COLLEGE BASEBALL : Bruins Aren’t About to Throw Back Their Latest Catch

Paul who? That is the question UCLA catcher Matt Schwenke spurred in the Bruin dugout with his opening-day performance.

Schwenke, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound freshman from Poway High, has the unenviable task of replacing Paul Ellis, a first-round draft choice of the St. Louis Cardinals who was named NCAA Division I player of the year last season after hitting a school-record-tying 29 home runs.

But in his first collegiate at-bat, Schwenke stepped in against UC Irvine and hit a slider over the fence at UCLA’s Jackie Robinson Stadium for a solo home run.

“A lot of the underclassmen were cheering and jumping up and down,” UCLA Coach Gary Adams said. “Then one of the seniors in the dugout said, ‘Hey you guys, sit down. That’s expected of all UCLA catchers.’ ”

Schwenke, who finished the day with two more hits, appears to be the latest in a talented line of Bruin catchers that includes Don Slaught, Todd Zeile, Bill Haselman and Ellis.

“None of those guys started as freshmen,” Adams said. “As receivers, all of them were way behind where Matt is right now.”

Schwenke and the Bruins travel to Orlando, Fla., this weekend for a tournament with Florida, Central Florida and Georgia Southern.

“Right now, I’m kind of raw and I’m just trying to work on my catching,” Schwenke said. “One of the reasons I came here was because of the tradition with catchers. I think I can develop into the prototype.”

Perseverance award: Division III member Westmont annually schedules games against Division I opponents to prepare for competition against schools its own size.

But Coach John Kirkgard could only watch in disbelief as Westmont played in three games that featured 60 runs and three shutouts.

On opening day, Pepperdine produced a school-record 12-run second inning during a 19-0 rout of Westmont.

“I was standing in the dugout knowing exactly how (Raider Coach) Art Shell felt in Buffalo,” said Kirkgard, in his eighth season at Westmont. “After the game, I told our players they should be excited because they were going to have another opportunity to show they’re a good team.”

The next day, UC Santa Barbara blasted Westmont, 21-0.

The beatings, however, apparently paid off.

Last Saturday, Westmont rolled over Division III member Whittier, 20-0, in the first game of a doubleheader and won the second game, 9-2

Four aces: Cal State Long Beach opened the season ranked No. 2 by Baseball America magazine, largely on the strength of a pitching staff that includes four juniors who are expected to be high-round picks in this year’s draft.

Right-hander Andy Croghan, who was 12-1 and an All-American as a freshman and 12-4 as a sophomore, last weekend made his first appearance after sitting out fall workouts because of shoulder soreness. Croghan gave up a hit and had two strikeouts in two innings of relief during the 49ers’ sweep of New Mexico.

Right-handers Steve Trachsel (1-1, 1.29 earned-run average) and Steve Whitaker (1-0, 1.93), both junior college transfers, pitched impressively in their Long Beach debuts.

“Both of them make it difficult to settle in because they change speeds and mix their pitches,” Long Beach Coach Dave Snow said. “They’ll improve as they develop more command of their fastballs in terms of pitching in and out.”

Dennis Gray, a 6-6 left-hander, is the least polished of the four, but he might be the best long-range prospect.

“He has a lot of ability, but is just starting to get control of his body,” Snow said. “He’s a real late bloomer, and his potential is beyond college. He may be one of those guys who really finds himself when he’s about 25.”

More Snow: This summer, Snow will travel to Cuba for the Pan American Games to scout the U.S. national team and opponents in preparation for the 1992 Olympic Games at Barcelona, Spain.

Snow was selected by Miami and Olympic Coach Ron Fraser to be one of three assistants on the Olympic staff. Miami assistant Brad Kelley and Sacramento City College Coach Jerry Weinstein also were chosen by Fraser.

In addition to the Pan Am Games, Snow will scout players in the Alaska Summer League to aid the staff in preparing an invitation list for the Olympic trials, tentatively scheduled for the fall in Florida.

“The idea is to do our homework this spring and summer to make sure we get the right people at the trials,” Snow said. “It’s still up in the air in terms of the specific role each (coach) is going to play. But I would feel comfortable with any phase of the game that it comes down to.”

College Baseball Notes

Murph Proctor of USC became the Trojans’ all-time hit leader when he went two for three against U.S. International Feb. 2. Proctor, a senior has 219 hits, breaking the mark of 217 set by John Jackson in 1988-1990. . . . USC outfielder Mark Smith opened the season with seven consecutive hits, including three doubles and a home run.

Pepperdine shortstop Eric Ekdahl was 10 for 15 in the Waves’ first four games with a homer, double, six runs batted in and four stolen bases. . . . Cal State Northridge first baseman Scott Sharts hit four home runs in his team’s first seven games.

UC Irvine first baseman Bryant Winslow was two for 17 in the Anteaters’ first four games, but his hits were solo home runs. . . . Northridge outfielder Greg Shockey batted .520 and had 10 RBIs through six games. Shockey reached base safely in 11 of his first 15 plate appearances.

Cal State Long Beach outfielder Brent Cookson was batting .409 through six games, with two doubles, a homer and seven RBIs. . . . Craig Fairbrother, a junior outfielder, batted .438 through four games for Cal State Fullerton, which was swept in a three-game series by Stanford last weekend.