Baseball Takes On Stanford In Three-Game Pac-10 Battle
May 16, 2000
ON DECK FOR THE BRUINS: With three games left on the regular season schedule, the UCLA baseball team (34-22 overall, 16-5 Pac-10) has an opportunity to win its first Pac-10 title since 1986 as the first-place Bruins travel to No. 2 Stanford (40-12, 15-6 Pac-10) this weekend. Friday's game is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m., while Saturday and Sunday's games are set for 1 p.m. at Stanford's Sunken Diamond in Palo Alto. The Bruins are in the midst of a six-game winning streak, thanks in part to a three-game sweep of Arizona this past weekend, and have won nine of the last 11 games. UCLA enters the series one game ahead of the Cardinal and No. 3 Arizona State, who are tied for second place in the Pac-10. With a sweep of Stanford, UCLA will at least share the conference title. Should any of these three teams end the season in a tie, Arizona State holds the tiebreaker having won the league series with UCLA and Stanford. The Pac-10 champion is also the league's automatic qualifier for the NCAA tournament field.
Arizona State travels to Tucson for its final series of the season.
UPCOMING SERIES NOTES: Stanford leads the all-time series with UCLA 170-129 (.569) and last year won two of three games from the Bruins at Jackie Robinson Stadium by scores of 8-7, 7-12 and 14-4. Under head coach Gary Adams, UCLA trails the all-time series 59-88. The last time the Bruins swept Stanford in Palo Alto was in 1991 by scores of 6-4, 11-7 and 5-4.
THIS WEEK:
Fri., May 19 - UCLA (34-22, 16-5)@ Stanford(40-12, 15-6),6 p.m.
Live Radio - www.broadcast.com
Sat., May 20 - UCLA @ Stanford, 1 p.m., Sunken Diamond
Live Radio - www.broadcast.com
Sun.,May 21 - UCLA @ Stanford, 1 p.m., Sunken Diamond
Live Radio - www.broadcast.com
NEXT WEEK: NCAA Regionals, TBD, Thursday, May 25-Sunday, May 28
UCLA vs. Stanford -- Probable Pitching Match-ups:
May 19: RHP Josh Karp, So. (9-1, 4.13) vs. TBA
May 20: LHP Rob Henkel, Jr. (6-2, 4.31) vs. TBA
May 21: LHP Bobby Roe, Jr. (6-4, 5.27) vs. TBA
2000 UCLA Expected Starters (By Position)
| Pos. | Player | Class | 2000 Stats (AVG, HR, RBI) |
| C | Forrest Johnson | Jr. | .357, 21, 70 |
| 1B | Garrett Atkins | Jr. | .357, 16, 62 |
| 2B | Chase Utley | Jr. | .390, 18, 62 |
| SS | Josh Canales | Jr. | .254, 0, 14 |
| 3B | Randall Shelley | So. | .282, 4, 15 |
| LF | Bill Scott | Jr. | .432, 21, 70 |
| CF | Charles Merricks | Jr. | .235, 1, 27 |
| RF | Matt Pearl | Jr. | .381, 4, 32 |
| DH | TBA | -- | -- |
HENKEL NAMED LOUISVILLE SLUGGER NATIONAL CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK, PAC-10 PITCHER OF THE WEEK: For the third time this season, junior left-hander Rob Henkel has been named Louisville Slugger?s National Co-Player of the Week and the Pac-10's Pitcher of the Week. Henkel pitched a one-hitter through seven innings and struck out 13 as the UCLA baseball team shutout Arizona 10-0 in the second game of a three-game Pac-10 series at Jackie Robinson Stadium May 14. Henkel combined with UCLA relievers Mike Kunes and Scott Arrasmith for the one-hit shutout through nine innings, the first Bruin one-hitter since April 13, 1998 when Tony Righetti pitched a one-hitter vs. Hawaii-Hilo. The shutout for the Bruins was the first for UCLA this season, and first since May 8, 1999 vs. Oregon State. Henkel held the second-best hitting team in the Pac-10 to one-hit and allowed just one baserunner to get as far as second base. Henkel has now struck out at least 11 batters in five games this season. He fanned the side in the fourt h and two batters in each of the first, second, sixth and seventh innings. Henkel has a 6-2 record, a 4.31 ERA and 121 strikeouts (third-best in UCLA history) this season.
