Bruins dust off Cal in sweep
Three’s a charm: UCLA varies tricks in weekend wins
By Brian Purcell
Daily Bruin Contributor
The UCLA baseball team continued its year-long habit of winning
close games by taking three straight nail-biters from California
this weekend.
The No. 5 Bruins came up with different ways to win every day.
They won a 4-1 pitching duel on Friday night, an 11-8 slugfest on
Saturday and used clutch defense to squeak out a 5-4 win in the
finale. The three wins push UCLA’s league record to 5-1, good
enough for first place in the Six-Pac, while Cal gets an early
taste of the cellar after its first conference series of the
year.
It looked as though the Bears would salvage the last game of the
series on Sunday when they closed to within 5-4 in the top of the
eighth, and had runners on the corners with one out and cleanup
hitter Gavin Brown at the plate. Brown appeared to deliver with a
sharp ground ball between short and third until UCLA shortstop Jack
Santora made a backhand stab, wheeled and threw quickly to second
baseman Brett Nista, who relayed to first for a bang-bang double
play.
"I would have been happy to get one out out of that play," said
UCLA head coach Gary Adams. "Jack just made a great play, and Brett
made a really quick turn at second."
Cal had already scored three times in the inning to nearly erase
the 5-1 lead that UCLA had built with a four-run sixth inning keyed
by Pete Zamora’s two-run single.
Zamora started on the mound for the Bruins, and allowed three
earned runs in seven and one-third innings to move to 3-0 on the
season. He also went 2-for-4 at the plate to cap off a 5-for-13,
six RBI performance. Kevin Sheredy came on in the eighth and threw
one and two-thirds scoreless innings to notch his fourth save.
No relief was needed on Friday, as UCLA ace left-hander Jim
Parque silenced Cal bats, throwing a complete game and allowing
only one run while striking out six and walking none. Parque
improved to 4-0 on the season.
It was a smooth victory for the Bruins, as they scored one run
in four separate innings.
The bats were a little louder on both sides in Saturday’s game,
as the Bruins scored five runs in the eighth inning to erase Cal’s
8-6 lead. The inning was prolonged by two Cal errors and clutch
hitting by both Zamora and left fielder Jon Heinrichs. His two-run
single tied the game at eight, and Zamora supplied the insurance
with a two-run single of his own.
Senior Rick Heinemann notched his first win of the season for
UCLA on Saturday by dominating for four and one-third innings of
relief. He allowed just one hit during his stint and struck out
five Cal batters.
UCLA had used the long ball to score its first six runs of the
game, as junior Tim DeCinces hit a three-run home run in the third
inning, and Zamora and freshman Eric Valent hit solo shots in the
second and fifth innings respectively.
The Bruins had not swept Cal in a three-game series since 1986,
and the five victories in their first six league games represents
their best start since 1985.
"It was a tough series, and I’m just glad the good guys won,"
Adams said. "Their were some weird things happening out there, and
thankfully we got some breaks. I’m really happy with the way we’re
playing."
FRED HE/Daily Bruin
Sophomore shortstop Jack Santora started a pivotal double-play
in the eighth inning to preserve UCLA’s 5-4 victory at
California.
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