Byrnes fired up for Six-Pac opener

Byrnes fired up for Six-Pac opener

Former Stanford recruit turned Bruin ready to take hit at
Cardinal foe

By Brian Purcell

As UCLA sophomore rightfielder Eric Byrnes developed into a
first team All-State player at St. Francis High School, it seemed
inevitable that upon graduation he would take his skills to
Stanford University.

After all, St. Francis is only five minutes away from Northern
California’s preeminent baseball power. And far from being a casual
observer of the Cardinal, Byrnes had grown up with the program,
spending his high school summers working at Stanford coach Mark
Marquess’ baseball camp and his high school counseling sessions in
the office of Marquess’ wife, Susan.

It seemed like they would become one big happy family when
Byrnes signed his letter of intent to attend Stanford.
Unfortunately for the Cardinal, this never happened.

Instead, Byrnes chose UCLA and has been punishing Stanford ever
since.

Byrnes hit .556 in six games against the Cardinal last year,
going 15-27 with two home runs, five RBIs, and seven runs scored.
He had at least two hits in all six games, and played hard enough
to become the beanball target of Stanford pitching.

He hopes to continue the destruction this weekend as No. 6 UCLA
(9-4) opens Six-Pac play with a three-game set at home against No.
5 Stanford (9-5).

"It’s always a little extra incentive to beat Stanford," Byrnes
said. "We don’t put too much emphasis on any one team, because
every team in the Six-Pac is so good, but I have a lot of respect
for Stanford, and I love to beat them."

Stanford coach Mark Marquess wishes that Byrnes would take out
his passion on someone else.

"He’s a great player, and I’m really happy that he’s doing
well," Marquess said. "I just wish he didn’t do so well against us.
He hurt us big time last year."

Despite Byrnes’ torrid hitting, the Bruins won just two of six
games against Stanford in 1995. Byrnes sees a different mindset on
the team this year, and thinks that things will be different.

"This year we go in expecting to win every game," Byrnes said.
"Last year we wanted to win, but we didn’t expect to win. We have
the extra year of experience, and that has made a big difference.
Stanford’s a great team, but we go into the series expecting to
sweep them. We’re so good this year that I like our chances against
anyone."

If UCLA is to sweep the Cardinal, they will have to handle some
outstanding pitching. Friday night’s game will pit UCLA’s ace Jim
Parque against Stanford’s Kyle Peterson. Peterson was last year’s
consensus Freshman of the Year and a first team All-American, going
14-1 with a conference leading 2.96 ERA.

Freshmen standouts Jeff Austin and Chad Hutchinson will most
likely start the next two games for Stanford, while Ryan Lynch and
Pete Zamora will take the mound for the Bruins.

These two teams have been picked by many as the favorites to win
the Six-Pac, so while it is only the first series of the season, it
may set the tone for a long battle atop the conference.

"I think that UCLA has a very good team this year," Marquess
said. "I voted for them to win the league. They have a lot of
position players returning, and a deep pitching staff. I think that
pitching depth is the advantage that both of our teams have over
other teams in the league."

FRED HE/Daily Bruin

UCLA right fielder Eric Byrnes tormented Stanford last
season.

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