University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
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Baseball takes on defending National Champion USC.
April 30, 1999
Bruins Making Late Season Run At NCAA Tournament
The Bruins are in the midst of their best winning stretch of the season, as they have captured nine of the last 12 games, including a record-tying seven in a row in Pac-10 play. They are coming off back-to-back sweeps of #23 Arizona State and Washington State. The last time UCLA swept consecutive conference sets was in 1986, when the Bruins dismantled the Sun Devils and Trojans in succession. The last time the Bruins won seven Pac-10 games in a row was also in 1986. They have won their last six of their last seven home games and are 6-0 at Jackie Robinson in conference play.
A Look at the #15 Trojans...
USC is coming off an 8-3 victory over #10 Pepperdine on Tuesday night and a three-game series (April 23-25) with #23 Arizona State in which the it took two of three from the Sun Devils in Tempe.
After beginning the season ranked #1, the defending national champions found themselves cast out of the national rankings due to a 4-11 start. Since the however, USC has gone 25-9, climbing back into the national spotlight and earning tie for first place in the Pac-10 with #6 Stanford.
Common Opponents
Loyola Marymount, Texas Tech, CS Fullerton, Long Beach State, Michigan, Arizona, Pepperdine, Washington State, San Diego State, CS Northridge, California, UC Santa Barbara, Arizona State. USC is 19-12 versus these schools while the Bruins are 14-15.
Earlier this season at Jackie Robinson Stadium, the Bruins took two of three from the '98 champs: The UCLA Bruins won games two and three against USC, 6-5 and 8-7 (10 inn.), in a highly competitive intra-city rivalry, March 5-7. Sophomore lf Bill Scott launched a solo shot in the bottom of the tenth to lift the Bruins to victory on Sunday afternoon. USC (7-13, 0-0) dodged a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the ninth to beat UCLA on Friday night.
The Bruins out-homered, out-hit, and out-pitched the Trojans in the three-game series. UCLA had five homeruns to USC's zero, with four coming on Sunday, including freshman 3b Randall Shelley's first collegiate dinger. UCLA out-hit the Trojans in all three games and 27-22 overall.
Perhaps most impressive, however, was the outstanding job the UCLA pitching staff did against USC as a team, and in particular Eric Munson. The 1999 Preseason Player of the Year was rendered hitless throughout the series (0-for-13), and struck out five times. Of course, with Munson out of the picture with a broken hand, the Bruins will have to concentrate on shutting down senior of Jason Lane, who leads the Trojans with a .362 average and 17 home runs.
In addition, the pitching staff held a team that was hitting .311 against what was arguably the nation's toughest February schedule, to a .212 clip during the three game set. Key members include sophomores rhp Jon Brandt, lhp Bobby Roe, rhp Tyler Dersom and rhp Paul Diaz who combined for 22 strikeouts in 17.1 IP with a 2.08 ERA. Dersom, a wily sidearmer, struck out a career-high seven batters in only 3.1 IP on Friday night.
