Baseball Heads To NCAA Oklahoma City Regional As No. 1 Seed
May 24, 2000
THE ROAD TO OMAHA BEGINS IN OKLAHOMA CITY: For the second straight season and fourth time in five years, the UCLA baseball team (35-24) is headed for the post-season. The Bruins were selected as a No. 1 seed at the Oklahoma City Regional, hosted by the No. 2 seed University of Oklahoma (39-21). Joining UCLA and Oklahoma are No. 3 seed Oral Roberts (48-13) and No. 4 seed Delaware (37-18). Games will be played at the Southwestern Bell Bricktown Ball Park in Oklahoma City. The Bruins open the post season pitted against Delware, and play the first game of the bracket at 1 p.m. Pacific Time (3 p.m. Central Time). Game Two follows at 5 p.m. Pacific Time with Oral Roberts vs. Oklahoma. The regional is based on a double elimination format with a possible total of seven games through the three days of competition. All the UCLA games can be heard live on the internet at www.broadcast.com with Jeff Blank and former Bruin Cass Olson calling the action. A complete schedule of the Oklahoma City Regional is as follows:
NCAA Regional at the Bricktown Ball Park, Oklahoma City, Okla.
(All times Pacific Time)
Friday, May 26
Game 1 - No. 4 Delaware (37-18) vs. No. 1 UCLA (35-24), 1 p.m.
Game 2 - No. 3 Oral Roberts (48-13) vs. No. 2 Oklahoma (39-21), 5 p.m.
Saturday, May 27
Game 3 - Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 9 a.m.
Game 4 - Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 1 p.m.
Game 5 - Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 5 p.m.
Sunday, May 28
Game 6 - Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 9 a.m.
Game 7 - Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 1 p.m. (if necessary)
BRUIN NCAA REGIONAL NOTES: UCLA is making its 11th overall appearance in the post-season, and fourth in the last five years...The only year the Bruins did not appear in a regional in the last five years was in 1998...The Bruins enter the playoffs with a 21-21 overall post-season record and a 21-17 regional record...The only other time a UCLA team has played a regional in Oklahoma was in 1997, a year in which the Bruins advanced to the College World Series...That season the Bruins won the Midwest Regional at Stillwater, Okla...That same season was the last time the Bruins were a No. 1 seed...Last year, UCLA finished tied for third at the Wichita Regional, defeating Oklahoma State, but losing to Wichita State and Oklahoma State in a re-match...Last year Oral Roberts was also in UCLA's bracket, but the Bruins did not face the Golden Eagles...Fifteen players on the current UCLA roster have post-season experience and two players have World Series experience (Rob Henkel and Aldo Pinto)...When the Bruins were last in Oklahoma for a regional in 1997, the UCLA softball team was also there for the World Series, just as they are again this season.
UCLA Regional Appearances:
1979 West I Regional at Fresno, Calif. -- 2-2 Second Place
1986 West I Regional at Los Angeles, Calif. -- 0-2 Fourth Place
1987 West II Regional at Tempe, Ariz. -- 3-2 Second Place
1990 Midwest Regional at Wichita, Kan. -- 2-2 Third Place
1992 Mideast Regional at Starkville, Miss. -- 3-2 Second Place
1993 Central I Regional at College Station, Tex. -- 2-2 Third Place
1996 Central I Regional at Austin, Tex. -- 3-2 Second Place
1997 Midwest Regional at Stillwater, Okla.-- 5-1 First Place
1999 Wichita Regional at Wichita, Kan. -- 1-2 Third Place
2000 UCLA Expected Starters (By Position)
| Pos. | Player | Class | 2000 Stats (AVG, HR, RBI) |
| C | Forrest Johnson | Jr. | .353, 21, 72 |
| 1B | Garrett Atkins | Jr. | .354, 16, 64 |
| 2B | Chase Utley | Jr. | .385, 19, 63 |
| SS | Josh Canales | Jr. | .246, 0, 15 |
| 3B | Randall Shelley | So. | .281, 6, 20 |
| LF | Bill Scott | Jr. | .424, 21, 72 |
| CF | Charles Merricks | Jr. | .247, 2, 30 |
| RF | Matt Pearl | Jr. | .362, 4, 32 |
| DH | TBA | -- -- | |
| RHP | Jon Brandt | Jr. | 7-5, 4.15 ERA |
| LHP | Rob Henkel | Jr. | 6-3, 5.15 ERA |
| RHP | Josh Karp | So. | 9-1, 4.94 ERA |
| LHP | Bobby Roe | Jr. | 6-5, 5.61 ERA |