BRUIN BASEBALL NOTABLES: UCLA has reached the 30 win mark for the fourth time in five seasons, and for the 18th time in 26 seasons under head coach Gary Adams...UCLA is aiming to capture its first Pac-10 title since 1986 and the sixth conference title overall...The 16 league wins are the most since the Bruins won 19 in 1997...The last time the Bruins finished as high as second in the conference was in 1997 as well...With the three-game sweep of Arizona last weekend, UCLA has recorded three Pac-10 sweeps and six overall...The Bruins have also won six conference series, having lost their only series at Arizona State...The Bruins have won the final game of their last two Pac-10 series in the bottom of the ninth innings...UCLA has hit a league-leading 104 home runs this season, 28 more than second place ASU...The UCLA regular season record is 126 and the season record (including post season play) is 142, both set by the 1997 team which went to the College World Series ...Four Bruins have hit at least 15 home runs this season and rank among the top 10 in the Pac-10: Bill Scott (21), Forrest Johnson (21), Chase Utley (18) and Garrett Atkins (16)...The Bruins have racked up at least 10 hits in 10 of the last 12 games, and 25 of the last 30 games this season...UCLA has reached double figures in hits in all but 13 games in 2000...UCLA has hit an extra base hit in all but one game this season...JR LF Bill Scott has hit at least 20 home runs for the second straight season, becoming the Pac-10's second 20-home run man this season and 43rd all-time...Scott and JR 1B Garrett Atkins rank one and two on UCLA's all-time batting average list: Scott with a .392 (213-for-544) career clip and Atkins with a .372 (265-for-713) all-time batting average...UCLA is in the top three in nine major offensive categories: batting average (.331, 2nd), slugging percentage (.554, 2nd), on-base percentage (.415, 2nd), runs (475, 2nd), hits (669, 1st), RBI (436, 2nd), doubles (121, 2nd), home runs (102, 1st) and total bases (1120, 1st)...Atkins and JR C Forrest Johnson both b ring 16-game hitting streaks into the weekend series with Stanford, one shy of the season-high 17-game hitting streak set by JR 2B Chase Utley.
BRUINS SWEEP ARIZONA: UCLA swept its third Pac-10 opponent last weekend, defeating the Wildcats in three games by scores of 5-3, 10-0 and 8-5. The Bruins culminated the series in dramatic fashion, on a two-out three-run home run by JR 1B Garrett Atkins in the bottom of the ninth inning Monday night. Atkins' 16th homer of the season broke a 5-5 tie since the fifth inning. Junior RHP Jon Brandt earned the victory, pitching four shutout innings in relief of JR LHP Bobby Roe. Sophomore 3B Randall Shelley also homered in the game. UCLA used stellar pitching performances from sophomore RHP Josh Karp and junior LHP Rob Henkel to take the first two games. Karp started Game One pitching five perfect innings, before allowing a total of three runs on three hits. Karp picked up his seventh straight win this season. The Bruins then combined to one-hit the Wildcats and record their first shutout since last season. Henkel allowed one hit through seven innings, while relievers Mike Kunes and Scott Arrasmith retired the sides in order in the eighth and ninth innings. JR C Forrest Johnson homered in all three games vs. Arizona, giving him a total of 21.
NCAA REGIONAL SITES ANNOUNCED, BRACKETS TO BE ANNOUNCED NEXT MONDAY: The NCAA has announced the 16 sites to host regional competitions to be held Thursday, May 25 through Sunday May 28. They are Arizona State, Baylor, Cal State Fullerton, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Houston, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana State, Miami, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Rutgers, South Carolina and Stanford. The selection show for the 64-team bracket and regional pairings will be televised on ESPN Monday, May 22 at 12 p.m. PT. Twenty-nine of the 64 teams will be automatic qualifiers as conference champions, including from the Pac-10.
