Baseball takes on big west’s wolfpack
By Daily Bruin Staff
May 16, 1996 9:00 p.m.
Friday, May 17, 1996
By Brian Purcell
Daily Bruin Contributor
When regional selections are announced on Monday, the UCLA
baseball team will be watching intently.
The fate of the team will be left up to a panel of coaches who
will have to decide whether the real UCLA is the one that
challenged for first place in the Six-Pac for about four-fifths of
the season, or the one which dropped six consecutive games to close
out the conference season.
The 22nd-ranked Bruins have one more chance to prove themselves
this weekend when they travel to Reno to play Nevada in a
three-game series that begins tonight. A strong showing would make
UCLA a probable playoff team, but a sweep at the hands of the
Wolfpack (28-18) would almost certainly keep the Bruins (32-24,
16-14 Six-Pac) out of the postseason.
The selection committee will make most of their decisions on
Saturday, so the first two games of the series hold extra
significance for the Bruins.
"It’s imperative that we win on Friday and Saturday," said
junior pitcher Nick St. George, who will start Sunday’s game. "They
(the committee) will be talking on Saturday, so we can’t lose those
games."
The Wolfpack, who finished fifth in the Big West this season,
have no playoff aspirations. They have traditionally had a strong
program, however, and play in a cracker-jack ballpark, making
anything possible.
Attempting to combat the thin air and shallow fences for the
Bruins will be left-hander Jim Parque (8-3) on Friday night,
right-handed Kevin Sheredy (3-2) on Saturday, and southpaw St.
George (1-3). The Wolfpack will be swinging from their heels with
nothing to lose, which makes them a scary opponent.
"They’re not having a great year, but they’re still a
respectable team that you can’t overlook," St. George said. "As
coach Adams says, we just need to go out and play the game of
baseball. We can’t worry about the outcome of everything."
The fate of UCLA and the rest of the playoff hopefuls will be
broadcast live on ESPN at noon on Monday.