BRUIN BASEBALL NOTABLES: The Bruins won their sixth conference championship this season and first since 1986...UCLA has won 10 of their last 14 games...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...The 17 league wins are the most since the Bruins won 19 in 1997...The Bruins recorded series sweeps of three Pac-10 opponents (Oregon State, Washington State and Arizona) and six overall (Hawaii, Bradley, Harvard)...The Bruins have also won six conference series, having lost their only series at Arizona State and Stanford...UCLA has won three of the last eight games in the ninth innning including two consecutive vs. Arizona (5/15) and Stanford (5/19)...UCLA has hit a league-leading 110 home runs this season, 27 more than second place ASU and ranking third-best in school history and tied for fifth best in Pac-10 history...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 ...UCLA has four of the top-10 players on the Pac-10 home run leaderboard: Bill Scott (21), Forrest Johnson (21), Chase Utley (19) and Garrett Atkins (16)...Scott (53) and Utley (50) rank 7th and tied for 10th all-time in the Pac-10 in homers...UCLA has hit an extra base hit in all but one game this season...The Bruins have yet to be shutout this season, and have scored at least one run in 117 consecutive games dating back to the beginning of the 1999 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...The Bruins were the first team in the NCAA with two 20-home run men this season (Scott and Johnson)...UCLA finished the regular season in the top three in nine major Pac-10 offensive categories: batting average (.326, 3rd), slugging percentage (.552, 2nd), on-base percentage (.413, 2nd), runs (507, 2nd), hits (704, 1st), RBI (464, 2nd), doubles (130, 2nd), home runs (110, 1st) and total bases (1192, 1st)...JR LHP Rob Henkel's 122 strikeouts this season rank third-best in UCLA history...SO RHP Josh Karp got a no-decision in his last start at Stanford, but won seven straight previous decisions...JR RHP Jon Brandt ranks ninth in the Pac-10 in pitching with a 7-5 record and a 4.15 ERA, having picked up victories in his last two relief appearances.
A LOOK AT THE NCAA REGIONAL OPPONENTS: No. 4 Seed Delaware: The Bruins will open post-season play with Delaware Friday, a team which UCLA has not played under Head Coach Gary Adams. The Blue Hens are coached by Bob Hannah in his 36th season at the helm, who has led his team to a 30-plus win season for the seventh straight year. The Hens enter the regional with a 37-18 overall record, having won the America East Conference with a 19-5 league record. Bob Hannah was named America East Coach of the Year, while junior second baseman Andrew Salvo and sophomore right-hander Rich McGuire were named America East Player and Pitcher of the Year respectively. Delaware has gone 112 games without being shutout and has nine players who have played 40 or more games batting over .300. The Blue Hens entered this decade leaving the 1990's with the fifth best winning percentage with .734 (380-138). No. 2 Seed Oklahoma: The Bruins are 0-2 vs. Oklahoma under Coach Adams, the host school for the Oklahoma City Regional. These two teams met in the NCAA Mideast Regional at Starkville, Miss. in 1992, with the Sooners defeating UCLA 4-3 in the opener and 10-0 in the final game. Oklahoma is 39-21 overall this season and finished third in the Big-12 with a 20-10 mark in league play. The Sooners, coached by Larry Cochell in his 10th season at the helm, had six players named to the All-Big-12 Team and two to the Big-12 All-Tournament Team. Among them were senior outfielder Jeff Bajenaru and junior infielder Jason Bartlett, both first-team all-conference selections and all-tournament honorees. The Sooners have won seven of their last 10 games. No. 3 Seed Oral Roberts: Last year, UCLA and Oral Roberts were in the Wichita Regional, but did not see action against each other. Under UCLA head coach Gary Adams, the Bruins trail the all-time series with the Golden Eagles 1-5. The last time these two teams met was in 1986, with Oral Roberts emerging victorious 11-1 at Jackie Robinson Stadium. In 1985, UCLA played a three game series at Oral Roberts, losing two of three. The Bruins' only win was a 13-3 decision in the series finale. The Golden Eagles, coached by Sunny Golloway in his 5th year at the helm of the baseball program, have an overall record of 48-13. ORU captured the Mid-Continent Conference title for the third straight season, defeating Southern Utah State 8-4 in the championship game. Junior shortstop Steve Holm leads the Golden Eagles with a .445 batting average, 15 home runs and 73 RBI.