BILL SCOTT MAKING HISTORY: JR LF Bill Scott has become just the second player in UCLA history and the sixth player in the Pac-10 to have 100 hits and at least 20 home runs in a single season. Troy Glaus is the only other Bruin to accomplish the feat and the last Pac-10 player to do so. Glaus had 108 hits and 34 home runs in 1997. Scott also now leads the Pac-10 with 101 hits and is third on the single-season hit list. Scott is just seven hits away from the school record (Glaus, 108) and is the fifth player in school history to record 100 hits in a season. Three of the four others currently play in the major leagues: Eric Karros (LA Dodgers), Chris Pritchett (Philadelphia Philles) and Troy Glaus (Anaheim Angels).
ATKINS, HENKEL CLOSING IN ON THE RECORD BOOKS AS WELL: JR 1B Garrett Atkins is just two hits away from becoming second all-time on the UCLA career hits list behind Eric Byrnes (1995-98) with 326. Atkins has 265 hits and is currently third behind Torey Lovullo (1984-87, 266). JR LHP Rob Henkel now as 121 strikeouts this season, good for third on the UCLA single-season list. Pete Janicki holds the single season record with 150 in 1992, while Alex Sanchez is second with 142 strikeouts in 1986.
WHERE'S ALDO...: Senior Aldo Pinto became the first player in UCLA baseball history to play all nine positions in a single game Tuesday May 9 in the Bruins' 17-6 landslide victory over Long Beach State. Pinto played a different position in each inning, starting at third base, then moving to first base, catcher, shortstop, second base, all three outfield positions and finished the game on the mound in the top of the ninth. Pinto did not allow a hit and struck out one batter, and for good measure went 2-for-5 at the plate with three RBI on a two-run double and a sacrifice fly.
UTLEY TIES PAC-10, UCLA HIT RECORD: Junior second baseman Chase Utley went 6-for-6 vs. the 49ers May 9, tying a Pac-10 and UCLA record for hits in a single game. The last Bruin to go 6-for-6 was first baseman Mike Mitchell vs. Arizona in 1993, while the last Pac-10 player to accomplish the feat was Washington State's Jeff Scherer vs. New Mexico State Feb. 14, 1999. With Utley's six singles Tuesday, he singled in eight straight at-bats dating back to Sunday's game vs. Cal, three hits away from the UCLA record for consecutive hits set by Chad Matoian with 11 in 1996. The NCAA record is 14 consecutive hits, set by Larry Patterson of Gonzaga in 1977. Going into the series with Arizona, Utley has also reached base safely in 13 of his last 14 consecutive plate appearances. He has run the bases 14 straight plate appearances reaching base on a fielder's choice and later scoring.
UTLEY, SCOTT CLIMBING UCLA, PAC-10 HOME RUN CAREER CHARTS: Junior second baseman Chase Utley and junior left fielder Bill Scott are climbing their way up the Pac-10 and UCLA all-time home run charts as the season progresses. Scott's 53 home runs rank third among UCLA career hitters and is 7th in the Pac. Utley has 49 career home runs ranking him for fifth highest among UCLA home run leaders and 11th among all-time Pac-10 sluggers.
HOW UCLA STACKS UP AGAINST THE NATION: Junior lefty Rob Henkel ranks second in the nation with 13.7 strikeouts per game, while Bill Scott is 11th with his .435 batting average through May 14. In the home run race, Scott and Forrest Johnson are tied for ninth with .39 home runs per game.
BRUIN POWER SURGE: UCLA has slugged a Pac-10 leading 104 home runs so far this
season, an average of 1.9 per game. The Bruins have gone deep at least once in
all but 10 games and earlier this season set a single-game school record with
seven home runs vs. North Carolina Feb. 18. UCLA equaled the feat just three
weeks later with another seven homers vs. Bradley March 10. The Bruins have hit
six home runs in a game once, five homers on three occasions, and four in two
games. Consequently, four Bruins rank among the top 10 home run hitters in the
Pac: Bill Scott (21), Forrest Johnson (21), Chase Utley (18) and Garrett Atkins
(16).
