Squad focuses on improving own play, not UCSB’s strategy
By Daily Bruin Staff
Feb. 25, 2002 9:00 p.m.
 NICOLE MILLER/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Freshman
Wes Whisler is not afraid to take big swings at
the plate.
By Scott Bair
Daily Bruin Reporter
Monday has always been an off day for the Bruin baseball
team.
There will be no day off this week.
After a three-game sweep at the hands of cross-town rival USC,
UCLA went back to on Monday.
“We’ve got to get better,” hitting coach Vince
Beringhele said. “We know that we can’t take the day
off and get better.”
They have to get better if they want to turn around their
current six-game losing streak.
There was a lot to accomplish in that 24-hour stretch before
they square off against UC Santa Barbara today at 3 p.m. The Bruins
had to right what went wrong last weekend. The pitchers’
confidence has been shaken after USC’s 26-run outburst on
Saturday.
The goat from Saturday’s contest was starter Mike Kunes,
who had a 2-0 record with a 2.79 ERA. He allowed eight runs to
cross the plate under his watch despite claiming to have his best
stuff.
“I went into the game hitting my spots, but they were just
hitting the ball well,” Kunes said after Saturday’s
game. “They seemed to have a good game plan against
me.”
Pitching coach Gary Adcock will waste no time getting Kunes back
on the mound. Kunes will take the hill against UCSB on Tuesday
instead of his normal Saturday slot. Adcock’s move is not a
demotion for Kunes, but a way of getting his starter back on track.
Adcock is hoping for a good performance from his No. 2 starter so
the embarrassment from Saturday can be forgotten.
“I’m going to throw him right back out there,”
Adcock said. “He’s had three successful starts before
Saturday. He’s going to go back out there again, pitch
better, and try to put his last outing behind him.”
The UCLA hitters had some work to do on Monday. They tried too
hard against USC and changed their approach at the plate. The
starting nine, which consists of four underclassmen, let their
inexperience get the best of them last weekend.
“There’s no rest for the weary; for our offense
we’re going to have to become mature hitters in a day,”
Beringhele said.
The Bruins will match up against a UCSB club that lost many of
its position players from a year ago when they were in the Top 25,
but they still have a very strong pitching staff.
For the UCLA coaches, the opponent is secondary to UCLA’s
current plight. They must right their own ship before they can
worry about anyone else. Although Tuesday’s contest is a
mid-week game versus a non-conference opponent, the game is of the
highest import. Highly ranked teams like Tulane and Miami are just
ahead on the schedule and the Bruins have one day of practice and
one game to turn themselves around.
