Once Everybody Had Stopped Rocking, USIU Got Rolling Against Azusa

The U.S. International baseball team was beginning what would prove to be its biggest rally so far this season at Azusa Pacific when the 5.5 earthquake hit the area Feb. 28.

USIU Coach George Kachigian said the quake caused both teams to clear their dugouts in the fifth inning, but the game resumed minutes later.

The Gulls then scored seven runs in the inning en route to a 15-7 victory.

Over on Azusa Pacific’s softball diamond, UC San Diego Coach Sally Coats was coaching third when the tremor began. Soon after, she and everyone else were in the outfield looking at a couple of swaying light poles.

“It was scary there for a moment,” Coats said. “Those poles didn’t look too sturdy.”

Coats, hired by UCSD in January, was living in Oakland when a giant quake rocked the Bay Area in October.

“This one started out the same, but there was no ‘boom’ like the one up there,” Coats said.

The game at Azusa Pacific was also Coats’ first road game. On the way home, one of the vans broke down along Interstate 15.

The UC San Diego men’s swimming team will try once again to knock off Kenyon College when the Tritons travel to Milwaukee this weekend for the NCAA Division III national championships.

Kenyon is trying to become the first NCAA team on any level to win a national title 11 consecutive years. UCSD finished third six years in a row and then second last year.

The UCSD women finished second in the Division III national meet Saturday in Williamstown, Mass. Kenyon won its seven consecutive title. During that time, UCSD has finished second four times and third twice.

UC San Diego’s women’s water polo team is ranked No. 1 nationally, and the Tritons showed why Sunday by winning the UC Davis Invitational with a 3-0-1 pool-play record.

UCSD tied Cal, then defeated Stanford, UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara. Its 9-7 victory over No. 2 UCSB was a rematch of last year’s championship game, which the Gauchos won.

The University of San Diego’s Rick Doane, West Coast Conference player of the month for February, was leading the WCC in hitting through 17 games. Doane, a junior, left-handed-hitting first baseman, had a .434 average with three homers and 12 runs batted in.

Teammate Tom Cheek, a junior right-handed pitcher with a 5-1 record, is leading the WCC in earned run average at 1.85.

Richard Bailey, a graduate of Valhalla High, finished second at 150 pounds in the Pac 10 wrestling championships Saturday. Bailey, a senior at Cal State Bakersfield, was beaten in the final, 5-3, by Arizona State’s Townsend Saunders, who was named outstanding wrestler of the tournament.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s Terry Watts, a former Poway wrestler, finished fourth at 150. Cal State Fullerton’s Michael Grubbs (El Camino) was fourth at 118. Fresno State’s Larry Sidiropdulos (Helix) lost twice and did not place.

Bailey advanced to the NCAA tournament. Watts and Grubbs may receive at-large berths.

While experiencing its finest season since beginning men’s basketball four years ago, it is not surprising Christian Heritage has established a number of records.

Saturday’s National Christian College Athletic Assn. playoff game against The Master’s was no exception, although this mark was a little different. The Hawks’ 19 field goals were their fewest ever in a game. But Christian Heritage (30-6) won anyway, 75-61, and advanced to the NCCAA national championships beginning Thursday in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Afterward, someone just happened to have a Glenn Miller tape handy, and “Chattanooga Choo-Choo” blared over the public address system.

Andy Gilmour is stepping down after 21 years as men’s basketball coach at Palomar Community College. The Comets were 11-19 this season and finished third in the Pacific Coast Conference. Gilmour said he will continue teaching in the physical education department.