Road to Omaha must pass through

Thursday, May 23, 1996

Baseball kicks off regionals against hometown favoriteBy Brian
Purcell

Daily Bruin Contributor

Some would say the heart of college baseball beats in the state
of Texas, right about where the state capital of Austin is found.
The Texas Longhorns have carved themselves a substantial niche in
collegiate baseball lore, and in the process have made Austin one
of the most difficult places in the nation for a team to visit.

So when the UCLA baseball team opens the Central I Regional
Playoffs tonight against Texas at the Longhorns’ Disch Faulk Field,
it will be facing more than a 1996 team that has won 38 games and
lost 22. They will be facing the tradition of the most storied
baseball program in the nation, not to mention about 8,000 raucous
Longhorn fans.

"I think that’s the toughest number three seed you could play, a
team like that at their own ballpark," UCLA junior catcher Tim
DeCinces said. "It’s a huge game for both teams."

The fourth-seeded Bruins (33-26) will throw their ace, Jim
Parque (8-3) against the Longhorns, hoping to escape with a win and
move into the winners’ bracket. A slide into the losers’ bracket
could easily result in an early exit for one of these teams, as the
loser of this game will play the top-seeded Miami Hurricanes
(41-12) in the second round of the double elimination
tournament.

The winner plays Long Beach State in the second round, and while
the second-seeded 49ers (34-24) are a good team, they are no Miami.
UCLA split a home-and-home series with the 49ers this year, losing
on the road 6-5, and winning at home 13-7. The Bruins would
salivate at the chance to meet Long Beach State with one win
already under their belts. Because of this, the game with Texas is
the undisputed key to the tournament.

"The good thing about (being matched up with Texas) is that you
get it over with quick," DeCinces said. "Either you win and you’re
in the driver’s seat, or you lose and you’re done. I think it’s the
best thing for us, because we can throw Parque against their best
pitcher. I heard that their pitching’s not that good."

DeCinces is expected to provide much of the pop in the UCLA
lineup, as he comes into the post-season the hottest hitter on the
team, and perhaps in the nation. The junior went 10-for-16 with
four home runs last week to earn Collegiate Baseball’s National
Player of the Week award. In addition, his four home runs moved him
past teammate Troy Glaus and into first place in the Six-Pac with
16 dingers on the year.

Hitting is clearly the strength of this year’s Longhorn team, as
they boast three players who are hitting .380 or better, including
first baseman Danny Peoples. Peoples has 17 home runs and 86 RBIs
to accompany his .380 batting average.

Texas has appeared in the College World Series an NCAA record 17
times, and has won it four times, the last time being in 1983 when
Roger Clemens led them to the title. Longhorn head coach Cliff
Gustafson is in his 29th year with the school, and has skippered
the team to two of its titles.

UCLA hopes to make its first appearance in Omaha, and is making
its eighth regional appearance under head coach Gary Adams. There
is no doubt they will be the most hated team in the state of Texas
this evening, whether they win or lose.

"It will be fun to play with (the hostile crowd), because you
feed off the enthusiasm," DeCinces said. "It’s better to play in
front of 12,000 people that hate you than in front of 12 people who
don’t give a shit."

This year represented the last opportunity to make regionals for
DeCinces as well as several other UCLA players. Of this year’s
players, only current seniors Rick Heineman and Zak Ammirato were
on the 1993 team ­ the last Bruin squad to make the regionals
­ and they were merely bit players on that team.

UCLA must prove its late-season slide ­ the Bruins lost
eight of their last 11 games ­ was just a mirage, and that the
real UCLA team is the one that bolted out of the gate and
challenged for the Six-Pac lead for much of the year. Four wins
this weekend would earn them their first-ever trip to the World
Series. But first things first, they are just worrying about
Texas.

"We played so well at the start of the season, and the way
things went at the end, people are happy to get there (regionals),"
DeCinces said. "Hopefully that will turn things around for us. The
whole team’s excited about the chance to go and take a shot at our
goal."

SUSIE CHU/Daily Bruin

Catcher Tim DeCinces watched 16 dingers, a Pac-10-best, clear
the wall this season, and was named to the all-conference team.