COLLEGE BASEBALL : Czarnetzki Proves to Be a Cut Above for UCSB

Mike Czarnetzki is concluding his college career the same way he began it--by trying to avoid being cut.

Czarnetzki, a senior center fielder for UC Santa Barbara, is among the candidates for a national player-of-the-year award presented by the Greater Houston Sports Assn. in Texas. He is batting .387 with four home runs, 44 runs batted in and 37 stolen bases.

Five years ago, the 6-0, 195-pound Czarnetzki was making a daily pilgrimage to the Gaucho coaches’ office to see whether he made the team as a walk-on.

“If your name wasn’t on a posted list, you were axed,” said Czarnetzki, who was an unrecruited All-Southern Section player at Crossroads High in Santa Monica. “I kept seeing my name, so I kept coming back.”

Said Santa Barbara Coach Al Ferrer: “He was the last guy that we kept from about 110 that tried out. We kept going back and forth, and (assistant) Bob Brontsema basically talked me into keeping him.”

Czarnetzki is one of the key reasons the Gauchos have returned to form after two sub-par seasons.

After a 23-39 finish in 1988 and a 28-27 record in 1989, Santa Barbara is 40-17 and ranked No. 23 by Baseball America. Last weekend, the Gauchos clinched second place in the Big West Conference--and a playoff spot--when sophomore third baseman Jeff Antoon hit a three-run, ninth-inning homer to give Santa Barbara a 4-3 victory over Fresno State.

“It was just a matter of young guys maturing,” Czarnetzki said. “It’s all coming together now.”

Playoff time: Stanford and Arizona State are among the eight sites for regional playoffs that begin May 24 and 25.

Other sites for the six-team double-elimination tournaments are: Texas (Central), Louisiana State (South I), Mississippi State (South II), Wichita State (Midwest), Miami, Fla. (Atlantic) and Waterbury, Conn. (Northeast).

The winner of each regional advances to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., June 1-9.

The NCAA will announce the 48-team field May 21.

Big West champion Cal State Fullerton, UC Santa Barbara, USC and Loyola Marymount are assured of playoff bids.

UCLA, fourth-place finisher in the Pacific 10 Southern Division, and Pepperdine are on the bubble.

Showdown in Malibu: Pepperdine can win a share of its sixth consecutive West Coast Conference championship this weekend--and assure itself of a playoff bid--but to do it the Waves will have to stave off the invasion of the Medfly and sweep Loyola in Malibu.

Loyola center fielder Rick Mediavilla was dubbed Medfly by teammates when he transferred to Loyola from Mesa College in Arizona. The 5-9, 150-pound junior leads the WCC in batting with a .419 average. He has 105 hits--tying the school’s single-season record set by Don Sparks in 1988.

Conference-leading Loyola (24-7), ranked 12th by Baseball America, needs one victory to clinch the championship and earn the conference’s automatic bid to the playoffs.

A sweep by Pepperdine (22-11) would give the Waves a 5-1 record in the season series and the WCC’s automatic bid.

Pepperdine will probably be without Coach Andy Lopez, who has the chicken pox.

Corn belt contender: Wichita State made history last season when the Shockers became the first team from the Midwest to win the College World Series.

This season, Iowa has joined the Shockers as contenders for the national title.

The Hawkeyes (37-15) won their first Big Ten championship since 1974, finishing 22-6. This weekend they play host to a four-team conference tournament that includes Illinois, Minnesota and Ohio State. The winner receives the conference’s automatic bid to the playoffs.

The Hawkeyes, ranked 15th, are led by All-American shortstop Tim Costo, a junior batting .376 with 15 home runs and 59 runs batted in.

“All we’re trying to do is just keep up with teams from the sunshine states,” Iowa Coach Duane Banks said. “If we can stay hot, we might have a chance.”

College Baseball Notes

UCLA catcher Paul Ellis and Arizona State outfielder Mike Kelly were selected co-players of the year in the Pacific 10 Southern Division. Ellis is batting .352 with 27 homers and 73 RBIs for the No. 20 Bruins, who conclude their regular season this weekend with three games at Nevada Las Vegas. Kelly is batting .369 with 19 homers and 76 RBIs for the No. 2 Sun Devils.

Don Barbara of Cal State Long Beach was selected Big West Conference Player of the Year. Barbara, a senior first baseman, batted .474 with seven home runs and 61 runs batted in. His 102 hits, 27 doubles and 52 walks are school records. . . . Cal State Fullerton third baseman Phil Nevin and Arizona State outfielder Jim Austin have been invited to try out for the U.S. National Team that will compete in the Goodwill Games and World Championships this summer. Nevin, a freshman, is batting .353 with 14 homers and 48 RBIs. Austin, sophomore from Santa Ana Mater Dei High School, is batting .352 with 14 homers and 46 RBIs.

UC Irvine’s Ken Whitworth led the Big West in wins this season with a 13-4 record and 3.00 earned-run average. . . . Pepperdine pitcher Steve Duda, a freshman right-hander, is 12-2 with a 2.58 ERA for the Waves. . . . Loyola outfielder Tony Kounas and catcher Miah Bradbury share the team lead with 15 homers.

No. 6 USC is in North Carolina this weekend for a six-team tournament that also includes North Carolina, North Carolina State, Clemson, Fresno State and Arizona. USC center fielder John Jackson is attending mini-camp this week with the Phoenix Cardinals.