Baseball faces lowly ‘Cats

Baseball faces lowly ‘Cats

Arizona gives Bruins shot at winning three

By Ross Bersot

UCLA baseball enters tonight’s series opener against Arizona at
Jackie Robinson Stadium having taken two of three from a Six-Pac
opponent only once on the season. Fortunately for the home team, it
was against the Wildcats, who dwell in the conference cellar with a
4-14 league record.

Arizona (17-25-1 overall) has yet to win a conference series and
has been swept at home by both California and Stanford.

"We’re not able to sustain a lead late in the game," Arizona
head coach Jerry Kindall said. "We’re scoring a lot of runs, but
don’t finish the job."

Led by junior designated hitter Scott Kidd, who boasts a .371
batting average, good for second in the Six-Pac, the Wildcats have
compiled a .302 team average. With 12 doubles, six dingers and a
.348 batting average, senior leftfielder Menno Wickey paces the
power department.

If through no other way but by example, these upperclassmen are
providing leadership for Arizona’s young lineup, which consistently
features four freshmen.

In line with the team’s youth is their defensive inconsistency.
The Wildcats lead the Six-Pac in errors with 100 and at times have
appeared unable to catch a bus. Pitching is also a problem point as
the team ERA of 6.31 is the highest in the league.

Although the statistics seem to spell Arizona’s doom, they do
not tell the whole story. In the last meeting with the Bruins,
tonight’s starter, Wildcat ace Zack Pringle, was unavailable for
use, idling on the suspended list. The junior hurler leads the team
with a 4.25 ERA and has come back to go 2-1 in his last three
outings, including a complete game in Arizona’s lone victory in six
tries against Cal.

Pringle’s return, added to the team’s progress since Arizona’s
prior clash with UCLA, should make this a more difficult series for
the Bruins (19-17, 7-11 Six-Pac).

Catcher Tim DeCinces bombed the toothless Wildcat pitching staff
last month, going two for two with a double, a home run and four
RBI in the series opener. The sophomore reached base six times in
all, including four walks.

"DeCinces did a job on us last time," Kindall said. "We’re going
to have to find a way to pitch him differently."

UCLA pitcher John Phillips declawed the potent Arizona offense
in the rubber match giving up eight hits and three runs in six
innings to notch the victory and move to 4-0 on the season. The
sophomore righty has since gone 1-2, but UCLA head coach Gary Adams
is looking for him to get back on track against the Wildcats on
Saturday.

"He is going to have to be tough as nails," Adams said. "He has
got to ‘recover’ as they call it. You have bad outings and he has
got to put together a good one. We’re expecting it on
Saturday."

On the mound tonight for the Bruins will be freshman southpaw
Jim Parque (2-5, 4.16 ERA), who worked eight strong innings against
Six-Pac leader Stanford in his last start. He gave up one run on 10
hits and struck out seven.

With 12 conference games left, Adams recognizes the importance
of taking the Arizona series.

"I think it’s big, I mean it’s big," Adams said. "We have to
stop losing two out of three, that’s for sure."