, UCLA will start sophomore lefthander
Jim Parque (1-0, 2.45 ERA) to neutralize the pitching capabilities
of righthander Mark Johnson.
"Johnson is one of the most outstanding pitchers in the
country," UCLA head coach Gary Adams said. "He’s a strikeout, power
pitcher – throws real hard. Physically, he looks like a pitching
Mark McGwire."
Like Parque, Johnson is the clear ace of his team’s respective
staff, and this year he allowed only one run in wins over
Washington State and Stanford.
"If (Johnson) holds us to two or three runs and we win, I’ll be
very happy," Adams said. "The object is to beat him. I don’t care
if the score is one to nothing. Jimmy Parque is capable of beating
anybody if he has a good game."
Adams also said that the Hawaii series would be a good
opportunity to test the bench, as he did on Wednesday, when he put
in six players late in the game against Hawaii-Hilo.
"We’re going to try to liberally substitute as the game allows
because we would like to see as many guys as possible perform,"
Adams said.
Starting on Saturday for the Bruins will be junior Ryan Lynch,
while sophomore Pete Zamora is slated as Sunday’s starting pitcher.
Parque, Lynch and Zamora comprise UCLA’s No. 1, 2 and 3 starters,
respectively.
***
On Wednesday, UCLA (3-2) took the first out of a two-game series
from Hawaii-Hilo (4-9). UCLA starter Ryan O’Toole earned the
victory at Kailua-Kona Field, shutting out the Vulcans in the first
three innings, after which Nick St. George relieved him through the
sixth. Freshman Dan Keller and senior Rick Heineman pitched one
scoreless inning a piece to secure the victory.
As with every game this year, third baseman Zak Ammirato seemed
to be all over the baseball diamond Wednesday. Ammirato went two
for two with two walks, an RBI, and a run scored in the win.
FRED HE/ Daily Bruin
Eric Byrnes was one for three with Wednesday’s victory over
Hawaii-Hilo.
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