Seniors bid UCLA farewell in final games of season

Tuesday, May 5, 1998

Seniors bid UCLA farewell in final games of season

PREVIEW: Predicted wins expected to instill confidence in
freshmen

By Vytas Mazeika

Daily Bruin Staff

Expect to see a lot of seniors on the baseball field Tuesday
night for the Bruins.

When UCLA (23-30) plays UC Santa Barbara at 6 p.m. tonight, it
will be the last home game of the season for the Bruins.

Senior Matt Klein (2-1) will be starting pitcher while seniors
Eric Byrnes (RF), Casey Cloud (C), Brett Nista (LF), Cassidy Olson
(1B), and Nick Theodorou (2B) will take the field for one last time
at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

With the postseason out of reach, the game against the Gauchos
and this weekend’s upcoming three-game series at Oregon State will
be important for two reasons:

1. It will give the seniors a winning farewell

2. It will give the freshmen some confidence for next season

"At this stage in the season it’s really important for everybody
to go out there, play hard and stay focused," Byrnes said. "It’s
really easy to lose focus and it’s really easy to dog it … I
think it’s really important for this team’s future to end these
last four games on a winning note. And I think it’s possible."

Someone like freshman third baseman Garrett Atkins can reach a
.400 batting average if he finishes the season 8 for 13. Atkins,
who set a school record with a 33-game hitting streak that ended
last Tuesday at Long Beach State, has a good shot at making the All
Pac-10 team as a freshman.

The team can also lower their 8.39 ERA in an attempt to prove
that their 23-30 record is not indicative of the talent on this
team.

One pitcher who has made a huge turnaround is freshman Chad
Cislak. Before coming to the mound at Long Beach State, Cislak had
allowed 120 hits in only 69 innings of work. Since then, however,
he has allowed two hits in nine innings of work.

UCLA head coach Gary Adams said the improvement is largely due
to a change in Cislak’s delivery made by UCLA pitching coach Tim
Leary. Cislak is now capable of throwing his slider for a strike,
and giving the hitters another pitch to worry about other than his
fastball.

Maybe the sweep of Portland State this weekend is a sign of
things to come in 1999.

"(The freshmen) have as much talent as I’ve seen at this level,"
Byrnes said. "They can go as far as they want to go. But they have
a lot to learn. They’re really young and immature in a way. Once
they grow up a little bit, and they’re able to get the most out of
their talent they’ll be unbelievable."

JAMIE SCANLON-JACOBS/Daily Bruin

Paul Diaz and the pitching staff will close out their home stand
tonight.