Baseball looks to slide past Fullerton
Bruins aspire to throw Titans curve in early season test
By Ruben Gutierrez
After a rosy 3-1 start and a "fun" game against UCLA alumni, the
acid test begins tomorrow for the young Bruin baseball squad.
UCLA will host perennial college baseball powerhouse Cal State
Fullerton at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Fullerton also has only one
loss in the young season, that being a close 11-10 decision
suffered at the hands of defending PAC-6 champion Stanford.
After throwing in an impressive 7-1 victory over Cal Poly
Pomona, Fullerton ace Ted Silva ran his record to a perfect 2-0 and
sealed the series with a 5-3 win over Stanford.
The key to a UCLA victory will be offensive consistency, which
the team has demonstrated so far this season. The Bruins have
scored fewer than eight runs only once this season, a 5-1 victory
over Hawaii in the season opener.
"We’ve only hit one home run and that was by Troy (Glaus,
shortstop) in the first game. I don’t think this is a home run type
of team, but we’re going to hit our extra bases," UCLA head coach
Gary Adams said. "That’s the type of hitting I want to see.
The Titans have been guided to two national championships and a
second place finish in 1992 under the auspices of head coach Augie
Garrido.
Top returning players for the Titans include sophomore
outfielder Mark Kotsay, who hit .329 with four home runs and 35 RBI
last year. Another top returner is senior first baseman D.C. Olsen,
currently hitting .438 with one home run and 5 RBI. UCLA transfer
John Mitchell is scheduled to start at pitcher for Fullerton.
Sophomore Ryan Lynch is slated to take the mound for UCLA, but
is questionable due to an injury. Should Lynch not play, the
probable starter is sophomore John Phillips.
Lynch struck out five batters in four innings in UCLA’s early
season jaunt to Hawaii. Phillips is highly regarded and was 2-0
last season after missing the first half with an injury.
"I like what I see and what they’ve been doing. Of course
they’re not as polished as they’re going to be at the end of the
year, but what they’ve done so far has been superb," Adams said.
"What I like is their stuff. Their fastballs are alive, their
curveballs are breaking sharply, they’re using their changeup."
Offensively, the Bruins will rely on first baseman Peter Zamora,
currently batting .529, leading the team in RBI with eight, total
bases with 18 and tied for the lead in doubles with four.
UCLA dropped three games to Fullerton last season, one by eight
runs and another by 10, while coming close in the second game, but
losing 8-6.But this year’s Bruin squad has already surpassed some
of the achievements of a dismal season last year.
"After our first couple of games last year, we felt like we were
in trouble. The team is much more together as a team. We’re younger
than we were last year, but we’re just a better team," Adams
said.