Friday, April 4, 1997
BASEBALL:
No. 2 UCLA will face Arizona State’s tough corps of pitchers;
Nick St. George returnsBy Sierra Roberts
Daily Bruin Contributor
In their second meeting of the season, the Arizona State Sun
Devils will host second-ranked UCLA in a three-game series
beginning today.
The Bruins will try to rebound from their loss to Pepperdine on
Tuesday, a game in which UCLA held a two-run, ninth-inning lead.
But, at the same time, the Bruins (28-7-1, 8-4) will have a chance
to build upon their three-game conference winning streak.
Offensively, the Sun Devils (22-15, 7-11) will be lead by left
fielder Dan McKinley. He leads ASU with a .420 batting average and
52 runs scored. In addition, he has contributed 11 home runs and 15
stolen bases.
However, UCLA will counter with a pitching rotation that has
been tough to hit all season long. Jim Parque (9-0, 2.21 ERA) will
start on the mound Friday, followed by sophomore Tom Jacquez (7-1,
2.44) on Saturday, and junior Pete Zamora (2-1, 5.15) to wrap up
the series on Sunday.
In addition, the Bruins will bring some big numbers to the plate
in Tempe.
Zamora (who also plays first base) leads the Pac-10 with a .472
batting average, while Troy Glaus, Eric Byrnes and Jon Heinrichs
hold the top three spots respectively in runs scored.
The Bruins, though, will be facing a tough trio of Sun Devil
pitchers. Sophomore Ryan Mills (3-1, 2.97) will be on the mound
Friday. Mills has struck out 75 hitters in only 60 2/3 innings of
work. The series will continue Saturday with sophomore Phil Lowery
(2-2, 4.34) on the mound, while senior Jeff Cermak (4-2, 5.75) will
start the series finale.
This weekend’s match up will be hard-pressed to be as exciting
and unpredictable as the February series between the two schools
 the Bruins won the opener in extra innings, scored 13 runs
in the eighth inning to win the second game, and lost the finale
despite hitting five home runs.
Despite taking two of the three games, UCLA still trails the
all-time series 80-47.
* * *
One update to note: Fifth-year senior Nick St. George returned
to the pitching staff on Tuesday when he pitched an inning against
Pepperdine.
The left-handed reliever had been ineligible to play because of
an administrative error. He was not enrolled in enough classes for
his major.
UCLA Sports Info
Senior relief pitcher Nick St. George