Wednesday, February 5, 1997
BASEBALL:
Unimpressive performance by Parque doesn’t hold UCLA backBy
Sierra Roberts and
Kristina Wilcox
Daily Bruin Contributors
From the first pitch, one could tell that it was going to be a
long game for the UCLA men’s baseball team as they squared off to
face Pepperdine at home late Tuesday.
Starting pitcher Jim Parque threw a high ball for the first
pitch that would set the tone for the Bruins as their 6-5 victory
came down to the wire.
The story of the game was Parque’s ordinary performance on the
mound. He struggled through five innings, allowing five runs (three
earned) on four hits while throwing 106 pitches. He also walked
five batters. The only impressive stat from his line was his seven
strikeouts. But that is not the kind of outing one would expect
from an Olympian.
"That wasn’t one of his best outings," head coach Gary Adams
said. "And he knows that. He has been under the weather, but I
don’t mean for that to be an excuse for him. He didn’t have what he
normally does. He never got ahead of the hitters."
Pepperdine’s starting pitcher, A.J. Samodani didn’t have the
game of his life either. In 2 1/3 innings, he threw 71 pitches,
four walks, three strike outs and two hits.
The Waves scored first in the second inning, on a single by
catcher Michael Kramer. During the third inning, two Waves crossed
the plate on a booming home run by shortstop David Matranga and a
RBI single by right fielder Mark Lopez.
Parque allowed one more run to the Waves in the fourth inning
making the score 5-4.
As for the Bruin offense, they really got to the Waves during
the third inning. The whole lineup batted and produced five runs on
two hits against Samadani and John Workman.
In the sixth inning, Pepperdine’s Randy Wolf walked on base and
eventually stole home to tie up the game at 5-5.
The score remained deadlocked until the bottom of the eighth
when center-fielder Casey Cloud clocked a base hit setting his
pinch runner, Ryan Roques on his way to score the winning run.
By the bottom of the eighth, the Bruins heated things up. It was
the inning for pinch players. Pinch hitter Peter Zamora got to
first. His hit sent pinch runner Ryan Roques to steal second, run
to third and then finally home to give the Bruins the lead by
one.
This weekend the Bruins take on the University of Nevada at
Jackie Robinson Stadium.
The story of the game was Parque’s ordinary performance on the
mound.