UCLA LEADS PAC-10 WITH FIVE ALL-CONFERENCE SELECTIONS: Five Bruins were selected to the baseball All-Pac-10 team, while four earned honorable mention honors, Commissioner Tom Hansen announced Monday, May 22. Junior first baseman Garrett Atkins, junior catcher Forrest Johnson, sophomore pitcher Josh Karp, junior left fielder Bill Scott and junior second baseman Chase Utley were selected to the All-Pac-10 team as voted by the league...s coaches. UCLA led the conference with five representatives on the All-Pac-10 team, while Arizona and Stanford each had two apiece. Four Bruin pitchers were also on the honorable mention list in Jon Brandt, Ryan Carter, Rob Henkel and Bobby Roe.
BRANDT THRILLS HOMETOWN CROWD, ENDS REGULAR SEASON AS FINAL PAC-10 PITCHER OF THE WEEK: Jon Brandt was named Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week for the final week of the season, the eighth time this year a UCLA baseball player to earn POW honors. Brandt pitched seven scoreless innings and earned two victories in relief in two very crucial wins by the Bruins last week. In the Bruins... dramatic victory over Arizona, Monday May 15 that clinched the series sweep, Brandt...s performance put the team in a position to be in the running for the title in the last weekend of the season. He allowed four hits and no runs, while striking out two in four innings, holding the Wildcats at bay while UCLA broke the 5-5 tie with a three-run home run by Garrett Atkins in the ninth inning. Then Brandt allowed no hits and no runs over the last three innings of the first game of the series at Stanford, shutting down the Cardinal (in front of his hometown crowd) which had scored nine runs until Brandt came into the game. UCLA posted a fou r run seventh inning to tie the score 9-9 and added another in the ninth and Brandt retired Stanford in order in the ninth, giving the Bruins at least a share of the Pac-10 title.
BRUINS CLAIM SHARE OF PAC-10 TITLE IN REGULAR SEASON FINALE: UCLA captured a Pac-10 title in the final weekend of the regular season by winning the first game of a three-game series at Stanford Friday, May 19. The Bruins ended up losing two of three with the Cardinal and falling short in only their second Pac-10 series this season. UCLA shares the title with Stanford and Arizona State and it is the first-time in conference history that a three-way tie for first has occurred. It is the sixth league title overall for the Bruins, and first since 1986. UCLA won Game One with Stanford in dramatic fashion in front of a regular season record crowd of 4, 080 spectators at Sunken Diamond. The Bruins came back from a 5-1 deficit, beginning with back-to-back home runs by junior center fielder Charles Merricks and sophomore third baseman Randall Shelley. Then with Stanford leading 6-3, Shelley added his second homer of the game, a two-run shot, to come within one run of the Cardinal. Stanford continued to inch awa y and after leading 9-5 going into the top of the seventh, the Bruins posted four runs to tie the score. Junior second baseman Chase Utley had a solo home run to center field and then freshman designated hitter Jim Hemming dropped the bomb with a two-run shot knotting the score at nine. Then in the top of the ninth, junior left fielder Bill Scott scored on a bases loaded wild pitch with the go-ahead run as the Bruins won their second straight game in the ninth inning. UCLA junior reliever Jon Brandt earned the victory in relief, pitching three scoreless innings and holding the Cardinal at bay while the Bruins staged their comeback. The next two games of the series didn't go quite as UCLA planned, as Stanford emerged victorious 19-3 and 17-11 to end the series. Additional bright spots on the weekend included junior first-baseman Garrett Atkins extending his season-high hitting streak to 19 games, while sophomore Adam Berry went 3-for-3 with a two-run single, a three-run home run and a double in Game Three at Stanford.
