UCLA hopes pitching will blow Waves away

Tuesday, February 2, 1999

UCLA hopes pitching will blow Waves away

PREVIEW: Bruin offense must step up to contain hard-hitting
Pepperdine

By Rocky Salmon

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Today at 2 p.m., the Pepperdine Waves will roll into Jackie
Robinson Stadium and try to wash away the UCLA baseball team’s
confidence.

The Bruins are riding a two game winning streak after sweeping
Hawaii-Hilo last week. The two game reaming came after the Bruins
lost a season opening three game series against Hawaii – the second
time it has occurred in as many years.

Starting the opening game of the season against Hawaii was
sophomore southpaw Ryan Carter. Carter pitched five strong innings
striking out seven and only allowing two runs. The lefty allowed
five walks, though, which resulted in those two runs.

In his next appearance, Carter came into relief and shut down
Hawaii-Hilo in the second game of a doubleheader, striking out five
in only two innings. Overall, Carter has a 2.57 ERA, and opponents
are only batting .208 against him.

UCLA will need another strong performance out of the young
pitcher against Pepperdine which slugged a Nevada team into
submission including a 16-6 drubbing. The Waves are a young squad
but are anchored by a senior hitting machine in the mold of Tony
Gwynn, G. J. Raymundo, who has a .455 batting average.

The last time these two teams met was in 1997, when UCLA split
the series 1-1 with both games being decided by one run apiece.

The Waves starting pitcher in today’s game was still in high
school pitching in Ventura County at that time. The Waves are
sending a lefty of their own in Michael Askay, who has only faced
three batters this year and struck out two of them.

Askay will meet a struggling offensive Bruin team which was shut
out for its first time in over 100 games when it played Hawaii. The
Bruins’ leading hitter, Matt Pearl, is batting .333 with four hits,
while big hitter Jack Santora has been steady with a .278 batting
average, ripping out five hits. Bill Scott is the major run
producer, leading the club with four runs batted in.

Overall, the UCLA team is only batting .214 overall while
Pepperdine is batting .293. But to say this game will be a match of
offensive powers is misleading. Bruin pitchers have stepped up this
year so far limiting opponents to a .206 batting average and Carter
is throwing as well as ever.

For the Bruins, this game is a must win in order to keep their
confidence alive and maintain a winning streak as they enter a
murderous three game series this weekend against second-ranked
Georgia Tech.

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