Here's a look at the Bruins' home run breakdown for 2000:
Solo HR: 55 (Utley 10, Atkins 9, Lyon 7, Johnson 8, Scott 7, Berry 3, Hemming 4, Pearl 3, Shelley 2, Reece, Hofman)
2-Run HR: 29 (Scott 10, Utley 6, Atkins 6, Johnson 5, Shelley 2)
3-Run HR: 18 (Johnson 7, Scott 4, Utley 2, Hamill, Pearl, Lyon, Merricks, Johnson)
Grand Slam: 2 (Johnson, Hemming)
KARP INVITED TO USA BASEBALL NATIONAL TEAM TRIALS: Sophomore right-hander Josh Karp has been invited to participate in the 2000 USA Baseball National Team Trials to be held in Tucson, Ariz. June 16-21, USA Baseball announced April 19. Karp is one of three players (USC's Mark Prior and Stetson's Len DiNardo) from the 1999 National Team that have been invited back to participate in the trials this year. The National Team will be selected from a pool of 35-40 players at the trials and USA Baseball will announce the names of the remaining players to be invited by the end of May. Other Pac-10 invitees include Stanford's Brian Sager and Arizona State's Jon Switzer.
THIS WEEKEND'S STARTING ROTATION: ... SO RHP Josh Karp (Bothell, Wash./Bothell HS) has won seven straight decisions, his latest coming vs. Arizona May 14. Karp pitched a perfect five innings before giving up three runs on three hits through 7.1 IP vs. the Wildcats. Karp is holding opponents to a .203 average (third among conference starters). He also is tied for fourth in the Pac-10 with nine wins. Karp struck out a career-high 12 batters vs. USC April 8. Until giving up seven runs on eight hits in the start vs. Cal on May 5, Karp had allowed just nine hits and three earned runs, while striking out 35 in the previous 25.1 innings pitched. The Bruins are 11-2 when Karp starts and he is 9-1 with 81 strikeouts and a 4.13 ERA. He is 6-0 with a 4.35 ERA vs. Pac-10 opponents. ... JR LHP Rob Henkel (La Mesa/Monte Vista HS) became the first-ever Bruin to earn three National Player of the Week honors in a single season. His seven inning one-hitter vs. Arizona May 14, broke a streak of four previous starts without a decision and five since earning a victory. Henkel picked up four consecutive victories in March including back-to-back complete games vs. Washington and Oregon State. During that string of four straight wins, Henkel struck out 61 batters in 31 innings and gave up just four walks, while setting a school record with 18 Ks vs. Washington March 25. He is 6-2 this season with a 4.31 ERA and is 3-1 with a 3.83 ERA vs. Pac-10 opponents. ... JR LHP Bobby Roe (Plano, Tex./Plano HS) had probably his best outing of the season at Washington State, tying a career-high with an eight-inning performance and allowing just one run on six hits en route to picking up his sixth victory of the season. Roe held the Cougars to just one extra base hit and retired the side in order four times. He has picked up two straight no-decisions vs. Cal and Arizona going into his last start of the regular season. Roe enters Sunday's start with a 6-4 record, a 5.27 ERA and 62 strikeouts. Against conference opponents, he is 3-1 with a 5.54 ERA. Roe has hit 20 opposing batters this season, breaking a single-season UCLA record set (15) by Rick Heineman in 1995. He is closing in on the NCAA record for hit batters which is 25 set by Marc Valdes of Florida in 1993. He struck out a career and season high nine batters in the second game of a double header vs. Harvard March 18.
SCOUTING STANFORD: Second-ranked Stanford has won 19 of the last 22 games, including 11 of the last 13. Like the Bruins, the Cardinal has won six of seven conference series. Stanford has won 30-plus games for the seventh consecutive season and 19 of the last 20 years. With its 40th win vs. San Francisco this past Monday, Stanford has now won 40 games for the sixth consecutive season and for the 14th time under head coach Mark Marquess. The Cardinal was off last weekend and just wrapped up a four-game non-conference stretch. Last Tuesday and Wednesday Stanford defeated Santa Clara and Saint Mary's 16-4 and 7-0 respectively. On Monday RHP Justin Wayne set a career-high with his 11th victory as the Cardinal defeated USF 12-6. Stanford was scheduled to face Nevada on Tuesday but rain forced the game's cancellation. As a team the Cardinal is hitting .303, while its pitching staff has a league-leading 3.41 ERA. Opponents are hitting just .217 off Stanford, best in the Pac-10. Entering this week's action , senior infielder John Gall leads Stanford with a .345 average to go along with eight home runs and 56 RBI. The power punch for the Cardinal comes from junior outfielder Joe Borchard and senior outfielder Edmund Muth. Borchard has 14 home runs and 55 RBI, while Muth has 15 homers and 57 RBI. Wayne leads the pitching staff with an 11-3 record and a 3.11 ERA.
