UCLA faces Delaware in NCAA regionals

By Nick Taylor

Daily Bruin Contributor

The road to the College World Series starts Friday.

The co-Pac-10 Champion Bruins (35-24), who earned one of the 16
top seeds for the NCAA regionals, begin play against the University
of Delaware Friday at 3 p.m. in Oklahoma City.

“We’re stoked to play,” said UCLA pitcher Rob
Henkel, who is scheduled to start the Bruins’ first game this
postseason. “We like our possibilities in the
regional.”

UCLA and Delaware share the regional with Oral Roberts
University and host Oklahoma. Compared with the other three teams,
the Bruins are the odd ones out: Delaware, Oral Roberts and
Oklahoma are all speedy teams, while UCLA relies more on brute
power to win.

“They’re pretty much the same,” injured
outfielder Nick Lyon said, referring to the three opposing teams.
“They’re aggressive on the basepaths, have good team
speed, and put the ball in play.”

In addition, the teams play at Oklahoma’s spacious home
field, which works to a speedy team’s advantage. The Bruins,
however, have some experience playing in this kind of
situation.

During the first series of the year against Hawaii, UCLA played
in a big ballpark against a fast team. Yet the Bruins pounded the
Rainbows by scoring 34 runs and sweeping the series.

“Yeah, it is similar to Hawaii,” Lyon said.
“If you can hit, you can hit.”

Of course, that was the start of the year, not the NCAA
tournament.

The game against Delaware, and those thereafter, will be just a
bit more intense.

“It’s a loud atmosphere. Everybody’s against
you, and it causes a lot of pressure,” Lyon said.

Henkel added, “It gets intense to the point where, if you
lose, it’s over.”

But UCLA plans to be ready for the intensity. In the NCAA
tournament last year, the Bruins seemed uptight and didn’t
make it out of the regional.

This year they hope to learn from that experience and play more
loosely.

“You just need to play with intensity and have fun at the
same time,” Henkel said. “Baseball is a game were if
you get too uptight, you don’t play your best
ball.”

Henkel should know. He played on the 1997 team that made it to
the College World Series and played games in front of 20,000
screaming fans. If the Bruins hope to get there again,
they’ve got to come out firing.

Delaware features the fifth highest winning percentage among
NCAA Division I teams in the 1990s. America East Player of the Year
Andrew Salvo leads the team with a .430 average, 89 hits and 31
stolen bases. Peter Maestrales and Chris Kolodzey provide the pop
in the lineup with a combined 24 homers, 42 doubles and 128
RBIs.

Delaware has a strong pitching staff led by starter Jason
Vincent’s 3.12 ERA. He finished 7-3 this year. Other starters
include Rich McGuire (9-2, 3.53) and Dave Mullin (10-4, 4.61).

After Delaware the Bruins play either Oklahoma or Oral Roberts.
Oklahoma relies in part on the dominance of closer and rightfielder
Jeff Bajenaru, who has 19 saves and a 2.35 ERA. At the plate,
he’s just as lethal: a .342 average, 11 homers, and 53 RBIs.
Bajenaru is one of nine Californians on the Sooner squad.

“I remember trying to recruit him,” UCLA head coach
Gary Adams said. “Bajenaru is a great player. He can beat you
pitching and hitting.”

Rich Park leads the Sooners on offense with 18 homers and 74
RBIs. They rely on a balanced pitching staff, with six players with
at least five starts.

Oral Roberts is like Oklahoma but even speedier. ORU has five
players with at least 18 steals this season. One of those players,
shortstop Steve Holm, also leads the team with 15 homers, 73 RBIs
and a .445 average.

On the mound, Mike Rose is ORU’s top starting pitcher with
a 10-2 record in 17 starts. When they go to the pen, closer Jackson
Markert usually shuts down the opposition. He has 14 saves and a
2.84 ERA in 24 games (25.1 innings pitched). Righthanders are
hitting only .197 against Markert.

The Bruins are led by all Pac-10 selections Garrett Atkins,
Forrest Johnson, Josh Karp, Chase Utley and All-American selection
Bill Scott.

“You’ve got to give it all every single game,”
Henkel said. “(Regionals and Super Regionals) are two bumps
in the road. If we play together as a team, we’ve got a great
shot (at the College World Series).”