USC leads the all-time series, which began in 1928, 221-98. Fifty-nine of UCLA's 98 victories have come in the last 29 years under Head Coach Gary Adams. He is 59-88 vs. USC. Tentative Pitching Match-ups:
Bruins vs. USC Trojans
Game 1: Jon Brandt (So., RHP, 7-3, 4.36) Barry Zito (Jr., LHP, 9-2, 3.56)
Game 2: Josh Karp (Fr., RHP, 6-3, 5.10) Justin Lehr (Sr., RHP, 6-1, 4.63
Game 3: TBA TBA
Probable Starting Lineup: 4/30-5/2 (Ordered by Position)
No. Player Pos. Avg., HR, RBI Career Versus USC
5 Green C (.279, 4, 40) 11 games: 14-31 (.452), 2 HR, 10 RBI, 9BB
32 Atkins 1B (.349, 7, 27) 9 games: 17-40 (.425), 3 HR, 10 RBI, 14 R
27 Utley 2B (.308, 12, 46) 9 games: 12-35 (.343), 2 HR, 6 RBI, 4 2B
9 Shelley 3B (.214, 1, 11) 2 games: 2-5 (.400), 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 run
15 Lyon 3B (.194, 1, 11) 3 games: 1-4 (.250), 1 RBI, 1 run, 1 BB
23 Pinto 3B (.246, 1, 12) 9 games: 7-28 (.250), 4 runs, 4 RBI
7 Santora SS (.297, 4, 21) 17 games: 16-64 (.250), 1 HR, 9 RBI, 15 R
44 Scott LF (.362, 18, 64) 5 games: 5-18 (.278), 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 runs
20 Merricks CF (.262, 0, 10) 3 games: 2-9 (.222), 1 RBI, 1 run
14 Baron RF (.302, 1, 23) 3 games: 4-13 (.308), 2 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI
3 Reece DH (.306, 3, 21) 4 games: 3-10 (.300), 3 runs, 3 BB
35 Berry DH (.237, 4, 9) 1 game: 1-3 (.333), 1 run scored
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21 Karp RHP (6-3, 5.10, 54 K) 1 game: 4.2 IP, 6 R 4 ER , 3 K
6 Brandt RHP (7-3, 4.36, 99 K) 4 games: 13 IP, 17 R, 14 ER, 13 K
Bruins Lose Wild One to CS Fullerton, 11-10
The UCLA Bruins came out on the short end of an 11-10 game that featured a combined nine errors committed by both teams Tuesday evening at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The Bruins were charged with a season-high tying five errors, while the Titans left the field with four. The loss was only the third in the last 12 games for the Bruins (24-25, 8-7 Pac-10), who will now set their sights on a three-game showdown at perennial cross-town rival USC, April 30-May 2.
Down 11-6 in the bottom of the eighth, UCLA hung a four-run frame on the Titans to pull within one. After a lead-off single by senior ss Jack Santora, sophomore 2b Chase Utley and sophomore lf Bill Scott dropped back-to-back bombs off Titan reliever Kirk Saarloos to cut the deficit to two runs. Junior rf Brian Baron rounded out the rally with a sac fly scoring sophomore 1b Garrett Atkins. Scotts homer was his team-leading 18th of the year. He has homered in each of the last three games. Utley extended his career-high hitting streak to 15 games with a 2-for-6 evening that included his 12th jack of the year. Atkins hitting streak also reached 15 games (season-high) with a 3-for-4 performance.
After a lead-off single by sophomore cf Charles Merricks in the bottom of the ninth, the Bruins failed to mount the decisive rally as Saarloos and the #2
Last Home Run:
Player Opponent Date
Atkins Washington State 4/24
Berry Rice 2/13
Baron Arizona State 4/18
Green California 4/3
Lyon Loyola Marymount 2/19
Pearl* McNeese St. 2/12
Pinto California 4/1
Santora Washington State 4/24
Scott CS Fullerton 4/27
Reece California 4/3
Utley CS Fullerton 4/27
Shelley* USC 3/7
*-- First collegiate homerun -- First home run as a Bruin
Pac-10 Standings (Thru 4/28)
Team Pac-10 Overall GB
Stanford 14-4 30-12 --
USC 14-4 28-20 --
Washington 9-6 27-13 3.5
Arizona 10-8 30-18 4
UCLA 8-7 24-25 4.5
Arizona State 9-9 33-17 5
California 7-11 21-28 7
Oregon State 3-12 15-30 9.5
Wash. State 1-14 18-23 11.5
Titans escaped Jackie Robinson with an 11-10 victory.
The second-ranked Titans came roaring out of the gate with seven runs in the first two innings and appeared to overmatch a Bruin squad that is in the thick of its best stretch of the season to date. However, the Bruins refused to be intimidated, as sophomore reliever rhp Tyler Dersom, in his longest outing of the year, shut down CS Fullerton (38-8, 19-2 Big West) by pitching 4.1 scoreless innings in place of freshman starter rhp Brian Strelitz. The strong outing by Dersom allowed UCLA to claw its way back into the game with a run in the third and three in the fifth.
The Bruins have now faced three #2 teams this season, and have an impressive 3-2 record to show for it. They took two out of three from then-#2 Georgia Tech at Jackie Robinson, Feb. 5-7, and routed then-#2, and currently top-ranked Rice at Houston in front of a record-breaking Cameron Field crowd on Feb. 13.
