NCAA West Regional Baseball Tournament : Bruins Open Title Bid in Friendly Surroundings

Gary Adams wasn’t sitting anxiously in his office last Monday waiting to see if UCLA would host the NCAA West Regional baseball tournament. It seems the Bruin coach had a more pressing matter.

“I was driving my truck to San Diego on a recruiting trip,” he said. “I heard it on the radio. I thought we had a pretty good chance, but you never know. . . . It’s a moral victory.”

What Adams wants now are three victories at Jackie Robinson Stadium. That’s what it will take for UCLA to win the regional and advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

The Bruins begin their drive to the title today at 3:30 p.m. when they play Hawaii in the second half of a doubleheader. Loyola Marymount and UC Santa Barbara open the double-elimination tournament at 11 a.m.

UCLA (39-21), the Pacific 10 Southern Division champion, is making its first postseason appearence since 1979, when the Bruins lost to Cal State Fullerton in the regional.

“They’re the same, but there are differences,” Adams said comparing the 1979 and ’86 teams. “Both won (the ’79 Bruins were 43-18), and both were pretty well balanced. That team hit a lot of home runs (89, including Jim Auten’s NCAA-record 29), but so did this team (99, a school record).

“Maybe our first three pitchers don’t match up with Tim Leary, Matt Young and Dave Schmidt--they’re all in the majors. But in production here, I think they’ve done as well.”

Alex Sanchez, Randy Hennis and Jeff Conine have accounted for 26 of UCLA’s 39 wins. Sanchez, a sophomore right-hander, is 16-2 with a 4.06 earned-run average and has 134 strikeouts in 130 innings. He’ll probably start against Hawaii.

The team’s strength is offense. UCLA’s .312 average was second in the Southern Division, and the Bruins led the league in hits, doubles and homers. They average eight runs a game.

Second baseman Torey Lovullo leads the club in runs batted in with 65 and has 16 homers. He’s hitting .323. Right fielder Bill Haselman, who didn’t become a starter until midway through the season, leads the Bruins with a .371 average and has 11 homers and 42 RBIs. First baseman John Joslyn leads the team with 17 homers and has a .346 average and 51 RBIs.

Tournament Notes The losers of today’s games meet at 11 a.m. Friday in an elimination game. The winners play at 3:30 p.m. On Saturday, the winner of the elimination game plays the loser of Friday afternoon’s game at 11 a.m. At 3:30 p.m., the winner of Friday afternoon’s game can clinch the title by beating the morning winner. If a Sunday game is necessary, it’ll start at 1 p.m. . . . This is the first Division I West Regional held in Southern California since 1978 when it was played at USC’s Dedeaux Field. USC won it in three games, then won the College World Series for the 11th time. . . . From 1982 through 1985 the West had two regionals. This year the South has two regionals. So, the other qualifying teams from the West will be playing elsewhere. Pepperdine, Arizona and San Diego State are in the Central Regional at Austin, Tex., and Stanford and Oregon State are in the Midwest Regional at Stillwater, Okla.

Loyola (45-12), appearing in the tournament for only the second time (it lost to USC in 1973 in the District 8 playoffs), shared the West Coast Athletic Conference title with Pepperdine, but beat the Waves in a playoff to earn an automatic berth. . . . The Lions are 2-0 against both Santa Barbara and UCLA this season. . . . Loyola is strong offensively. The Lions are hitting .326 and average 9.4 runs a game. Third baseman Chris Donnels leads the team with 18 homers and 81 RBIs and has a .345 average. Center fielder Billy Bean is batting .353 with 8 homers and 57 RBIs and has scored 76 runs. Left fielder Jim Holleran leads the club with a .377 average and has 7 homers and 48 RBIs. . . . The starting pitcher will be right-hander Tim Layana, who is 16-2 with a 3.92 ERA. He’s completed 12 of 16 starts, and in 150 innings has walked only 56 while striking out 122.

Santa Barbara (44-17), the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. champion, is making its third appearance in the tournament. The Gauchos lost two straight to USC in the 1972 District 8 playoffs and lost to Stanford, 11-5, in the final of the 1983 West I Regional at Stanford. . . . Santa Barbara has a team batting average of .348. . . . Twelve players are hitting more than .300. The Gauchos are led by third baseman Vince Teixeira, who has a .390 average, 15 homers and 69 RBIs, right fielder Quinn Mack, .402, 51 RBIs, and second baseman Scott Cerny, whose .404 average is highest on the club. . . . Opposing Layana will be Mike Tresemer, a 6-4 right-hander who is 9-1 with a 3.38 ERA. . . . Hawaii (41-22), the Western Athletic Conference runner-up, is no stranger to postseason play. This is the Rainbows’ sixth regional. Their last appearance was in 1984 at the West II Regional at Arizona State where they were 1-2. . . . Hawaii won the 1980 Central Regional at Austin, beating Texas in the final, and advanced to the championship game at the College World Series. The Rainbows lost to Arizona, 5-3.