Bruins Complete Sweep of Cal with Thrilling Victory

Baseball

The UCLA Bruins (11-11) completed a three-game sweep of the visiting California Golden Bears (6-12) with a thrilling 11-10 victory Sunday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Stadium With two down and a runne

February 28, 1999

WESTWOOD, Calif. - The UCLA Bruins (11-11) completed a three-game sweep of the visiting California Golden Bears (6-12) with a thrilling 11-10 victory Sunday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Stadium With two down and a runner on first in the top of the ninth, sophomore rhp Tyler Dersom made 1999 Preseason All-American Xavier Nady ground into a force play to grab his first victory of the season (1-0). Nady, who hit solo homers in the fourth and eighth innings, hit Dersom's first offering to senior ss Jack Santora, who scooped up the slow grounder and flipped it to sophomore 2b Chase Utley for the force out and the win. It was a see-saw game that witnessed 12 lead changes. The win gave UCLA it's second straight sweep over Cal. The Bruins beat Cal 11-6 on Friday and 8-7 on Saturday.

Trailing 10-9 with one down in the bottom of the eighth, UCLA sophomore lf Bill Scott hit his second RBI double of the afternoon, knocking in junior pr Mike Hymes and sophomore 1b Garrett Atkins to take the lead for good. Scott, a 1998 Freshman All-American Honorable Mention, extended his nine-game hitting streak to ten by going 3-for-5 with 3 RBI. His 3 RBI gave him a team-high 29 for the season and extended his six-game RBI streak to seven. During the hitting streak, Scott is batting a red-hot .444 with 4 HR, and 22 RBI, including 15 in the last seven games.

The contest also featured five homeruns, including senior c Jason Green's first jack of the season, a two-run shot to centerfield in the third, and Atkins' second of the year, a two-run blast in the fourth that gave the Bruins their biggest lead of the game at 8-6. Both Bruins had fantastic days at the plate, with Green going 2-for-3 with a homerun, double, and 3 RBI, while Atkins was 3-for-3 with a homer and 2 RBI, posting his second perfect hitting day of the year.

The UCLA offense recorded it's best three-game stretch of the season, racking up 29 runs on 37 hits and five homeruns. It's previous best was 26 runs off 32 hits and six homeruns against the visiting and then No. 2 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

With the sweep the Bruins are now 84-62 in 25 years under Head Coach Gary Adams versus Cal and 148-151 all-time. UCLA will have a shot at evening up the all-time series at Berkeley, April 1-3, in the conference series. This series does not count in the Pacific Ten standings.

The Bruins will host the Michigan Wolverines (2-1) on March 2 at 3:00pm. Twelve years ago, the Wolverines topped the Bruins 4-1 at the Minneapolis Baseball Tournament in the schools' only prior meeting. The game is part of an eight-game season-opening road trip for the Wolverines that includes dates with USC and Pepperdine. Michigan is coming off a three-game set with San Diego in which they won the first two but lost the finale 20-7. A victory over the Wolverines would give Adams his 500th career nonconference win and leave him three shy of 1,000 career victories heading into the home series against USC, Mar. 5-7. Junior rhp Dan Keller (1-0, 6.30) is expected to start for the Bruins, while the Wolverines will counter with a starter to be named.