College Baseball / Bob Cuomo : When Torey Lovullo’s Bat Got Hot, So Did Bruins

There may not be a hotter or a more productive hitter in college baseball than Torey Lovullo.

All the UCLA second baseman has done lately is hit safely in 18 straight games to raise his average from .262 to .386. He is batting .500 (33 for 66) in the streak with 9 home runs and 21 runs batted in. He has also scored 29 runs.

It’s probably no coincidence that during Lovullo’s streak UCLA is 15-3, including a 9-3 record in Pacific 10 Southern Division games. This season, the Bruins are 24-9-1 overall and 11-4 in conference play.

Lovullo, a senior, has been most productive against Pac-10 pitching. In 15 league games, he is batting .458 (27 for 59) with 10 homers and 27 RBIs. He leads the league with 15 homers and 42 RBIs.

UCLA began the week with a seven-game winning streak and had won 12 of its last 13 and 19 of 22. The Bruins lost their conference opener to Arizona but have since won 11 of 14 conference games. Dating back to last season, they’ve won 18 of their last 22 Pac-10 games.

The Bruins have been playing very well, but they’re not leading the Southern Division. Stanford is. The Cardinal has won eight straight league games since losing two to UCLA.

Now, one might assume that an 11-4 record is better than 8-2, but 8 out of 10 is an .800 winning percentage, whereas 11 out of 15 is .733. Standings are based on winning percentage, that’s why Stanford is first.

Stanford’s three-game sweep of Arizona State last weekend also increased its overall winning streak to 11 games, the longest for the Cardinal in two years. The sweep improved Stanford’s overall record to 22-8.

California, the last-place team in the Pacific 10 Southern Division with a 2-8 record, was 16-13 overall when it began play last week in the 20th Riverside Invitational tournament. It proceeded to show just how strong the Pac-10 is by winning the title.

The Bears won the Blue Division with a 5-2 record, then beat defending tournament champion Tulane, the Gold Division winner, 6-1, Saturday night in the final.

Tulane, which entered the tournament with a 16-4 record, was 6-1 during the round-robin portion of the tournament. Its only loss was to Cal, 9-8, in the second round.

The Green Wave averaged nine runs and 13 hits over those seven games, but Travis Willis, Cal’s freshman right-hander, went the distance and scattered nine hits. Darryl Vice, Cal’s sophomore second baseman, was 16 for 34 (.471) with 10 RBIs and was the tournament MVP.

Interestingly, Cal’s victory marked the first time a Pac-10 Southern Division team has won the tournament since USC in 1973. Northern Division teams won in 1977 (Washington State), 1980 (Washington), 1983 (Washington State) and 1985 (Oregon State).

Before the season, Cal State Fullerton Coach Augie Garrido said the Titans were an underdog team, and one that wouldn’t be a favorite to win the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn.

Well, you’d probably have a difficult time convincing defending champion UC Santa Barbara, which is the favorite, after the Titans began league play by winning two of three from the Gauchos in Santa Barbara.

Fullerton is 21-11 after starting the season 1-5, having won 14 of its last 17 and 20 of 26. The Titans, who hit only 12 homers in their first 29 games, found Gaucho pitching to their liking and hit seven homers.

When it comes to hitting home runs, though, no team comes close to UCLA. The Bruins, with 64 in their first 34 games, not only are on a pace to break the school record of 103 set last season, but they can also better the Pacific 10 record of 110 set by Arizona State in 1981. Twice this season, the Bruins have hit five homers in a game. They’ve also had a couple of four-homer games.

Cal Poly Pomona broke even last week in the Rainbow tournament at Honolulu. The Broncos were 5-5 and finished fourth in the eight-day, six-team tournament. Two of their more impressive wins were against Hawaii and Portland State.

Pomona (19-15) lost a 1-0 game to the host Rainbows in which Charlie Webb allowed only five hits. The Broncos, however, managed just four hits. On the other hand, they also set a school record by committing 10 errors in a 9-5 loss to Hawaii Hilo.

One of the highlights for the Broncos was the pitching of Rene Isenhart. The senior right-hander, 0-3 with an earned-run average of 9.00 before the tournament, won twice. He beat Cornell, 8-1, yielding just five singles, and beat Hawaii, 6-3. He blanked the Rainbows on five hits for eight innings.

Wichita State won the tournament with a 9-1 record. The Shockers beat Pomona twice, 17-1 in the fourth round and 7-0 last Friday to clinch the title.

College Baseball Notes

USC catcher Brian Nichols has gained attention for his brilliant relief pitching. He has appeared in 17 games and is 2-0 with 13 saves, a Pacific 10 record, and an 0.89 ERA. In 20 innings he has allowed only 7 hits, 12 walks and 2 runs with 21 strikeouts. But Nichols has also done a fine job behind the plate. He has committed just one error in 184 chances and has thrown out 22 of 49 runners attempting to steal. . . . What They’re Doing Now: Kaha Wong, a catcher/first baseman/designated hitter who batted .262 with 3 homers and 24 RBIs in 43 games (31 as a starter) for USC last season, has returned to Hilo, Hawaii. Wong, now a senior, is playing first base for Hawaii Hilo and helped the Vulcans beat Cal Poly Pomona in the Rainbow tournament. He made the all-tournament team. . . . Add streaking teams: Cal State Dominguez Hills has won 6 straight and 12 of its last 13. The Toros, 22-8 overall, are 6-2 and in second place in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. Pomona leads with a 5-0 record. . . . UCLA hits the road this weekend to participate in the Wheaties Invitational tournament at the Minnesota Metrodome. The Bruins open with Maine Friday afternoon. Also entered are Michigan and Minnesota. . . . Torey Lovullo has walked 21 times during his 18-game hitting streak. He drew 5 walks in a game against Cal. In all, there were 28 walks issued in that game, 16 by Cal pitchers and 12 by the Bruins. UCLA won, 18-9. . . . Ron Fraser, in his 25th year at Miami (Fla.), became the second Division I coach to win 1,000 games when the Hurricanes beat Arizona, 9-8, Sunday. Rod Dedeaux won 1,332 in 45 years at USC. Fraser, however, is third on the all-time list. John Scolinos of Division II Cal Poly Pomona is second with 1,085 victories. Scolinos has won 709 games in 26 years at Pomona. He also won 376 in 14 years at Pepperdine.