COLLEGE BASEBALL / GARY KLEIN : Southland Teams Hit Road, Could Stage Home Week at Omaha

College baseball coaches in Southern California have never been shy about labeling their territory as the most competitive in the nation.

In recent years, they have also claimed that proximity has worked against them when the NCAA selection committee chooses 48 teams for the Division I tournament.

Not this year.

For the first time, five schools from Southern California could advance to the eight-team College World Series. That scenario became possible when Cal State Long Beach, Pepperdine, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge and UCLA were sent to different regionals.

In the past, most of the teams from the West--including those from the Pacific 10, Big West, West Coast and Western Athletic conferences--have been bunched into two of the eight six-team regionals. This year, however, Tucson is the only regional site in the West.

That means that many of the 12 teams selected from the Far West, including four of the five participants from the Pac-10 Southern Division, are at regionals east of the Rockies.

“The committee tries as much as possible to balance the eight regionals,” said Gene McArtor, chairman of the selection committee. “Movement of teams from the West to other regionals was more of a reflection of the committee’s desire to separate teams that have played each other all year within the same conference. Because of the number of institutions from the same conferences out there . . . it meant meant bringing some of them back across the country.”

Long Beach Coach Dave Snow says he is happy to be on the road. The 49ers (34-19-1), champions of the Big West, are attempting to gain their third World Series appearance in four years. Long Beach plays Southwestern Louisiana (38-21) Friday in the Central Regional at Austin, Tex.

“With our team this year, I’d rather play away, against the best team with I don’t care how many rooting against us in the crowd,” said Snow, whose team was road-tested in Florida, Tennessee and North Carolina during the regular season. “For some reason, they just play better on the road.”

Trivia time: Which school has made the most appearances in the College World Series?

Head start: Looking, perhaps, for some motivational bonding, UCLA’s Michael Moore, David Roberts, Shawn Wills, John Myrow and Robert Hinds shaved their heads before departing for Starkville, Miss., where the Bruins (34-24) play Oklahoma (38-21) today in the opener of the Mideast Regional.

UCLA has not been to the World Series since 1969. To get back to Omaha, the Bruins will have to win a regional that includes top-seeded Clemson and second-seeded Mississippi State.

Oklahoma is coached by Larry Cochell, who is attempting to become the first coach to guide three schools to the World Series. Cochell, in his second season at Oklahoma, guided Oral Roberts and Cal State Fullerton to World Series appearances. The Sooners have 10 players from Southern California, including senior second baseman Brian Eldridge, who is batting .394 with 23 home runs and 76 runs batted in.

Fullerton (38-15) opens play today against Ohio State (38-19) in the South I Regional at Baton Rouge, La. The Titans are led by third baseman Phil Nevin, the Big West player of the year whom Baseball America magazine is projecting as the top pick in the pro draft.

“We’ve been the target of everybody all year long, so this is the first time we’ve gone in as the underdog with something to prove,” Fullerton Coach Augie Garrido said. “We’ve had some good players who have had good years, but no heroes who have done the unexpected. We’re going to need some heroes.”

No respect: Pepperdine (40-10-1), Miami (49-7) and Wichita State (52-9) are the only teams among the 48 in the playoffs that have lost 10 or fewer games.

Miami and Wichita State parlayed their records into a top seeding in their regionals. But Pepperdine, champion of the West Coast Conference, is seeded third behind Arizona (34-21-1) and Hawaii (45-12) in the West Regional at Tucson. The Waves play a first-round game against Fresno State (37-18) Friday.

“I’m a little bit disappointed because we didn’t exactly play a poor schedule,” Pepperdine Coach Andy Lopez said.

“You can say that our conference wasn’t as competitive as it has been in the past, but you can’t take away the fact that we played well in nonconference games and were ranked among the top 10 for all but two weeks of the season.”

Northridge (37-14-1) is seeded third in the Midwest Regional at Wichita, Kan., which is perhaps the most difficult. Northridge plays Arizona State (32-22) Friday in a regional that also includes Wichita State, Oklahoma State (46-14), Minnesota (40-19) and George Washington (26-24).

Thanks for the memories: Thirty years ago, Ron Fraser drove his Volkswagen bug to the baseball field at the University of Miami, walked through an opening in the center-field fence, surveyed the grounds and began formulating a plan to build the Hurricanes into a national power.

Last Sunday, Fraser, 56, coached his last regular-season game at 19-year-old Mark Light Stadium, a 4-3 victory over Georgia Tech that was played before a crowd of 5,156.

After the game, and 45 minutes of tributes, Fraser circled the bases to thunderous cheers, then exited the ballpark via the same route he entered it in 1962. Only this time, Fraser walked upon a red carpet to the outfield fence and climbed into a Rolls-Royce.

The NCAA baseball committee also presented Fraser with a farewell gift of sorts when it gave the Hurricanes what appears to be the tournament’s easiest road to Omaha. Top-ranked Miami (49-7) opens Friday against Maryland-Baltimore County (37-11) in an Atlantic Regional at Coral Gables, Fla., that also includes North Carolina State (45-16), South Carolina (40-20), Notre Dame (45-13) and Delaware (38-12).

Rider on the storm: The NCAA’s policy of granting automatic berths to winners of postseason conference tournaments once again caused controversy because of Rider (18-33).

Rider, which opens against Florida in the East Regional at Gainesville, Fla., lost its first 16 games, was 4-24 at one point, lost its final five regular-season games and set a school record for losses. The Broncs made the playoffs by winning the East Coast Conference tournament.

Trivia answer: Texas. The Longhorns have made 25 World Series appearances. USC, which made its last World Series appearance in 1978, is second with 17.

Out of action: Rene Lopez, a sophomore catcher from Harbor College who was invited to try out for the U.S. Olympic team, will miss the tryouts because of a knee injury suffered last week during the Southern California regionals of the state junior college tournament.

Lopez batted .400 with eight homers and 44 runs batted in 46 games. He has signed a letter of intent with Pepperdine.

Catcher Kevin Lidle of Mt. San Antonio College will replace Lopez. Lidle, 5-11, 170 pounds, batted .379 with three home runs and 35 runs batted in this season.