Fullerton hits Bruins out of park

Fullerton hits Bruins out of park

UCLA baseball team records season-high six errors in game,
suffers 14-7 loss

By Yoni Tamler

A wild and ugly spectacle took place Wednesday night at Jackie
Robinson Stadium.

After 28 hits, nine walks, eight errors, four beanballs and four
pick-offs, the No. 1 Cal State-Fullerton baseball team emerged
victorious over UCLA, 14-7.

"The game of baseball beat us tonight as much as Cal State
Fullerton," UCLA head coach Gary Adams said. "We did not play the
game of baseball right. We could have played Cal State-Dominguez
Hills tonight and lost playing the way we played. I still am not
conceding that Fullerton is a better team."

The Bruins (6-4) jumped out in the first inning scoring four
times on three hits, but Fullerton answered by sending runners
across the plate in the next four. Junior Mark Kotsay capped off
Fullerton’s deciding rally with a two-run homer in the the fifth,
his fifth dong in seven games.

"Our defense broke down," Adams said of his team, which recorded
a season-high six errors on the evening. "After working hard for
four runs, putting two men on with walks is not a good idea. We
gave them too many gifts – they got some hits, but we gave them 12
other baserunners besides the ones that they earned."

UCLA also wasted a golden opportunity to even the score in the
bottom of the sixth inning. The Bruins loaded the bases with no
outs, but Fullerton third baseman Jack Jones snagged sophomore
Brett Nista’s line drive and turned it into a rally-killing double
play.

While pitching was more like batting practice for both teams,
UCLA’s Rick Heineman provided a brief respite. Heineman relieved
Jake Meyer (0-1) and threw two and one-thirds innings of shut-out
ball before being pulled in the eighth.

In the end, UCLA could only muster one run over the final six
innings, and Fullerton (6-1) coasted on its back-breaking third
inning (three runs), adding four more in the ninth.

One other highlight for UCLA was junior catcher Tim DeCinces. In
addition to gunning down two players attempting to steal, DeCinces
went three-for-four with two RBIs. One of those came on a solo home
run in the seventh inning, which proved to be inconsequential in
the end.

"All game we were going to need runs against a team like that,
and you just try to get good at-bats every time you go out there,"
DeCinces said.

"You can’t enjoy a good personal day without a team victory. My
freshman year that’s all it was. Everyone pats you on the back, but
we’d lose. If it happens that way this year it’s not going to be a
happy season."

PATRICK LAM

Tim DeCinces slammed his first home run of the season in a
losing cause Wednesday night against Cal State-Fullerton.

Comments to [email protected]