Head Coach Gary Adams - UCLA's All-Time Winningest Baseball Coach: In his 26th year at the helm of the UCLA baseball program, head coach Gary Adams begins the new millennium having added yet two more milestones to his resume in 1999. With a 12-3 victory over then-No.2 Georgia Tech on Feb. 6 at Jackie Robinson Stadium, Adams secured his 800th win as the skipper of the Bruins. Just over a month later, Adams earned all-time career victory #1,000 March 2 at Arizona. Adams is the all-time winningest head baseball coach in UCLA history, a feat accomplished March 2, 1997 with win #748 coming at the Hormel Foods Classic in the Metrodome in Minnesota. Adams has compiled a 862-695-7 (.552) record at UCLA. Thirty-three of Adams' former UCLA players have reached the major leagues. Former Bruins have made their major league debut in each of the past two seasons. Last year, Dave Roberts become the latest Bruin to make his major league debut with the Indians. 1998, Troy Glaus and Jim Parque, who were teammates on UCLA 's 1997 College World Series team, reached the majors. Adams was the head coach at UC Irvine for five years before coming to UCLA and guided the Anteaters to back-to-back NCAA Division II national championships in 1973 and 1974. In 1974, Adams was named as the Division II Coach of the Year. Adams' career record is 1,050-765-12 (.577). He played second base for the Bruins in 1959, 1960 and 1962. As a senior, he was selected team captain and MVP. Adams is assisted by Vince Beringhele, Rob Hinds and Tim Leary.
REECE HITS FOR THE CYCLE: In his first collegiate opening-day start and only his fourth career start at first base, Eric Reece (El Dorado Hills/Oak Ridge HS) hit for the cycle against Hawaii at Rainbow Stadium Feb. 3. He was the first Bruin to hit for the cycle since current Philadelphia Phillie Eric Valent did it in 1998. Reece led off his 2000 season with a run-scoring triple and then led off the second inning with a solo-shot to right-center, becoming the first Bruin to homer at Rainbow Stadium since Jason Green went deep on Jan. 31, 1998. After singling in the fourth, Reece waited until the top of the ninth inning to complete the cycle when he lined a run-scoring double to right center. For the game, Reece went 4-5 with three runs and three RBI and finished the three-game series going 8-16 with four runs, seven RBI, three doubles, one triple and one home run. He doubled in each of the three games vs. Hawaii.
ROSTER NOTES: Senior outfielder Brian Baron (Newhall/Hart HS) will redshirt the 2000 season, after re-aggravating a knee injury at UNLV Feb. 13 and undergoing surgery ... Junior CF Charles Merricks (Oxnard/Channel Islands HS) has switched his uniform number from #20 to #42, effective 3/10/00 ... Freshman C Shane Miranda (Camarillo/Camarillo HS) has switched his uniform number from #16 to #20.
MITCHELL SPLITTING TIME BETWEEN THE GRIDIRON AND THE DIAMOND: One of the top wide-receivers on the football team this year for the Bruins, Mitchell is spending his "off-season" on the baseball diamond. Mitchell made his first collegiate baseball start Feb. 12 vs. UNLV and picked up his first career hit and RBI by legging out an infield ground ball. As a pinch-runner, Mitchell scored the game-winning run from second on a base hit by JR SS Josh Canales in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Bruins defeated Cal 8-7 on May 7.
Atkins, KARP, SCOTT, Utley Selected Preseason All-Americans: Junior leftfielder Bill Scott was named to Collegiate Baseball's preseason All-America first-team and Baseball America's second team. A freshman phenom on the mound a year ago, sophomore right-hander Josh Karp was named to Baseball America's first-team All-America list. Junior third baseman Garrett Atkins was chosen by Baseball America as a second-team All-American and by Collegiate Baseball as a third-team All-American, while junior second baseman Chase Utley earned Baseball America first-team honors and Collegiate Baseball third-team honors.
