Tuesday, April 7, 1998
Despite tough losses, Bruins just aren’t ready to give up
BASEBALL: Youthful UCLA team hopes to turn season around with
improved second-half play
By Vytas Mazeika
Daily Bruin Staff
Since the UCLA baseball team certainly does not lack talent, why
are they struggling?
The Bruins reached the halfway point of the season with a dismal
11-20 record (5-11 in the Six-Pac). This is a team that reached the
pinnacle of college baseball last year – the College World Series
in Omaha, Neb.
The answer lies in the youth of the team. At times, three
freshmen start on the field (third baseman Garrett Atkins,
shortstop Chase Utley and designated hitter Bill Scott) while a
starting rotation plagued by injuries is now anchored by three
freshmen (Ryan Carter, Chad Cislak and Jon Brandt).
With such an inexperienced squad, UCLA head coach Gary Adams
simply could’ve quit and decided to turn this season into a
rebuilding project. In a team meeting on March 30, Adams made it
clear that he wasn’t giving up.
"I told them that I didn’t want anybody to write off this
season," said Adams after a tough 7-6 loss to top-ranked Stanford
that Sunday. "This season is not over. We’re not going to play
freshmen to prepare for next year. We’re going to go after each
game and play the best players – whether they be freshmen or
seniors."
With upper classmen like senior right fielder Eric Byrnes,
senior left fielder Brett Nista, senior first baseman Cassidy
Olson, junior center fielder Eric Valent, junior catcher Jason
Green and the return of senior second baseman Nick Theodorou, the
Bruins have rededicated themselves this season.
"The meeting today, in the four years that I’ve been here, was
the best meeting we’ve ever had," Byrnes said. "I think it really
changed the perspective of the whole team and we had a new outlook
of what is going on."
Players now stand outside the dugout to cheer their teammates’
every move. No one is allowed to sit in the bullpen except for
Bobby Roe – the team’s pitcher of choice in clutch situations.
The team has even begun to keep two sets of statistics – one for
the entire season and a second starting from March 30. Adams’ idea
was for the team to start over with a clean slate.
"We have to play like what we’re capable of," Green said. "We’re
young and we have a lot of freshmen, but they’re not freshmen any
more. We’ve already played 30 games. We basically want to wipe the
slate clean, play hard and play like we’re capable of."
The Bruins surely played like they were capable in the 7-6 loss
to Stanford. In fact, UCLA held a 6-3 lead going to the bottom of
the ninth before succumbing to the top-ranked Cardinal.
The fact that the Bruins challenged the No. 1 team in the nation
and came ever so close to getting a win at Palo Alto reassured
Adams that the players reacted positively to his speech.
"It took 37 minutes for me to get my message across," Adams
said. "By the way they played tonight, I think it showed me they
responded very well."
That effort was followed by a loss to Cal – the first and only
conference win for the Bears. That performance is why Adams made
the players run for an hour and a half after the game.
Adams is well aware of the slim hopes the Bruins have of
reaching the playoffs and a loss to a bottom-feeding team like Cal
is completely unacceptable.
"We know that it’s a realistic goal for us to make the
playoffs," said Byrnes after the Stanford loss. "Sure it’s going to
be tough. We have to come a long way to do it, but just to know
that it’s realistic really keeps things positive in this time of
year."
The Bruins rebounded with a home series sweep of Cal to move
them to their current overall record of 14-22 and 8-13 in
conference play.
If the Bruins can take at least two of three from Arizona this
weekend at home, there will still be hope for Byrnes and the rest
of the Bruins. But if the Wildcats come to Jackie Robinson Stadium
and win the series, then Adams may have no choice but to give the
team another speech – a speech in which he officially deems this a
rebuilding year.
It’s now time for the Bruins to step up to the plate and
deliver.
JAMIE-SCANLON JACOBS/Daily Bruin
Senior Eric Byrnes hopes to lead Bruins to a strong second half
of the season.