When it was all said and done, the Bruins matched up quite well with #2 CS Fullerton. In addition to being outscored by just one and committing one more error than Fullerton, the Bruins had just one fewer hit than CSUF (14 to 15) and left the same amount of men on base (10). UCLA will get another shot at the Titans on May 5 at Titan Field.
Merricks Singles Home Game-winning Run in Bottom of Tenth as Bruins Sweep Washington State With the bases loaded and nobody out in the bottom of the tenth, sophomore cf Charles Merricks slapped a line-drive single to left, easily scoring senior c Jason Green, to give the Bruins a key 6-5 victory and a three-game sweep of the Washington State Cougars Sunday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
Down 5-4 with one out in the ninth, Washington State tied the game on a pinch-hit solo home run by 1b Zach Bode. In the top of the tenth, the Cougars had runners at the corners with one out against UCLA sophomore reliever rhp Chad Cislak. After a strategy meeting on the mound between Head Coach Gary Adams and the entire UCLA infield, Cislak got lf Dusty Edler to ground into a picture-perfect 1-6-3 double play to end the inning and leave the score tied at five apiece.
After Cougar reliever Les McTavish allowed an infield single to Green and walked sophomore rf Matt Pearl to start the inning, freshman 3b Randall Shelley was called upon to lay down a sacrifice bunt to advance Green and Pearl to third and second, repectively. Instead, Shelley laid down a near-flawless bunt, not only advancing his teammates, but reaching first base safely himelf with an infield single. Merricks did the rest, hitting reliever Wade Parrish's 0-1 pitch to shallow left field, scoring Green from third.
Sophomore lf Bill Scott erased an early 1-0 deficit with a two-run home run in the bottom of the first off starter Reggie Rivard.
Sophomore 2b Chase Utley established a new career-high by hitting safely in his 14th straight game. Sophomore 1b Garrett Atkins also extended his season-high hitting streak to fourteen games. Both streaks began on March 29 at Washington.
Chase Utley Named GTE Student-Athlete of the Week
Sophomore 2b Chase Utley earned "GTE Student-Athlete of the Week" honors for the week of April 12-April 18. Utley hit the game-winning grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning versus Arizona State on April 18, enabling UCLA to sweep the Sun Devils for the first time since 1986. In the first inning of the same game, Utley hit a two-run shot to put the Bruins up 2-1. His six RBI established a new career high. For the week, Utley was 9-for-18 with two HR, and nine RBI. He is the fourth baseballer to win the award this season. Jon Brandt, Jason Green, and Bill Scott are the past recipients.
UCLA In The Polls:
BW CB BA
Preseason 22 16 NR
2/7 NR 18 NR
2/14 NR 29 NR
2/21 NR NR NR
2/28 NR 30 NR
3/7 NR NR NR
3/14 NR NR NR
3/21 NR NR NR
3/28 NR NR NR
4/4 NR NR NR
4/11 NR NR NR
4/18 NR NR NR
4/25 NR NR NR
Bruins Versus Ranked Opponents
Record vs. Baseball Weekly Opponents: 8-5
Record vs. Collegiate Baseball Opps.: 5-5
Record vs. Baseball America Opponents: 5-5
Polls Combined: 18-15
Record vs. unranked opponents: 16-20
Versus the Top Ten (Combined): 3-5
Versus teams ranked 11-20 (Combined): 10-8
Versus teams ranked 21-30 (Combined): 5-0
USA Today Baseball Weekly/ ESPN Coaches Top 25 Poll (Through 4/25)
School (Record) Pts. Prev.
