UC IRVINE NOTEBOOK : Archer’s Play on Golf Course No Small Feat

At 5-feet-5 and 130 pounds, UC Irvine sophomore Lyle Archer is a chip-shot of a golfer who doesn’t have the strength to drive with the big boys. But, unlike some heavy hitters, Archer doesn’t need a Thomas Guide to find the fairways or the greens.

“I hit straight off the tee--I pretty much know where the ball is going,” Archer said. “That’s an advantage I have over others. When you’re smaller, you have to make up for it in other areas.”

Archer has compensated well. He won the Anteater Invitational this month and placed 11th in a 96-player field at last weekend’s Stanford Invitational.

Archer has finished among the top 15 at invitational events six times this season, and he has lowered his 18-hole stroke average from 77.63 last season to 75.20 this year.

He finished third in the 1989 Big West Conference meet and is hoping for another strong finish this year at the conference meet, Monday and Tuesday in Logan, Utah.

Archer, a 1987 graduate of Central Union High School in El Centro, Calif., credits a summer weight program and experience for his improvement.

He has gained 10 pounds from last season, “bulking up” to 130, and the added strength has added 20 yards to 30 yards to his driving distance. Archer can now hit it about 240 yards off the tee.

“The extra distance has helped a lot; it makes a difference in how a lot of holes play,” Archer said. “I’ve also developed a new putting style that has helped, and I’ve matured over the years.”

Especially last year, both on the course and off.

Struggling to maintain the 2.0 grade-point average needed to remain eligible while suffering through a slump on the course, Archer was a two-foot putt away from packing his golf bag and quitting school early last spring.

“School was rather difficult and stressful for me, and I was frustrated,” Archer said. “I didn’t think I was ready for UCI and probably should have went to a junior college for two years. I figured I could do better at an easier school.”

But his parents talked him into sticking it out at UCI, and Archer is glad he did. His golf game has picked up and his GPA in the first two quarters this year were 2.7 and 2.5.

“That’s excellent considering no athlete misses more class than a golfer,” UCI Coach Steve Ainslie said. “We’re gone for three, four or five days at a time. Lyle has done really well in the classroom and on the golf course.”

Comeback: A handful of fans headed for the exits in the second inning Sunday, when the UC Irvine baseball team fell behind Cal State Long Beach, 8-0.

Can you blame them? The 49ers had whipped the Anteaters, 9-2, Friday and, 9-4, Saturday, and appeared headed for another rout. The day was still young, with plenty of time to weed the garden or clean out the gutters.

More fans left when the 49ers led, 10-2, in the top of the seventh inning. Can’t blame them, either. If they got home in time, they might catch the exciting fifth round of the NFL draft on ESPN.

But Anteater Coach Mike Gerakos couldn’t believe people were leaving when Irvine trailed, 10-7, with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and two runners on. What was this, a Dodger game?

But Gerakos’ faith in the Irvine, uh, faithful, was quickly restored.

“A bunch of those people came back,” Gerakos said.

And what a finish they saw.

Ed Luna hit a two-run single and Chris Gallego added an run-scoring double to tie the score, 10-10, in the ninth. Long Beach went ahead, 11-10, in the top of the 11th, but the Anteaters came back on Billy Bardens’ run-scoring single and Gallego’s sacrifice fly to win, 12-11.

“Baseball is a funny game,” Gerakos said. “You always hear people say, ‘It ain’t over ‘til it’s over,’ but this is a pretty good example. The players understand the nature of the game. As long as you don’t roll over and die, you have a chance.”

Anteater Notes

Senior right-hander Ken Whitworth, who retired the only batter he faced in the 11th inning Sunday to pick up the victory, became the first Irvine pitcher to win 10 games in a season since 1980. He ranks 10th on the Anteaters’ career innings-pitched list with 255 2/3. . . . Senior second baseman Chris Gallego, who is batting .342, has hit safely in 23 of the past 26 games this season and leads the team with 64 hits and 44 runs. . . . Gallego got credit for the game-tying and game-winning RBIs, but an unsung hero in Irvine’s comeback victory Sunday was pitcher Steve May, who relieved Chris Huber in the second and allowed only three runs from the second through 11th innings. . . . The UCI Track & Field Invitational will be held this weekend at the UCI track stadium, with the women’s competition on Saturday and the men’s competition on Sunday. Field events begin at 11:30 a.m. and running events begin at 1 p.m. both days. The Anteater women’s 1,600-meter relay team of Desiree Bracey, Sjondrala Vaughn, Veronica Escoffery and Shelly Tochluk is coming off a strong performance at last weekend’s Mt. San Antonio College Relays, where it lowered the school record to 3:45.45. That was more than a second better than the previous record the team had set three weeks ago. Senior Mike Morales had the second-best effort of his career in the hammer throw with a toss of 211 feet 7 inches, and junior Sean O’Leary ran a personal-best time of 1:51.18 in the 800 meters.