UC IRVINE NOTEBOOK : Bladow Busy Making His Pitch to a Different Beat

David Bladow was worn out after pitching a seven-hitter in UC Irvine’s 5-2 upset of UCLA Saturday, but his day was far from finished after the final out.

His teammates celebrated afterward at DP’s, a sports bar in Newport Beach.

But Bladow was getting paid to party--as a drummer in the rock ‘n’ roll band, “Mr. Wonderful,” that entertained the crowd.

“After the game I ran back to the apartment, showered, threw the equipment in the car and headed for Newport,” he said. “I didn’t get home until 2:30 in the morning. I was exhausted.”

And feeling a fleeting moment of satisfaction after the biggest victory of his career.

He struck out a career-high 12 and defeated UCLA pitcher Pete Janicki, a former El Dorado High standout who’s considered one of the nation’s top collegiate pitchers.

“It seemed like every time we needed a particular pitch or a double play, we got it,” Bladow said. “Everything flowed. UCLA has a lot of free swingers, and I got them to chase a lot of bad stuff.”

The victory also helped erase some disappointing memories of last season for Bladow, a senior right-hander.

A transfer from Cypress College, he was pounded like a snare drum as a junior, finishing 5-7 with a 5.62 earned-run average.

But he has found a new rhythm this season, and is off to a 4-0 start with (drum roll please) a 1.03 ERA. He has 31 strikeouts and six walks in 35 innings, and he’ll start for the Anteaters (7-5) Friday against Cal State Long Beach.

“Last year was pretty bad,” he said. “I set a lot of expectations. This season, I’m taking it easy and letting my teammates do all the work.

“I read some books in the off-season on the psychology of baseball, and I realized there is only so much I can do in a game. Last year, I tried to do too much. I would be nails for the first five innings, then lose it after I gave up a run. And then, there goes the game.”

Bladow is enjoying his finest collegiate season during one of the busiest times of his life.

He’s on schedule to graduate this spring with a degree in social ecology, with an emphasis on urban planning. He’s working 20 hours a week as an intern with the city of Dana Point, helping with a grid map of the city’s general plan.

Although he’s buried in schoolwork, the internship and baseball, Bladow seems to find time on weekends to play in the band.

He has been moonlighting as a drummer and lyricist since founding the group as a freshman at Canyon High.

The group plays “everything from the late ‘70s to the present” plus a few original tunes. The four-member band has a loyal following from the baseball team, and plays at fraternity parties, local bars and the UCI student union.

“It’s a great job on the side,” he said. “The money has been good, and we get a lot of people to come out and listen to us play.”

The band’s best gig?

“We played a frat party at San Diego State once,” he said. “You know the rumors, that it’s one of the biggest party schools. It was a great one--people dancing on pool tables, sand volleyball, 20 kegs. It was nuts.”

Although music is his pleasure, Bladow hopes his future is in baseball. His fastball, which he consistently throws between 85 and 90 m.p.h., caught the eyes of pro scouts last season.

“I got a lot of phone calls from scouts,” he said. “They all told me they would call me before the draft in June, but they never did.

“This year, I’m polite to the scouts when they call me. But I’m not going to count on anything.”

Crunch Time: The men’s basketball team, losers of three consecutive games, enters its most important stretch of the season with home games against last-place San Jose State (2-20, 1-13) Thursday night and sixth-place Pacific (10-13, 6-8) Saturday night.

The Anteaters (5-19, 2-13) are battling San Jose State for the final spot in the eight-team Big West tournament.

A victory over San Jose State would give the Anteaters a 1 1/2-game lead over the Spartans.

“It’s all out there for us,” Irvine Coach Rod Baker said. “We’re going to try something a little bit different against San Jose.”

They might want to try shooting better. Irvine shot only 28% in a 58-52 loss to San Jose State on Feb. 1 at San Jose.

A San Jose State victory would give the Spartans an edge because of their season sweep of the Anteaters.

Add Spartans: San Jose State’s Thomas Clayton, a freshman walk-on who played on Tustin High’s 1991 State Division II championship team, returned to action against Fresno State last week after missing three games while undergoing tests for a rapid heart beat.

Anteater Notes

Saturday night’s game against Pacific will be the home final for Irvine seniors Don May, Elgin Rogers, Gerald McDonald and Dave Hollaway. . . . Conference sports information directors nominated 40 players for postseason honors, including Irvine’s Elzie Love, Jeff Von Lutzow, McDonald and Rogers. . . . Tennis player Ali Yoshimoto’s five-match winning streak was ended last week by Laura Richards of the University of San Diego. . . . The men’s tennis team, 3-2 and ranked 21st nationally, plays at Fresno State Saturday and at No. 3 Stanford on Sunday.