1. Rice* (43-8) 968 2
2. Miami (31-9) 964 3
3. Texas A&M (39-10) 857 4
4. CS Fullerton* (37-8) 853 6
5. Florida State (38-9) 850 1
6. Stanford* (29-12) 793 5
7. Wichita State (39-9) 683 10
8. Baylor (39-10) 663 11
9. Auburn (35-10) 651 8
10. Pepperdine* (34-8) 637 9
11. Florida Atlantic (44-2) 558 13
12. Mississippi St. (33-11) 550 7
13. Alabama (34-12) 521 15
14. Texas Tech* (36-11) 494 12
15. North Carolina (37-9) 477 14
16. Tulane (34-10) 389 16
17. Texas (32-17) 338 18
18. Ohio State (32-7) 242 25
19. USC* (28-20) 201 24
20. Wake Forest (31-13) 187 22
21. East Carolina (35-10) 160 23
22. Arkansas* (29-17) 144 17
23. Arizona State* (33-17) 127 19
24. Louisiana State (29-17) 123 NR
25. VA Commonwlth. (35-9) 85 NR
*-- Indicates 1999 past or future UCLA regular season opponent,
totaling 20 games (33% of schedule). UCLA is 8-5 vs. these teams so far.
Collegiate Baseball (Through 4/25)
School (Record) Pts. Prev.
1. Miami (31-9) 490 1
2. CS Fullerton* (37-8) 480 3
3. Rice* (43-8) 475 4
4. Florida State (38-9) 474 2
5. Stanford* (29-12) 470 2
6. Texas A&M (39-10) 465 7
7. Wichita State (39-9) 461 8
8. Baylor (39-10) 457 12
9. North Carolina (37-9) 452 13
10. Pepperdine* (34-8) 451 9
11. Florida Atlantic (44-2) 450 11
12. Alabama (40-12) 447 18
13. Wake Forest (31-13) 445 16
14. Auburn (35-10) 444 14
15. USC* (28-20) 440 15
16. Mississippi St. (33-11) 439 6
17. Arkansas* (29-17) 436 10
18. Texas Tech* (36-11) 432 17
19. Ohio State (32-7) 429 23
20. Texas (32-17) 427 24
21. Tulane (34-10) 425 25
22. Louisiana St. (29-17) 422 NR
23. Clemson (27-17) 420 NR
24. Nebraska (30-13) 417 21
25. Oklahoma State (32-11) 414 28
26. Mississippi (26-19) 412 20
27. Notre Dame (32-10) 411 30
28. South Carolina (29-15) 408 22
29. VA Commonwlth. (35-9) 406 NR
30. Nevada (28-14) 403 NR
*-- Indicates 1999 past or future UCLA regular season opponent,
totaling 17 games (28% of schedule). The Bruins are 5-5 vs. these teams so far.
Baseball America (Through 4/25)
School (Record) Prev.
1. Rice* (43-8) 2
2. Texas A&M (39-10) 3
3. Miami (31-9) 6
4. CS Fullerton* (37-8) 5
5. Florida State (38-9) 1
6. Stanford* (29-12) 4
7. Baylor (39-10) 7
8. Fla. Atlantic (44-2) 13
9. Auburn (35-10) 9
10. Wichita State (39-9) 11
11. Alabama (34-12) 18
12. Pepperdine* (34-8) 12
13. North Carolina (37-9) 15
14. Ohio State (32-7) 16
15. Texas Tech* (36-11) 10
16. Mississippi St. (32-11) 8
17. USC* (28-20) 17
18. Tulane (34-10) 19
19. Texas (32-17) 24
20. Arkansas* (29-17) 14
21. Wake Forest (31-13) 21
22. VA Commonwlth. (35-9) NR
23. East Carolina (35-10) 23
24. Oklahoma State (32-11) NR
25. Notre Dame (32-10) 25
*-- Indicates 1999 past or future UCLA regular season opponent,
totaling 17 games (28% of schedule). Bruins 5-5 vs. BA teams.
Head Coach Gary Adams After he recorded his 1,000th career victory on March 13 at Arizona, the skipper was stuck on the magical number for 21 days and eight games. He finally got win No. 1,001 on April 3 at Berkeley in a Pac-10 game against the California Golden Bears. After two victories at Arkansas April 6 and 7, Adams' career record stands at 1,009-737-12 (.578) over 30 years of collegiate head coaching experience. 188 of his wins came at Division II UC Irvine, where he guided the Anteaters from 1970 to 1974, winning national titles in '73 and '74.
