Monday, April 6, 1998
Bruins find diamond a little rough
RECAP: UCLA beat San Diego State to open but then fell to
Stanford, Cal State Northridge
By Vytas Mazeika and Kristina Wilcox
Daily Bruin Staff
UCLA 14, SDSU 13
March 17, 1998
The first matchup between the Bruins and the Aztecs this season
proved to be an exciting offensive display as the Bruins pulled off
a ninth-inning win at Jackie Robinson Stadium, 14-13.
UCLA started the game with a bang, scoring eight runs in the
first inning off of Abel Herrera and A.J. Samadani. Herrera left in
the first inning without making an out, allowing seven runs to
score.
But San Diego State did not retire quietly. They slowly built up
a 13-12 lead, which they took into the bottom of the ninth inning.
Second baseman Jack Santora started the inning with a walk for the
Bruins, and was replaced on the basepaths by Ryan Roques, who
preceded to steal second base. Roques eventually scored the tying
run on third baseman Garret Atkins’ single to left field.
With Eric Valent on second, courtesy of a walk, and Atkins on
first, left fielder Brett Nista hit a high chopper to first base
that baffled the defense, allowing Valent to score from second with
the winning run.
Reliever Matt Klein got his first win of the season by facing
the last batter in the top of the ninth.
CSUN 4, UCLA 3
March 20, 1998
The visiting Matadors of Cal State Northridge defeated the
Bruins, 4-3, in the first of a two-game weekend series.
Northridge scored all four of their runs in the fourth inning
off of starting pitcher Ryan Carter who, despite the shaky inning,
lasted through the eighth, allowing five hits and five walks, while
striking out six batters.
Carter threw 131 pitches in his eight innings of work.
The fourth inning was also notable because head coach Gary Adams
was ejected during the inning. Adams argued a called hit-by-pitch
on Mario Estrada, saying that the ball hit the bat and should have
been a foul ball. He was ejected after arguing his point.
Assistant coach Vince Beringhele and first baseman Cassidy Olson
would later be ejected in the eighth for arguing with the same
umpire over a defensive play. The umpire called Adrian Mendoza safe
at first after he legged out an infield single. Both Beringhele and
Olson disagreed with the call.
Offensively, the home-run bats were out for the Bruins. Freshman
Bill Scott hit his first collegiate homer in the fifth, and Valent
connected in the eighth. Both were solo shots.
CSUN 10, UCLA 3
March 21, 1998
Northridge sealed their third straight win over the Bruins,
dating back to last season, by scoring seven runs in the seventh
and eighth innings.
Freshman Chad Cislak (2-6), coming off of his rough outing at
Arizona, took the loss. He allowed five runs (three earned) in
six-plus innings of work, on eight hits and three walks. He struck
out eight.
Northridge’s Carey Novits earned his third win of the season
while scattering nine hits over seven innings. He allowed all three
of the Bruin runs in the first and fifth innings.
Stanford 4, UCLA 1
March 28, 1998
UCLA second baseman Nick Theodorou’s return to the lineup was
highlighted by a great Bruin pitching performance – a rarity this
season. Redshirt freshman Paul Diaz (listed as a right fielder)
stepped in as an emergency starter for UCLA (11-19 overall, 5-10 in
Six-Pac) and delivered 5 1/3 innings allowing four runs (two
earned).
Although the Bruins committed three errors and allowed 11 hits,
Stanford could never quite put the game away.
Luckily for the Cardinal (23-4-1, 8-2), they had junior
right-hander Jeff Austin on the mound. Except for Eric Valent’s
sixth-inning home run, his team-leading 14th, Austin (8-0, 1.75
ERA) kept the Bruins off the scoreboard. Theodorou, out more than
20 games with a hamstring injury suffered early in the season, went
three for three in his first game in over two months.
Stanford 15, UCLA 3
March 29, 1998
Once the Cardinal scored six runs in the bottom of the first on
UCLA, the game was pretty much decided. Just to make sure, the
Cardinal put together another six-run inning in the bottom of the
fifth.
"We always get geared up to play UCLA," said Cardinal second
baseman Tony Schrager, who hit his eighth and ninth homers of the
season in this game. "I think that always helps. It seems like
we’re always ready to play against them. Yesterday was a really
close game and we knew that if we hit like we hit yesterday they’d
probably beat us today."
UCLA’s freshman hurler Chad Cislak (2-7) allowed 11 earned runs
in four innings of work (plus three batters in the fifth) while
Cardinal starter Chad Hutchinson (5-2) allowed only two hits and
one run in seven innings of work.
Stanford 7, UCLA 6
March 30, 1998
The situation was bottom of the ninth, one out and the bases
loaded. UCLA had a slim 6-4 lead. On first was Cardinal left
fielder Edmund Muth, who less than a minute ago had walked in a
run. At the plate was right fielder Nick Day, who was 0 for 4 at
that moment.
The Bruins had lost the three previous meetings to Stanford by a
combined score of 73-23, and things were looking grim once again.
Pitching for UCLA was Bobby Roe – the team’s closer. He came into
the game in the seventh inning and struck out center fielder Jody
Gerut with a runner on third to end the eighth inning.
Roe had allowed two walks and one hit in the ninth and when Day
ripped the ball the other way to right field, panic set in. UCLA
senior right fielder Eric Byrnes ran full speed at the ball. He
could not have stretched out any further than he did and in fact
the ball entered his glove. But when he hit the ground, the ball
popped out.
"I said, ‘I better catch it; if I don’t catch it that’s the
game,’" Byrnes said. "And it was close, but that’s the way baseball
goes."
While Stanford mugged Muth, who scored the winning run on Day’s
three-run double, Byrnes lay in right field. Roe left the mound in
disgust and walked over to the bullpen to try and relieve himself
of his frustrations. That’s just the way baseball goes.