COLLEGE BASEBALL : Arizona State, Trojan Melee Is ‘Deplorable’

Tommy Adams has hit some big home runs in his 1 1/2 seasons at Arizona State, but none was quite as dramatic as the one he hit Saturday in Tempe, Ariz., against USC.

Adams’ tour of the bases after his seventh-inning homer included an escort by an umpire acting as a security guard--a precaution that became necessary when one of college baseball’s most competitive rivalries turned ugly.

One inning before Adams’ homer, top-ranked Arizona State and No. 6 USC engaged in a bloody, bench-clearing brawl that caused a 40-minute delay in the game won by Arizona State, 9-2.

The incident occurred before a crowd of 6,809 and a national cable audience and was shown on television newscasts throughout the country.

“Certainly it was very deplorable, an absolute black eye for college baseball and the two schools involved,” USC Coach Mike Gillespie said.

Ten players--five from each team--were ejected during the sixth-inning melee that erupted when Arizona State pitcher Kip Yaughn threw a fastball behind John Jackson’s head after the USC center fielder called time out while Yaughn was beginning his windup.

Eight campus police units and eight backups from the Tempe Police Dept. were called to the scene.

“To somebody’s credit, nobody (from the crowd) came onto the field,” Gillespie said. “Had that happened, we really would have had a nightmare.”

Dusty Raring, a reserve catcher for USC, sustained a gash on the side of his head. Trojan pitcher Randy Powers was spiked on his right hand, outfielder Mike Robertson jammed his thumb and catcher Sam Vranjes came away with a bruise above his left eye.

Arizona State pitcher Tony Pena sprained a finger.

When play resumed, both teams were banished to their respective bullpens. Only three players and a coach were allowed in the dugout when their team was batting. Under NCAA rules, the Arizona State players who were ejected missed Tuesday’s game against New Mexico State. Ejected players from USC sat out Tuesday’s game at San Diego State.

The Pacific 10 Conference will investigate the incident and decide if further suspensions are forthcoming.

Arizona State, which has won 21 consecutive games, will meet USC again April 23 at USC to make up a game that was rained out.

Inspiring performance: Illinois sophomore Bubba Smith says he has always admired Angel left-hander Jim Abbott, who made it to the major leagues despite being born without a right hand.

Smith, however, recently gained an even greater appreciation of Abbott’s feat--and turned his own season around in the process.

On March 18, Smith was fitted with a cast after breaking his left wrist in a collision at first base during a game against Utah.

The sophomore right-hander from Riverside, the Big Ten Conference player of the year last season, was told he would be out at least six weeks. But three days later, Smith said he was throwing in the bullpen, shifting a left-hander’s glove--”Abbott style”--from his right hand to his left.

Smith missed 11 games, then came back on April 7 against Minnesota and, with the cast still on, pitched five innings to earn a victory. He also beat Wisconsin last week, improving his record to 3-2.

“It makes me concentrate a lot more,” Smith said of the cast that will not be removed for two more weeks. “One of the hardest things was getting used to my catcher (former Rubidoux High teammate Sean Mulligan), who throws the ball back to the mound as hard as the pitcher throws it to him. I had to bare-hand it a couple of times because he was too quick.”

Smith said he owes a debt to Abbott.

“I always thought he was a great athlete who did great things for people with handicaps,” Smith said. “But I’m benefiting, too.

“If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have gotten to play. I appreciate him finding a way to get it done.”

Hot hitter: Stanford outfielder Jeff Hammonds was one of the most sought-after high school players in the nation last year, but even he could not foresee the impact he would have during his freshman season.

“I expected some kind of success, but not to this magnitude,” said Hammonds, who has a 36-game hitting streak.

On Thursday, Hammonds broke the Pacific 10 record for hits in consecutive games--31--set last season by Jeff Brauning of Oregon State. Former Oklahoma State third baseman Robin Ventura set the NCAA record in 1987 when he hit in 58 consecutive games.

Hammonds leads the Pac-10 with 31 stolen bases and is second in batting with a .386 average.

Middaugh update: District Judge George Alexander last week ordered dropped an embezzlement charge against former Michigan coach Bud Middaugh.

Assistant prosecutor Lynwood Noah had tried to prove that Middaugh illegally gave money from the sale of football programs to a high school booster club and a former Michigan baseball player.

“I am glad this nightmare is finally over,” Middaugh said.

In February, the Big Ten hit Michigan’s baseball program with two years’ probation, citing more than 40 violations of league and NCAA rules from 1983 to 1988.

Middaugh, 51, resigned in July during the investigation after 10 years at Michigan.

College Baseball Notes

Sophomore right-hander James Popoff is 6-3 with a 3.24 earned-run average for Cal State Fullerton, which moved into first place in the Big West Conference with a three-game sweep of Fresno State last weekend. Fresno State had not been swept since 1986. . . . Tony Kounas of Loyola Marymount hit three home runs in one game last week against University of San Francisco. Kounas, a transfer from Oklahoma State, has 14 homers and leads the West Coast Conference with 53 runs batted in. Loyola is in first place in the WCC and ranked 10th by Baseball America.

UC Santa Barbara infielder Jeff Antoon is batting .368 with a team-high seven home runs and 40 RBIs. . . . Cal State Long Beach outfielder Todd Guggiana has a 22-game hitting streak. . . . UC Irvine right-hander Ken Whitworth is 9-3 and has 75 strikeouts--nine more than he had in the past three seasons combined.

Arizona State outfielder Jim Austin, a sophomore from Santa Ana Mater Dei High, had four home runs, a triple and six RBIs last weekend against USC. Sun Devil left-hander Sean Rees is 10-0 with a 2.15 ERA and leads the nation with 138 strikeouts in 104 2/3 innings. . . . Washington State Coach Bobo Brayton won his 1,000th game last week against Eastern Washington, only the fourth active NCAA Division I coach to reach that plateau. Brayton, in his 29th season with the Cougars, joins Ron Fraser of Miami, Cliff Gustafson of Texas and Al Ogletree of Pan American in the 1,000 club. . . . Freshman right-hander Pat Leahy, grandson of former Notre Dame football coach Frank Leahy, is 4-0 with a 1.70 ERA for the Fighting Irish.