The 1,000-win milestone was the biggest of three major career coaching accomplishments for Adams in 1999. UCLA's 6-5 victory over USC on March 6 gave Adams his 500th nonconference victory in 25 seasons at UCLA. His nonconference record now stands at 504-298-7 (.629). UCLA's 12-3 victory over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on Saturday, February 6 gave the skipper 800 victories in 25 years and 1,449 games managing in Westwood. His record at UCLA now stands at 821-668-7 (.551). He had been stuck on 799 for ten days and two games before reaching the 800-plateau. His Pac-10 conference record is 325-385 (.456).
Bruins Record When They Have...
Scored First: 13-14
Given Up the First Run: 11-11
Led After 7 Innings: 19-2
Trailed After 7 Innings: 4-20
Tied After 7 Innings: 1-3
Played Extra Innings: 2-1
Played in a One-run Game: 9-8
Played in a Two-run Game: 2-7
Played in a Five+-run Game: 9-6
Played During the Day: 19-19
Played At Night: 5-6
Scored Five Runs Or More: 23-15
Scored Less Than Five Runs: 1-10
Scored 10 Runs or More: 8-3
Faced a Right-handed Starter: 16-15
Faced a Left-handed Starter: 8-10
Outhit Their Opponent: 21-7
Been Outhit: 3-13
Had Same # of Hits as Opp: 0-5
Committed An Error: 17-20
Committed No Errors: 7-5
Miscellaneous:
UCLA Player Notes:
#32 Sophomore 1B Garrett Atkins: After hittingan astonishing .383 and putting together a school-record 33-game hitting streak last season as a freshman, the 1998 Freshman All-American got off to a modest start in '99, but is picking up the pace of late. He is currently on a season-high 15-game hitting streak in which he is hitting .403 (25-62) with 18 runs, 13 RBI, 5 2B and 3 HR. The streak began on March 29 at Washington. Overall, he is hitting .349 with 7 HR and 27 RBI. Tied for the team lead in hits (68-- Bill Scott) and leads the team in runs scored (52). His average has not dipped below .317 since he hit the .300+ mark after the ninth game of the season, Feb. 7 vs. Georgia Tech. Hit a career-high and team-high 3 doubles on 4/1 versus Cal. Key Stat: Bruins are 7-0 when Atkins homers. Only other Bruin besides Utley to start every game this season. Has made the successful transition from playing third in '98 to first in '99. Leads the Pac-10 in chances (440), putouts (409) and fielding double plays (40).
#14 Junior RF Brian Baron: This Northwestern transfer has been "Mr. Consistency" for the Bruins so far in '99. A fantastic contact hitter and passionate competitor, Baron can almost always be counted on to get at least one base hit a game. Key Stat: He has hit safely in 37 of 41 games that he has had at least three at-bats in. He has put together hitting streaks of ten, 13, and 11 and has not gone more than three games without recording a base hit. He had only five at-bats in his lone three-game hitless streak, April 13-17. He hit his first home run as a Bruin on April 18 vs. Arizona State.
#35 Redshirt Freshman DH Adam Berry: This Richardson, TX product has seen limited action of late due to left thumb injury. Made first start since March 5 vs. USC at DH on Friday, April 16 vs. ASU. Hit two homers and had 4 RBI 2/6 vs. then-#2 Georgia Tech. He is one of three Bruins to have a multi-homer game this year (Chase Utley, Bill Scott). Key Stat: Has a .667 slugging percentage with 4 HR and 8 RBI in 13 starts.
#6 Sophomore RHP Jon Brandt: This dangerous right-hander established himself as the staff ace early on with his legendary seven-inning, 17-strikeout performance vs. McNeese State on Feb. 12 at Houston. He struck out the side three times and set down six Cowboys in a row at one point. His previous career-high was seven K's. The performance earned him "Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week" and "GTE Student-Athlete of the Week" honors. The staff ace leads in ERA among regular starters (4.36), wins (7), innings pitched (95.0), strikeouts (99), batters struck out looking (41), and runners picked off (5). He also ranks number one in the Pac-10 in inningspitched and games started (15). He is tied for second in batters struck out looking, third in strikeouts and fourth in opponents' batting average among Pac-10 pitchers. Key Stat: Opponents are hitting just .228 against Brandt. One of the most improved Bruins of '99: Has established career highs in just about every statistical category this season. Had 9.27 ERA last season with 45 BB to 40 K and an opponents batting average of .354. Pitched a career-high and team-high (tied with Josh Karp) 8.1 innings against the Wahington Huskies, 3/27. Combined with Ryan Carter to throw UCLA's only shutout of the year, 1/26 at Hawaii-Hilo ... Pitched seven innings allowing only one hit and one walk while striking out seven Vulcans. Made first collegiate offensive appearance when he pinch-ran for Bill Scott in the ninth inning of the Bruins' 13-10 victory over Cal, 4/3 Didn't get a chance to show off his speed, as he scored when Eric Reece hit a grand slam.
