Baseball rocks Wildcats at JRS
Pitcher Jim Parque hurls three-hitter to help UCLA trounce UA,
7-1
By Ross Bersot
When Arizona centerfielder Diego Rico slammed into the outfield
fence in the bottom of the fifth inning, attempting to catch a
cannon shot by UCLA shortstop Troy Glaus, the collision resulted in
a resounding thud that echoed throughout Jackie Robinson Stadium
and summarized his team’s evening.
The entire Wildcat squad ran head-on into red-hot UCLA
left-hander Jim Parque, who may not seem a formidable obstacle at
5-feet-10-inches and 150 pounds, but was rock-solid on the mound
last night. The Bruin freshman dominated the Wildcats, allowing
only one run on three hits on his way to a 7-1 complete game
victory, his second in a row, both coming against Six-Pac
competition.
"I just want to take my hat off to that little lefty Parque. He
carved us up pretty good tonight and we have a good hitting team
normally," Arizona head coach Jerry Kindall said. "He shut us down
very well. That’s the story of the game."
Parque has run his record to 3-5 on the season and is confident
about his recent performances.
"It’s my first really big victory," Parque said. "I actually
dominated this game. I could just go out there and flick the glove
and throw it right by them. I’m really happy right now."
Besides outstanding pitching, UCLA (20-17 overall, 8-11 Six-Pac)
outhit Arizona (16-26-1, 4-15) eight to three, led by centerfielder
Jon Heinrichs who snacked on the offerings of Wildcat pitcher Zack
Pringle (2-2), going two for four with a single and a triple and
racking up three RBI.
With no score and two outs in the bottom of the second,
Heinrichs came to the plate and grounded a single through the gap
between short and second, driving in rightfielder Eric Byrnes from
second.
After Parque retired the Wildcat side one-two-three in the top
of the third, the Bruins resumed scoring in the bottom. Up 1-0,
catcher Tim DeCinces punished a line drive into center for a
standup double that scored third-baseman Nick Theodorou.
After first-baseman Peter Zamora grounded to first for the
second out, shortstop Troy Glaus extended his hitting streak to
nine games with a grounder straight up the middle, scoring
DeCinces.
Byrnes continued the rally with a shot down the third-base line
which just stayed fair, scoring Glaus from first. Second baseman
Gar Vallone proceeded to walk, paving the way for Heinrichs’ triple
to the right field corner, which drove both Byrnes and Vallone in
and pushed the UCLA lead to 6-0.
Both teams notched runs in the seventh inning, but the sole run
for the Wildcats was an afterthought, as the home team had already
won the game with the offensive outburst in the third inning.
"We were ready not just to play," UCLA coach Gary Adams said.
"We were ready to win."
UCLA will attempt to make it two in a row tonight at JRS. Rick
Heineman (5-4, 3.82 ERA) will start for the home team, while Kirt
Kishita (0-3, 8.76) will take the mound for Arizona.