COLLEGE BASEBALL / GARY KLEIN : Moler Thaws Out, Warms Up Fullerton

Jason Moler is Cal State Fullerton’s third baseman who came in from the cold. A junior from Yorba Linda, he returned to the comfortable climate of Orange County after two chilling seasons at Illinois.

“The baseball was great back there, but the weather was another thing,” Moler said of his stay in Champaign, Ill. “I had heard about it but thought, ‘How bad could it be?’

“The first week of practice that we were outside, it was 22 degrees, and I couldn’t believe it. Your blood thickens or something and you get used to it, but it’s still brutal.”

Moler batted .317 with six home runs and 43 runs batted in last season for the Fighting Illini. After the season, Coach Augie Garrido left Illinois and returned to Fullerton, where he had won national championships in 1979 and ’84.

Moler said he was transferring regardless of Garrido’s status.

“I was struggling in school every year, I hated the weather and it got to the point where I wasn’t having fun,” he said. “It was freezing. I just said I’ve got to get out of here.”

John Mackovic, Illinois’ athletic director, initially refused to grant Moler a release that would have allowed him to play this season. But in February, with Moler already attending classes at Fullerton, Mackovic relented, and Moler joined the Titans, who were struggling with a 4-9 record.

On Feb. 22, three games into his Titan career, Moler incited a bench-clearing brawl at Rice. He incurred an automatic one-game suspension for being ejected but said it was worth it.

“That seemed like it brought the team together,” said Moler, who is batting .318 with five homers and 31 RBIs in 42 games. “The players talked about doing something to get us going, but we never talked about starting a fight. It just worked out that way.

“It did create a closeness on the team that wasn’t there before, so I guess it helped.”

Fullerton (34-22) rallied from its slow start and tied Fresno State for the championship of the Big West Conference.

Moler said the Titans are eagerly awaiting Monday’s announcement of the 48-team field for the NCAA playoffs. “We’re playing well at the right time of the year,” he said. “I think we have a chance to win the whole thing.”

Trivia time: Name the three members of USC’s 1973 national championship team that went on to become major league All-Stars.

End of the line? UC Irvine Coach Mike Gerakos and his players and staff are bracing for an announcement expected in the next few days regarding the fate of the Anteater baseball program.

Rumors abound that the 22-year-old program will be dropped because of budget cuts.

“There are some players in the program that are concerned and rightfully so,” said Gerakos, who has guided the Anteaters for 11 seasons. “I’ve asked them to have some patience and wait until the dust settles.”

Irvine finished 24-32 overall and 6-15 in the Big West Conference this season.

Mr. Consistency: Craig Clayton and Scott Sharts of Cal State Northridge are candidates for player-of-the-year awards, but the key for the No. 12-ranked Matadors in the playoffs might well be the performance of pitcher Ken Kendrena.

The junior right-hander from West Covina is 12-1 with a 2.34 earned-run average. Tuesday, he beat Pepperdine with his 10th complete game for his 10th consecutive victory.

“I don’t think very many teams have known who I am,” Kendrena said. “I’d say the majority have been surprised by me.”

Kendrena, too, is a bit surprised.

When he graduated from Bishop Amat High School in La Puente in 1989 and enrolled at Texas A&M;, Kendrena was a shortstop. He was unable to crack the lineup in the fall, and the Aggie coaching staff suggested that he transfer to a California junior college to gain playing time.

Kendrena batted .272 for Cypress College in 1989, then moved to the mound last season and compiled a 4-1 record and 3.01 ERA.

This season, Kendrena said, he is benefiting from his late start as a pitcher.

“Unlike some of the guys who have been pitching forever, my arm is just getting started,” Kendrena said. “I shoot for complete games. It’s an addictive thing you want every time.”

Kendrena is hoping that Northridge meets up with Texas A&M; in a regional game or at the College World Series.

“I don’t know if they realize I made the transition to pitching,” Kendrena said. “I think they’d be shocked. I’d definitely like that.”

Trivia answer: Outfielders Fred Lynn and Steve Kemp and infielder Roy Smalley were 1973 Trojans who became major league All-Stars. Five other future major leaguers--infielder Rich Dauer, catchers Ed Putman and Dennis Littlejohn and pitchers Pete Redfern and Randy Scarbery also played for the Trojans in ’73.

College Baseball Notes

Pitcher-infielder Craig Clayton of Cal State Northridge, first baseman Joe Ciccarella of Loyola Marymount and outfielder Mark Smith of USC are among the seven finalists for Baseball America magazine’s college-player-of-the-year award. Other finalists include first baseman David McCarty of Stanford, infielder Andy Bruce of Georgia Tech, pitcher Bobby Jones of Fresno State and outfielder Mike Kelly of Arizona State, who won the award last season.

Utah third baseman Mike Edwards, a sophomore from Placentia, led the Western Athletic Conference in batting, at .457, and RBIs, with 60, and was second in home runs, with 17. Hawaii, San Diego State, Brigham Young and Wyoming are in the WAC tournament this weekend at Honolulu.

UC Santa Barbara infielder Jeff Antoon has hit seven home runs this season and is the school’s career leader with 29. . . . UCLA junior first baseman Chris Pritchett is batting .324 with 17 homers and 53 RBIs. Al Oliver, who collected more than 2,743 hits during his 18-year major league career, will start a baseball program next season at Shawnee State University an NAIA school in Portsmouth, Ohio. . . . Gaylord Perry, who will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 21, resigned after four seasons as coach at Limestone College, an NAIA school in Gaffney, S.C.

Tickets are on sale for the NCAA West I Regional May 24-27 at USC’s Dedeaux Field. Tournament passes ($40 adults; $20 students, children and senior citizens), individual day ($12, $6) and individual game tickets ($6, $3) are available. Information: (213) 740-4672.