#5 Redshirt Senior Co-Captain C Jason Green: This captain from La Jolla steps up and leads the Bruins against the toughest competition, hitting .348 with a team-high 10 doubles in 15 Pac-10 games. Hit a career-high two 2B at Arizona, 3/13 and again vs. ASU on Friday night. Walked a career-high 4 times vs. USC, 3/5. Hit his first career triple at Arkansas, 4/6. Has had two six-game hitting streaks this season. In the most recent (3/12 at Arizona - 3/28 at Washington), Green was 13-24 (.542) with 7 runs, 6 RBI, 5 2B, and 1 HR. As a result, his average went from an uncharacteristic .224 to .294. In UCLA victories, Jason is batting .329 compared to .247 in Bruin losses. Key Stat: UCLA is 4-0 when Green goes deep. Leads the Bruins in sacrifice flies (4) and beanballs (5). Walked in the winning run vs. ASU, April 16. Has committed just four passed balls this season. UCLA leads the Pac-10 in fewest passed balls with 6. Won the "GTE Student-Athlete of the Week" award for the week of Feb. 1-Feb. 7. Was 7-for-17 (.412) with eight RBI in four games that week.
#21 Freshman RHP Josh Karp: This freshman phenom had one of the best outings by a Bruin freshman ever April 17 vs. ASU. Carried a four-hit shut-out into the top of the ninth against the nations number one lineup (batting average and runs per game). Karp also struck out a career-high 10 Sun Devils, including eight of nine starters at least once in grabbing his fifth victory, improving to 5-3 on the season. Struck out the side twice (4th and 8th inn.). ASU whiffed on the third strike nine of ten times vs. Karp. 1998 All-Pac-10 South selections Willie Bloomquist and Andrew Beinbrink of ASU were 1-for-8 against Josh. Karps 8.1 innings pitched tied the staffs season-high. Karp went 8.1 IP in UCLAs 6-1 victory at Arizona (March 13), and sophomore rhp Jon Brandt went a career-high 8.1 IP at Washington on March 27. Versus Arizona, 3/13, he scattered eight hits over 8.1 IP, allowing just one run and two walks as the winning pitcher in Head Coach Gary Adams' 1,000th career victory. Struck out seven batters in victories over then-#2 Georgia Tech (2/6) and Cal (2/27). 1998 Freshman of the Year Xavier Nady was 0-for-3 with one strikeout vs. Karp in that game. In games won, Karp has a 3.45 ERA with a .235 opponents BA and 42 K's. Has won last three decisions.
#15 Sophomore 3B Nick Lyon: Was the opening-day center fielder in Hawaii Working his way back into the starting lineup after an early-season slump. Played third base for the first time in college last game versus Loyola Loyola Marymount on 2/19. Lyon launched a two-run home run to start a six-run rally that enabled the Bruins to defeat the Lions 6-5. Batting .500 (3-for-6) as a substitute.
#20 Sophomore CF Charles Merricks: After appearing in only three of UCLA's first 19 games, Charles finally got the starting nod in center field vs. Cal, 2/26 and has started every game since. His excellent defense and strong arm has made him an invaluable asset in the outfield. Has committed just one error in 52 chances. String of 31 straight errorless games broken with a thowing error last game vs. CS Fullerton, April 27. Shows tremendous judgment and covers a lot of ground in center. Key Stat: Has robbed opponents of two home runs and numerous extra base hits with is acrobatic catches. Is starting to come around at the plate... All five of his doubles have come in the last 17 games. Leads the team in sac bunts (4). With the bases loaded and nobody out in the bottom of the tenth on April 25, Merricks slapped a line-drive single to left, easily scoring senior c Jason Green, to give the Bruins a key 6-5 conference victory and a three-game sweep of the Washington State Cougars. It was his first collegiate game-winning hit. Hitting .344 (11-32) in last 10 games.