HOW I SPENT MY SUMMER VACATION...: Bill Scott, Josh Karp and Jon Brandt spent the summer of '99 playing with the USA Baseball Team, that finished with a 24-15 overall record. Team USA's travels took these Bruins as far as Japan, where Scott was named USA's most outstanding player of the five-game USA-Japan series held June 23-29. Scott hit .300 (6-for-20) with three home runs during the series. Despite his efforts, the Japanese Collegiate All-Star Baseball Team completed the five-game sweep. Scott started 34 of Team USA's 39 games, and played in a total of 35. He finished second on the squad in home runs (9), RBI (32), total bases (87) and hits (48), while hitting .340. Right-handed hurler Karp, one of the youngest players on Team USA, won a team-high four games and dropped two, while posting a 3.72 ERA. In 36.1 innings, he racked up 35 strikeouts and allowed just 13 walks. Brandt, a junior right-hander, went 1-2 with a 7.12 ERA. Despite arm troubles suffered at various points during the season, Bra ndt managed to fan 26 batters and allow just 13 walks in 30.1 innings pitched.
TOUGH OPPONENTS IN 2000: UCLA will face eight opponents ranked in Top 25 preseason polls this year including two of the top teams in the nation: Stanford (#1, Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, Baseball Weekly), Cal State Fullerton (#2, BA, CB, BW), USC (#11 BA and BW, #15 CB), Loyola Marymount (#17 BA), Arizona (#19 BA and CB, #21 BW), Arizona State (#22 BA, BW), North Carolina (#20 CB) and Long Beach State (#22 CB).
UP NEXT FOR THE BRUINS: If the Bruins do not get the automatic qualifying spot after the three-game series with Stanford this weekend, the UCLA baseball team will anxiously await the NCAA selection show on Monday, May 22 to see where they will be traveling for the first round of post-season play. Should the Bruins be chosen among the pool of 64 teams, they will make their 11th play-off appearance in school history and fourth in the last five years.
BRUINS ON THE RADIO: Selected UCLA baseball games will be broadcast live on the internet at www.broadcast.com. Jeff Blank will call the play-by-play, with former Bruin Cassidy Olson doing the color commentary.
UCLA MISC. RECORDS
Overall Record 34-22 Pac-10 Record: 16-5 Non-Conference Record: 18-17 Home Games: 20-10 Away Games: 14-12 Neutral Site Games: 0-0 Day Games: 25-10 Night Games: 9-12 On Grass: 31-22 On Turf: 3-0Vs. Ranked Teams: 3-12 Vs. Unranked Teams: 31-10 Vs. Right-Handed Starters: 25-14 Vs. Left-Handed Starters: 9-8
UCLA Scores First: 22-11 Opponent Scores First: 12-11 UCLA Scores In First Inning: 18-9 Opponent Scores In First: 9-10 One-Run Games: 6-6 Two-Run Games: 3-2 Scoring 5+ Runs: 24-8 Opponent 5+ Runs: 15-20 Shutouts: 1-0
Leading after 6 Innings: 26-7 Trailing after 6 Innings: 4-14 Tied after 6 Innings: 4-1 Leading after 8 Innings: 30-2 Trailing after 8 Innings: 0-17 Tied after 8 Innings: 4-2 Extra Innings: 1-1 Last at-bat wins: 4
Largest Winning Margin: 13 Largest Losing Margin: 16 Out-hit Opponent: 29-7 Out-hit by Opponent: 3-12 Equal Number of Hits: 1-3
Fewer Errors Than Opponent: 17-4 More Errors Than Opponent: 10-15 Equal Number of Errors: 7-3
UCLA Starters Get Decision: 23-12 Bullpen Gets Decision: 11-10
Monday: 2-1 Tuesday: 4-7 Wednesday: 2-1 Thursday: 1-1 Friday: 7-5 Saturday: 11-4 Sunday: 7-3
February: 7-8 March: 11-3 April: 10-9 May: 6-2
Last 5 Games: 5-0 Last 10 Games: 6-2 Current Streak: W6 Longest Win Streak: 8 (3/10-3/25)