Monday, March 3, 1997
BASEBALL:
Gary Adams becomes UCLA’s winningest coach after stellar weekend
on the roadBy Kristina Wilcox
Daily Bruin Contributor
Another baseball series, another offensive explosion.
The Bruins swept through three games in the Hormel Foods
Baseball Classic this weekend in Minneapolis, making UCLA head
coach Gary Adams the winningest coach in UCLA history. Adams is in
his 23rd year as head coach with 747 wins.
Third baseman Troy Glaus was named the tournament’s most
valuable player after Sunday’s 13-5 win against Minneapolis (2-8),
in which he hit a grand slam to go with two singles in five
at-bats. The grand slam was Glaus’ 12th homer of the season.
Second baseman Nick Theodorou also had a grand slam. He hit his
in the fourth inning off losing pitcher Mike Diebolt (0-2),
breaking a scoreless tie. He added a two-run double in a later
at-bat.
Left-fielder Jon Heinrichs’ lone hit in the game was a two-run
homer in the sixth, his 10th of the season.
Starting pitcher Jim Parque (5-0) had a strong outing. He
allowed two earned runs in eight innings, striking out nine batters
and walking two.
Saturday night was a closer game offensively, but the Bruins
still pulled out a 12-9 victory over Nebraska. Center-fielder Eric
Valent had five RBIs on three hits.
Valent hit a two-run homer in the third inning (his 12th of the
season), a two-run single in the fifth and a RBI single in the
sixth. Catcher Mike Jaramillo contributed three RBIs to the cause,
on three hits.
The fifth and sixth innings were big for both teams. UCLA scored
four times in the top of the fifth to increase their lead to 7-1.
The Cornhuskers came back with four runs of their own to make it a
see-saw battle. Then the teams scored another eight runs in the
sixth inning.
Neither starting pitcher was particularly effective. They were
both out of the game by the end of the sixth inning. Zamora allowed
five runs in 4 1/3 innings. Patrick Driscoll (0-2) of Nebraska went
5 1/3 innings, surrendering 10 runs (seven earned).
Bruin relief pitcher Rob Henkel (3-0) continued his impressive
season by pitching a perfect inning to earn the win. Closer Jake
Meyer got out of a small jam in the ninth to get his third save of
the season.
Glaus and starting pitcher Tom Jacquez led the way to a 11-5 win
on Friday over the University of Washington, a team who has never
beat UCLA (20-2-1) in 16 tries.
Glaus smashed two homers in the game. In the first inning, Glaus
drove a pitch 397 feet, over the left field wall for to make the
score 2-1 for the Huskies.
Then, in the fourth inning, he launched the ball even further
 425 feet to left center field for a two-run homer, his 11th
homer on the season.
Glaus also walked in the seventh, bringing his team-leading runs
scored total to 37. His streak of scoring at least one run in a
game continues.
Other Bruin offensive contributors were right-fielder Eric
Byrnes (two doubles, three stolen bases), Heinrichs (3-for-5, two
stolen bases) and first baseman Peter Zamora (2-for-2, one
homer).
On the mound, Jacquez (4-0) blew the Huskies away, striking out
a team season-high 14 batters. He struck out the side three times
in the game. Jacquez did allow 11 hits and five runs, though. Three
of those runs crossed the plate in the eighth inning on outfielder
Nick Stefonick’s homer, his first on the season.