#23 Junior INF Aldo Pinto: Solid defensive player who can play just about any infield position ... Had a career-high three RBI vs. UCSB, 2/16 and Cal, 2/26 ... Key Stat: Bruins are 10-6 when Pinto starts at third base and 9-5 when he bats in the eighth slot ... Hitting .300 in nine home games with 5 RBI ... Hit a two-run pinch-hit homer in the ninth at Berkeley, 4/1.
#3 Redshirt Sophomore DH Eric Reece: Having a breakthrough season thus far ... After playing in only three of the first nineteen games, Reece was given an opportunity to start at DH vs. Cal, 2/26 ... Made most of this opportunity, going 3-for-4 with a career-high three runs, one RBI, and a 2B ... He followed that up with another 3-for-4 performance the next day ... Hit his first career triple in that game vs. Cal, 2/27 ... Was also 3-for-4 at Pepperdine with a homer and two RBI ... Hit his first career grand slam at Cal, 4/3 .... Had a career-high six RBI in that UCLA comeback victory ... Has started 26 out of the last 30 games for UCLA, 25 at DH and his first ever at third, 3/29 at Washington. Key Stat: Hitting .351 in Bruin victories.
#50 Sophomore LHP Bobby Roe: This 1998 Freshman All-American is the leader of the Bruin bullpen. Leads the team in appearances (21). Incredibly versatile pitcher, has been used in just about every situation this year. Leads starters with a 3.95 ERA. Has a 3.65 ERA in 17 relief appearances. Had one of the best outings by Bruin this year at #1 Rice, 2/13 ... Pitched 7.1 innings, allowing two earned runs off seven hits to get the win in a 14-6 UCLA victory. Key Stat: A fantastic pitcher with runners in scoring position, Bobby got out of two bases-loaded jams with only one run scored in that game. Retired all four batters he faced vs. ASU on Friday night, striking out two. Came back and started on Sunday, shutting down the nation's number on offense on three runs off five hits and striking out a career-high seven Sun Devils.
#7 Redshirt Senior Co-captain SS Jack Santora: Key Stat: The senior co-captain lead-off hitter from Monterey leads the team in Pac-10 batting average (.397) and on-base percentage (.513) in 15 starts. Has had hitting streaks of six, seven, five, and seven ... In most recent seven-game hitting streak he had five multi-hit games and a .400 BA (12-30) with 11 runs, four RBI, and one HR. Has hit safely in sixteen of the last eighteen games with a .375 batting average, .500 on-base percentage, and seven steals ... Hitting .364 with two away overall and .400 in Pac-10 play ... Has a rifle for an arm, leads the team and the Pac-10 with 163 assists ... Leads the team in walks with 37, and stolen bases (8). Ranked third in the Pac-10 in walks. Had a career day on April 24 vs. WSU: tied a career high by going 4-for-4 with a home run, double, four runs scored (tied collegiate high), and two stolen bases (career-best) in UCLA's 15-8 rout of the Cougars. He reached base all five times he came to bat, as he walked in his other plate appearance. That game alone raised his batting average by .015 points, from .286 to .301. Was a strong Pac-10 Player of the Week candidate for the week of April 19-25 with a 7-for-15 (.467) performance that included an on-base percentage of .579.
