Friday, 4/25/97 This jock jams It’s not all work, no play for
pitcher who makes time to rock both mound, guitar
By Tim Yun Daily Bruin Contributor or junior Tom Jacquez, being
a starting pitcher on the nationally ranked Bruin baseball team is
nothing compared to performing in front of a live crowd with his
band, Levering. Jacquez (pronounced hah-quez) is not just a
talented pitcher. He’s also a budding musician who finds spare time
in his schedule to jam with a few of his friends in the band, whose
sound stems from the likes of Grateful Dead and Miles Davis. "It’s
a lot more nerve-wracking playing music in front of people than
playing baseball," he said, "because I have been playing baseball
in front of people for my whole life, but playing music in front of
people is a whole new experience for me. "I have been playing
guitar for about five years now," Jacquez said, "I was in a band
towards the end of my high school years, and now that I am in
college, I decided to form my own band." Adding to the band’s
athletic connections is Matt Swanson, goalie for the UCLA water
polo team, who plays the bass guitar for the band, The band was
actually formed during Jacquez’s freshman year – breaking up for a
short period of time before reuniting this Fall Quarter. Due to the
members’ hectic schedules, the band mostly performs for small
groups and occasionally larger parties. "Right now, we are pretty
small scale." Jacquez said. "We just kind of play parties that go
on around campus and that sort of thing." With a long baseball
season and the pressures of being a student, starting a band is
probably the last thing that you’d probably do. But for Jacquez,
music offers a means to take a break from the hectic schedule.
"When I am out there on the mound and in the field, I am working as
hard as I can," Jacquez said, "When I am playing music with my
friends, it is a relief from some of the rigors of the game."
Becoming a music star is not a priority for Jacquez, at least not
right now. "Right now, it’s just for fun. My main focus is
baseball. But maybe in the future, when I get older, it would
definitely be a choice for me." But, in the immediate future,
Jacquez has only one thing on his mind – USC. Jacquez and the
Bruins (34-11-1, 14-7 Six-Pac) will battle the Trojans (34-16,
15-12) in a key three-game series this weekend. At stake is the
conference lead. After taking two of three games last weekend in
Palo Alto, UCLA tied the Cardinal for first place in the Six-Pac
standings. Stanford (29-13, 14-7) will play California in a
three-game series this weekend. Jacquez will throw Saturday night
at USC’s Dedeaux Field. That game will be sandwiched around two
games at Jackie Robinson Stadium – tonight at 7 and Sunday at 1
p.m. Jim Parque will start on the mound for the Bruins in the
opener, while Pete Zamora will start the series finale. To emerge
victorious this weekend, however, the Bruins will need more than
just good pitching performances. The bats will have to stay hot.
John Heinrichs is hoping to repeat his epic performance against
Stanford last weekend, which earned him Southern Pac-10 player of
the week honors, while junior shortstop Troy Glaus will continue
his chase for the UCLA single-season home run record (his 24 HR are
five short of the record). However, continuing their hitting streak
won’t be easy, as they will face the league’s second-best pitching
staff. The Trojan pitching staff is led by Seth Etherton (7-2, 3.61
ERA) and Randy Flores (8-5, 3.97 ERA). PATRICK LAM/Daily Bruin Tom
Jacquez, starting pitcher for UCLA, also plays guitar in his band
‘Levering’.