Thursday, April 25, 1996
Bruins cruise past Toros, tame Lions in double-headerBy Yoni
Tamler
Daily Bruin Staff
And they said it couldn’t be done.
In a non-league double-header against Cal State Dominguez Hills
and Loyola Marymount Wednesday, the UCLA baseball team (28-17
overall) won its second and third consecutive weekday games,
mangling Dominguez Hills 13-6 and LMU 11-3 at Jackie Robinson
Stadium.
"What we did today was take advantage of every pitcher’s
mistake," UCLA interim head coach Vince Beringhele said. "These
guys that we faced today were OK, but every mistake they made, our
hitters made them pay.
"Dominguez Hills has a low team ERA, but they have a conference
series this weekend like we do, and they’re not going to throw
their front-line guys, and we made them pay."
In the first game of the afternoon, second baseman Chad Matoian
gave the Bruins an encore of his performance in Tuesday night’s
victory over Westmont college, when the junior went four-for-five
with a pair of RBIs. Matoian collected a base hit in each of his
four at-bats against the Toros (28-17), driving in another two and
bringing his hit total to eight in his last eight trips to the
plate.
"When you go on a one-for-30 slump you definitely start to lose
a little confidence," Matoian said. "In the situations I’ve been in
I’d get in for one or two at-bats every couple of days, and the
last couple of days I’ve had four at-bats a game at least, so it
helps you get your feel back. My first at-bat yesterday I was
nervous  my heart was pounding. Today I was very confident
when I stepped in the box."
UCLA right-hander Ryan O’Toole gave the Bruins five strong
innings on the mound, giving up two runs on eight hits for his
second win of the season.
Backing up O’Toole were homers from Tim DeCinces and Eric
Valent, the eighth on the year for each player.
On Tuesday, UCLA head coach Gary Adams, currently serving a
four-game suspension, remarked: "Nothing I’ve ever done to prepare
for LMU has worked, so we’ll probably beat them tomorrow."
The Lions (19-32) had bettered UCLA in the last five meetings
between the two teams, but on Wednesday they played more like a
litter of kittens.
LMU’s pitchers were so outmatched by UCLA’s lineup that at times
it felt the Bruins were in the game for the purpose of padding
their own stats.
Third baseman Troy Glaus homered for the sixth time in his last
eight games, and second baseman Brett Nista picked up where
predecessor Matoian left off, coming a homerun shy of hitting for
the cycle.
Ryan Lynch (1-1) worked three innings for the win, outlasting
LMU starter Rob Green (0-1).
Rick Heineman, Nick St. George, and Dan Keller all pitched in
relief for UCLA.