UC IRVINE NOTEBOOK : Ex-Shocker First Baseman Feels ‘Rejuvenated’

Two years ago, Bryant Winslow broke bones in a first base collision during the championship game of the College World Series.

As this baseball season began, he looked as if he might break records--UC Irvine’s home run record, for one.

Winslow transferred to Irvine after three seasons at Wichita State, where he started at first base for two College World Series teams and one national championship team.

In his first eight games as an Anteater, he hit four home runs; the Irvine season record is nine, shared by five players. Gene Roumimper, who hit nine homers in 1986, is the most recent to reach that mark.

“I feel so rejuvenated,” said Winslow, the Anteaters’ first baseman.

Winslow had broken a bone in his wrist and aggravated a stress fracture in his leg in the collision during the 1989 championship game against Texas, which Wichita State won. He believes the time away from the game as he recovered, plus a growing dissatisfaction with his life at Wichita State, led to a disappointing 1990 season.

He finished last year with a .243 average, his lowest in three seasons, five homers, and by the end of the season, a too-familiar spot on the bench.

“I was in a rut,” said Winslow, whose best season with the Shockers was 1989 when his hit eight home runs and batted .297. “I wasn’t very happy. I never realized how miserable I was until I came home and didn’t want to go back.”

At home in Littleton, Colo., Winslow listened to his friend Joe Sewell, an Irvine pitcher. Sewell convinced him that Irvine might be a good solution, and Winslow got in touch with Coach Mike Gerakos.

When Winslow went to Wichita State Coach Gene Stephenson and told him he wanted to leave, Stephenson granted him his release, allowing Winslow to play without sitting out a year.

“I came out here, and I love it,” Winslow said. “I feel like a freshman again.”

After his furious start, Winslow has cooled a bit; he has no homers in his past six games and his average has dropped from .290 to .222 after a three-for-23 slump.

After struggling through a weekend series, he met Gerakos for extra batting practice Monday, wearing an Irvine T-shirt and gold and black Wichita State shorts.

“You get a power hitter and they’re often high-maintenance hitters,” said Gerakos, telling Winslow to concentrate on seeing the top half of the ball.

“The key to my success is just seeing the ball,” Winslow said. “If I see the ball and swing, I have power. The ball will jump.”

Winslow was drafted out of high school by the Texas Rangers, who took him in the 11th round. But no calls came after last season.

“That was a big disappointment,” Winslow said.

His sights are set on being drafted this season, but until then, he has plans for the Anteaters, who are 8-6.

“I’m more concerned with just winning,” he said. “The guys here haven’t been to a regional since I don’t know when. I’d like to go to the regionals and let the guys see what it’s all about.”

The Anteaters have never been to the Division I regionals, but they were Division II national champions in 1973 and ’74.

Add transfers: Winslow isn’t the only transfer making on impact for Irvine. Joe Furukawa, a transfer from California, leads the team in hits with 19 and is batting .302. He also leads the team with 12 runs batted in, 11 runs scored and six steals.

Time on his hands: Bill Mulligan, who announced his resignation as basketball coach last week, sat at lunch Monday quizzing two retired companions.

“What do you do?” he asked them. “I have never faced the thought of not knowing what I’m going to do and when I’m going to do it.

“What the hell am I going to do? My wife (Dorothy) says I can go around with her, but I tell her she doesn’t do anything either!”

Mulligan has expressed interest in doing color commentary for basketball broadcasts, and already has connections with Bill McDonald, who works Irvine’s radio broadcasts as well as television for Prime Ticket.

Mulligan also mentioned the possibility of volunteer work, such as working with the handicapped.

Stat of the Week: 160-155, Mulligan’s record at Irvine. A winning record at Irvine is ensured for Mulligan, who is five games over .500 with four regular-season games remaining.

Stat of the Week II: In all but one of Irvine’s eight victories, Dylan Rigdon has scored 14 points or more. The exception was against Texas Tech, when he had 11. Rigdon, who has dropped out of the starting lineup, has been in double figures only once in the past seven games.

Worried players: Rigdon says many of the returning players are worried about who the next basketball coach will be.

“Obviously, the university wants to bring in someone who can win and bring people into the Bren Center,” Rigdon said. “In order to do so, the coach would have to bring in really good players. There’s concern that some of us might not have scholarships.”

The Irvine volleyball team has fallen to 0-6 overall after being swept by No. 1 UCLA last week, 15-12, 15-9, 15-2.

“The guys were just not ready to play,” said Coach Bill Ashen, whose team plays in the country’s most competitive conference, the Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Assn. “Now we will have to make some changes to ensure that it does not happen again.”

Irvine plays Brigham Young on Thursday and Friday in Provo, Utah.

Anteater Notes

The track teams, fresh off their first meet, will compete in the 50th Long Beach Relays at Cal State Long Beach on Sunday morning at 10. . . . Matt Farmer, the defending Big West Conference decathlon champion, won the long jump and triple jump in a four-way meet at Irvine last week, and finished second in the 110-meter high hurdles, the high jump and the javelin. Kristi Kaufmann led the women’s team, winning the high jump and the 100-meter hurdles. She also finished second in the javelin and the long jump. . . . No. 1 singles player Brett Hansen-Dent is 9-6 for the tennis team, which is 4-2 going into a home match against Michigan Tuesday. No. 2 singles player Mike Roberts is 8-4 overall and 4-1 at No. 2. . . . No. 3 singles player Biljana Korac leads the women’s tennis team with a 6-2 record.