EDWARD LIN/Daily Bruin Bruin Rashad
Parker swings in a game against UC Riverside last
week.
By Adam Karon
Daily Bruin Staff
The UCLA baseball team traveled to Hawaii this weekend and came
back with more than suntans.
The Bruins took two games from the Rainbow Warriors after
dropping the first of a three-game series.
Junior Josh Karp got the start for UCLA on Thursday, allowing
just one run in the first five innings. Despite his six strikeouts,
Karp received no decision as the Bruins’ bullpen was unable
to hold on to an 8-5 eighth-inning lead.
“We didn’t get the pitching we needed,” head
coach Gary Adams said of the Bruins’ 9-8 loss. “We
couldn’t stop the bleeding.”
One bright spot for UCLA was senior Brian Baron. Baron, who sat
out last year with a knee injury, went 4-4 with a run scored. Adam
Berry hit the first home run of 2001.
Friday’s game proved to be much more friendly to UCLA. The
Bruins jumped all over Hawai’i starter Sean Yamashita for
nine first-inning runs.
Starter Bobby Roe earned the win after giving up just three runs
in six innings of work. Roe struck out six and walked six on the
day.
BASEBALL PREVIEW vs. MEN’S
BASEBALL Today 5 p.m. Jackie Robinson Stadium Offensively the Bruins exploded. Outfielders Matt Pearl
and Ben Francisco each had four hits, with Pearl going a perfect
4-4 on the day.
Francisco was a home run away from the cycle, scoring three runs
while knocking in two.
“Our hitting seemed pretty contagious,” Adams
said.
First baseman Eric Reece had a double, a home run and three RBIs
for the Bruins.
In Saturday’s rubber match, the Bruins waited until the
second inning to do their work for the day. Singles by Randall
Shelley, Reece and Ryan Rasmussen combined with doubles by Berry
and Pearl to put four runs on the board.
“We’re going to have to do a good job of bunching
our hits together this year,” Adams said. “We are going
to have to execute.”
Senior Jon Brandt got the start and four runs proved to be more
than enough. The senior gave up just one run on three hits in five
innings. The bullpen came through in the form of Mike Davern, Mike
Kunes and Doug Silva, as UCLA cruised to an easy 12-2 victory.
“There were flashes of really good baseball,” Brandt
said. “And there were times when we didn’t look good at
all.”
“The last two games we blew them out,” shortstop
Josh Canales said.
UCLA Freshman Casey Janssen homered in his first career at-bat,
becoming the first Bruin to do so since Matt Schwenke in 1991.
The Bruins racked up 35 hits in the two victories, winning by
double digits in each game. The offensive explosion was overdue,
but UCLA must also learn to take the tight games.
“We still haven’t shown we can win the close
games,” Canales said. “We need to prove that to
ourselves.”
The Bruins open their home schedule against the Loyola Marymount
Lions tonight at 5 p.m. at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Last year, the
Lions stole a game from the Bruins in the bottom of the ninth
inning.
“We always have a tough time playing Loyola,” Adams
said. “They’ve won their conference the last three
years, and they are going to be hungry.”
Freshman Davern will get the start for the Bruins.
“After Friday and Saturday’s games we felt like we
could play with anyone,” Brandt said.