SCOTT, UTLEY MAKING HISTORY: JR LF Bill Scott has become just the third 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. Bruins Troy Glaus and Jon Heinrichs accomplish the feat in 1997. Glaus had 108 hits and 34 home runs, while Heinrichs had 107 hits and 28 homers the same season. Scott also leads the Pac-10 with 103 hits and is third on the UCLA single-season hit list. Scott is just five 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). JR 2B Chase Utley has a chance to join Scott in being the second duo in Pac-10 history to hit 20 home runs and 100 hits. Utley reached the century mark with his 100th hit at Stanford on the final day of the regular season and needs just one more home run.
ATKINS BRINGS 19-GAME HIT STREAK TO OKLAHOMA CITY: JR 1B Garrett Atkins currently has a team-best 19-game hitting streak in which he is batting .398 (35-for-88) with seven doubles and four home runs. The streak is the third best in the Pac-10 this season. Atkins has 268 career hits, second-best in UCLA history. Eric Byrnes holds the all-time record with 326 from 1995-98).
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.
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 110 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 (19) and Garrett Atkins (16). Here's a look at the Bruins' home run breakdown for 2000:
Solo HR:
58 (Utley 11, Atkins 9, Lyon 7, Johnson 8, Scott 7, Berry 3, Hemming 4, Pearl 3, Shelley 3, Reece,Hofman, Merricks)
2-Run HR: 32 (Scott 10, Utley 6, Atkins 6, Johnson 5, Shelley 3, Hemming, Berry)
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 nvited 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.
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 863-697-7 (.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 UCL A'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 1,051-767-12 (.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).
UCLA MISC. RECORDS
Overall Record: 35-24 Pac-10 Record: 17-7 Non-Conference Record: 18-17 Home Games: 20-10 Away Games: 15-14 Neutral Site Games: 0-0 Day Games: 25-12 Night Games: 10-12 On Grass: 32-24 On Turf: 3-0Vs. Ranked Teams: 4-14 Vs. Unranked Teams: 31-10 Vs. Right-Handed Starters: 26-16 Vs. Left-Handed Starters: 9-8
UCLA Scores First: 23-12 Opponent Scores First: 12-12 UCLA Scores In First Inning: 19-10 Opponent Scores In First: 10-12 One-Run Games: 7-6 Two-Run Games: 3-2 Scoring 5+ Runs: 25-9 Opponent 5+ Runs: 16-22 Shutouts: 1-0
Leading after 6 Innings: 26-7 Trailing after 6 Innings: 5-16 Tied after 6 Innings: 4-1 Leading after 8 Innings: 30-2 Trailing after 8 Innings: 0-19 Tied after 8 Innings: 5-2 Extra Innings: 1-1 Last at-bat wins: 5
Largest Winning Margin: 13 Largest Losing Margin: 16 Out-hit Opponent: 30-7 Out-hit by Opponent: 3-14 Equal Number of Hits: 1-3
Fewer Errors Than Opponent: 17-4 More Errors Than Opponent: 10-17 Equal Number of Errors: 8-3
UCLA Starters Get Decision: 23-14 Bullpen Gets Decision: 12-10
Monday: 2-1 Tuesday: 4-7 Wednesday: 2-1 Thursday: 1-1 Friday: 8-5 Saturday: 11-5 Sunday: 7-4
February: 7-8 March: 11-3 April: 10-9 May: 7-4
Last 5 Games: 3-2 Last 10 Games: 7-3 Current Streak: L2 Longest Win Streak: 8 (3/10-3/25)