Alums drop game to Bruins in last inning
By Yoni Tamler
Daily Bruin Contributor
"Out with the old and in with the new" sang the UCLA baseball
team this Saturday as it defeated the UCLA alumni team, 5-4, in the
Bruins’ only preseason/exhibition game of the year.
Assembling a lineup that resembled a who’s-not of major league
baseball players, the alumni team appeared to have the upper hand
throughout most of the game. The former Bruins even clung to a 4-1
lead going into the bottom of the fifth (and final) inning, and
easily retired the first two opposing batters.
But with two out and no one on base, junior Royce Valent
initiated a rally with a double to center field. Sophomore Eric
Byrnes then reached first on a fielding error, and catcher Tim
DeCinces followed suit with an infield hit, scoring Valent and
bringing Pete Zamora to the plate.
"Tim legged out that ball to save the rally, and that was the
key play of the game," said UCLA head coach Gary Adams, satisfied
that the current Bruins put in an effort. "It just goes to show
what a difference a little hustle makes."
Zamora, a sophomore who plays first base when not starting in
the rotation, proved to be UCLA’s best hitter in the clutch last
year. Picking up where he left off as a freshman, Zamora took the
first pitch from Mike Caravelli and sent it far over the right
field wall to give UCLA the victory. Zamora’s three RBI were tops
for both clubs on the day.
While big leaguers such as Todd Zeile and Sean Berry made
appearances Saturday, relatively few of UCLA’s prominent alums
showed up.
"(The players) all had good reasons for not coming," Adams said.
"The local guys showed up; (Eric) Karros had to go to Phoenix
because of his agent, and some of the other players (Jeff Conine,
Bob Hamelin, Don Slaught and Mike Gallego, to name a few) couldn’t
come because they live too far away. It’s tough for the guys to
come out on a Super Bowl weekend, anyway."