Monday, April 8, 1996
By Brian Purcell
Daily Bruin Contributor
A three-game sweep in baseball’s Six-Pac is a rare occurrence.
To sweep a team twice in one season is bordering on the impossible.
UCLA beat the odds, however, by taking three in a row from the
California Golden Bears this weekend to make it six victories in
six chances against the surprisingly hapless Bears.
This weekend’s sweep came at Cal’s Evans Field, making it that
much more gratifying for the No. 10 Bruins (22-12 overall, 13-5
Six-Pac) , as they have traditionally had difficulty winning at
Cal. They had to fight for every win, as they have had to do
against Cal (21-20, 6-12) all season, but as usual they came
through when they needed to. The sweep keeps the Bruins one game
behind USC atop the conference as the Trojans took three from
Arizona over the weekend.
It appeared as though Saturday’s game might end the Bruins’
reign over the Bears, as UCLA had runners on first and second with
one out trailing 5-4 when third baseman Troy Glaus hit what
appeared to be a sure game-ending double play to Cal second baseman
Steve Rianda. Rianda fielded the ball cleanly and flipped to
shortstop Dan Cey, who stepped on second for the first out, but
then threw low to first baseman Gavin Brown. Brown couldn’t handle
the throw, and he let it skip away, allowing Jon Heinrichs to come
in with the tying run.
The next hitter was Tim DeCinces, and he promptly doubled to
drive in Glaus and give the Bruins a 6-5 lead. An error by Cal
third baseman Peter Ecomomos and an RBI single by Eric Byrnes gave
UCLA two insurance runs, and the Bruins won by a final score of
8-5.
Left-hander Pete Zamora threw eight strong innings for UCLA on
Saturday to move his conference record to 4-0, while right-hander
Matt Klein pitched a flawless ninth inning to notch his second save
of the series, his first coming in Thursday’s 8-4 win.
UCLA sophomore right fielder Eric Byrnes turned the first two
games of the series into a personal showcase of power, as he hit
one home run on Thursday and two in Friday’s 6-3 victory. He would
have had two in both games were it not for a foul ball ruling on a
ball he hit well over the left field fence in Thursday’s game.
"I’ve felt good hitting the ball for the last three weeks,"
Byrnes said. "It was just a matter of time before things started
falling for me. It was so frustrating to have them call my first
ball foul, because I knew that it was fair. It felt real good to
come back and do it again."
Byrnes said that the Bruins drew inspiration for the series from
senior captain Zak Ammirato, who didn’t make the trip because of
blood clots in his finger.
"We kind of dedicated the whole weekend to Zak," Byrnes said.
"It is such a huge loss for us not to have him here. He’s a guy
that a lot of players look up to, because of his work ethic and
because of the way he plays the game. Zak Ammirato is my favorite
player in the nation."
Ammirato has been receiving daily treatments on his finger, and
the timetable for his return is unknown.
The Bruins have nearly cemented a spot for themselves in
regionals, as they have a firm grip of second place, three games
ahead of Stanford. They are also in position to overtake USC for
first place, which would practically assure them of a No. 1 seed in
one of the six regionals.
UCLA hosts Arizona in a three-game series next weekend. Arizona
has been the worst team in the league so far, winning just four
games in Six-Pac play. Now looks like an opportune time for the
Bruins to make their move on USC.
"I think we’re really jelling as a team right now," Byrnes said.
"Cal’s got a lot of good ballplayers, and we’ve gone out there and
beaten them six times in a row. If we keep getting better the way
we have been, our team is going to be downright scary."
PATRICK LAM/Daily Bruin
In a three-game Six-Pac series at California which ended
Saturday, Eric Byrnes brutalized the Bears with three home runs on
five hits.