Baseball searches for golden opportunity to beat Cal
By Daily Bruin Staff
Feb. 29, 1996 9:00 p.m.
Baseball searches for golden opportunity to beat Cal
By Yoni Tamler
Daily Bruin Staff
Those pesky California Golden Bears, UCLA’s whipping boy this
year in football and basketball, are back in town to play a third
kind of "ball."
Beginning today, the UCLA baseball team (11-6 overall, 2-1
Six-Pac) has its chance to assert dominance over its cousin up
north, and it’s a good thing they’re meeting at Jackie Robinson
Stadium.
"They pretty much dominated us," UCLA head coach Gary Adams said
of last year’s two disastrous run-ins with Cal, when the Bruins
managed only one victory in six games. "(Keith) Evans is a good
pitcher, they’re a good team and they were ranked No. 2 in the
conference preseason, so they’ll be good again this year."
Excellent speed and heads-up baserunning were a couple of
factors which led to Cal’s success against the Bruins last season.
Cal stole 17 bases with five different players having at least two
each. Compare that with UCLA, which swiped just five bags. Right
fielder Jon Heinrichs had two of those bases, in addition to
hitting .400 with one home run and six RBIs.
"We’ve been doing a good job of holding the runners on and
giving Timmy (DeCinces) a chance to throw guys out," Adams said.
"We’ll pick, we’ll pitch out, step off, hold – do a lot of
different things against them."
Never having lost to UCLA in his career, Evans (1-1, 3.80 ERA)
takes the mound against Jim Parque (3-0, 3.27) in tonight’s 7
o’clock game. Freshman Dan Keller (2-0, 1.83) makes his first
collegiate start at 1 p.m. on Saturday after sparkling in relief
for the Bruins.
Depending on his health, left-hander Pete Zamora (2-0, 4.43) is
the starter for Sunday’s game, also scheduled for 1 p.m.
UCLA enters the series on the heels of a 10-7 loss on the road
to Loyola Marymount. On Wednesday, LMU (3-12) shocked the No. 5
Bruins, scoring five runs in the eighth inning on their way to
victory.
"I hope that loss makes us realize that on any given day any
given team can beat you if you don’t play well," Adams said. "We
had opportunities that we let go down the drain. We missed those
opportunities to score on offense, and our relief didn’t hold us
like it has been."
PATRICK LAM/Daily Bruin
Depending on his health, Pete Zamora (2-0, 4.43 ERA) will take
the mound in Sunday’s third and final game with Cal.
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