#44 Sophomore LF Bill Scott: Leads the team in most major offensive categories including average (.362), doubles (15), home runs (18), RBI (64), total bases (137), hits (68, tie Atkins), slugging percentage (.729), on-base % (.443), and 2-out RBI (22). Ranks fourth in the Pac-10 in doubles, total bases, second in home runs, and third in RBI. Has had hitting streaks of sixteen (2/13 at Rice --- 3/12 at Arizona) and eight this season ... 19-35 (.543) with 13 runs, 7 HR, and 18 RBI during that last streak, 3/16 vs. LBSU -- 4/3 at Cal ... Leads the team with 24 multi-hit games and 16 multi-RBI games ... Had an 9-game RBI streak, 2/19 vs. LMU -- 3/5 vs. USC. Key Stat: Has homered in last three games. An excellent clutch hitter, Scott hit the game-tying home run in UCLA's remarkable ninth-inning comeback vs. Loyola Marymount, Feb. 19. Hit the game-winner in the bottom of the tenth against USC on March 7, winning the series for the Bruins. He was 0-for-4 coming into that at-bat with a sixteen-game hitting streak on the line as well. Named to Baseball America's midseason Sophomore All-American first team. Selected "Pac-10 Player of the Week", "Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week" and "GTE Student-Athlete of the Week" for the week of March 29-April 3 on the strength of a record-setting performance in UCLA 16-15 loss at Washington on March 30. Scott hit four home runs, including two grand slams, knocked in 11 runs, and racked up 17 total bases against the Huskies that day. All three achievements set Pac-10 records. No one in thirty years of Pac-10 baseball and 80 years of Bruin baseball has accomplished what Scott did in that game. In addition, Scott was 5-for-6 in the game with five runs scored, which places him second on the all-time Pac-10 single-game runs list. Scott fell one jack short of tying the NCAA mark for most home runs in a single game, three short of the RBI record, and one short of the single-game grand slam record. The NCAA record for total bases is 23. Interestingly, this was Scott's first and only collegiate multi-homer game. His previous high for most home runs in a game was two, back when the Granada Hills native starred at Alemany HS. For the week, Scott was 10-18 with five home runs, 12 RBI, and 10 runs scored. Finally, the red-hot Scott also won the "GTE Student-Athlete of the Month" award for March. During those 31 days Scott hit .448 (26-58) with eight home runs, 14 runs scored, and 26 RBI.
#9 Freshman 3B Randall Shelley: Was the lone freshman in the starting lineup on opening day. Hit first collegiate home run, 3/7 vs. USC. Was 3-for-4 with a run, two RBI, and a double in the Bruins' 6-1 victory over Arizona ... Hitting .286 in Pac-10 play ... Had the first Bruin triple of the year, 2/6 vs. Georgia Tech ... Was 2-for-4 with a double, triple, run, and RBI against then-#2 Georgia Tech on 2/6. Key Stat: Hitting .276 in Pac-10 play.
#27 Sophomore 2B Chase Utley: Only other Bruin besides Garrett Atkins to start all 49 games this season ... Currently on a fifteen-game hitting streak, his longest of the year, beginning on 3/29 at Washington ... Hitting .382 (26-68) with 19 runs, 20 RBI, and 5 HR (two grand slams) during latest streak. At Berkeley on 4/3, went 5-for-6 (career-high), with three runs (tied career-high established 3/29 at Washington and again vs. ASU, 4/16), four RBI, a double, and his first career grand slam ... His slam capped off a nine-run ninth that enabled the Bruins to finish off the Bears, 13-10, and break an eight-game losing streak. Leads the Bruins in triples (2) and at-bats (208). With one away and the bases juiced in the bottom of the ninth, Utley erased a two-run deficit with a monster shot to left field off Arizona State reliever Bobby Milner, giving the Bruins an 8-6 victory and a three-game sweep of the #23 Sun Devils in a highly crucial Pac-10 series at Jackie Robinson Stadium, April 18th. It was Utley's second homer of the game, and second grand slam of the season. He has two multi-homer games this year and five througout his collegiate career. He also had a career-high six RBI in the game, as the Bruins swept the Sun Devils for the first time since 1986. Named "GTE Student-Athlete of the Week" for his performance that week. Was 9-for-18 with 2 HR and 9 RBI during the week of April 12-April 18. Named to Baseball America's annual midseason Sophomore All-America team (second team). Key Stat: After committing 24 errors in 53 games at shortstop and second base last year, the sophomore has committed just 10 through 49 games at second base. Had a sixteen-game errorless streak broken with a throwing error versus CS Fullerton, April 27. Has committed just two errors in his last 24 games.