COLLEGE BASEBALL / GARY KLEIN : Politics and Pitching Mix Well for Pepperdine Reliever

Adam Housley’s favorite movies include “Field of Dreams” and “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” a double-play combination of baseball and politics that reveals much about the Pepperdine reliever.

Housley, a junior, has been active in student government since his arrival in Malibu from Vintage High in Napa. He recently was elected student body president for the 1993-94 academic year.

“Someday, this guy is going to be a senator, governor or President of the United States,” Pepperdine Coach Andy Lopez said.

Housley has designs on a political career, but he hopes to help Pepperdine win the West Coast Conference championship and its second consecutive NCAA title before he enters another election.

With his submarine-style delivery, Housley has emerged to fill the void left by bullpen ace Steve Montgomery, a third-round pick of the St. Louis Cardinals who was instrumental in helping Pepperdine win its first national title last season. The 6-foot-2, 190 pound Housley is 2-3 with a 2.19 earned-run average in 16 appearances. He has two saves and 30 strikeouts in 24 2/3 innings for the No. 18-ranked Waves, who are 17-10 overall and have won eight of their last 11 games.

Pepperdine is 7-2 in the West Coast Conference, in second place behind San Diego (10-2).

Housley, 21, came to Pepperdine as a walk-on. He spent his freshman season retrieving foul balls and delivering submarine sandwiches and other lunch items to Pepperdine teammates between doubleheaders.

Housley had adopted his submarine pitching delivery at the behest of Lopez, who did not see much of a future for Housley pitching with a traditional overhand style.

“Throwing over the top, my ball was straight as an arrow,” Housley said. “So when he asked me if I would try changing to another delivery, I said, ‘Whatever it takes to pitch. If I have to throw naked, I’ll go out there and do it.’ ”

Last season, Housley was 4-1 with a 3.45 ERA as a set-up man for Montgomery. This season, he is the closer.

Housley said his experiences at Pepperdine, on the field and in the political arena, will help him in future endeavors.

“I think you have to be honest with yourself and with voters, so in that way I don’t feel that I’ll be a typical politician,” he said. “Hopefully, I can set a new trend.”

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Trivia time: Who is the only former UCLA player to play in the College World Series and the major league World Series?

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Super saver: Senior Dan Hubbs is finishing his USC career by building a reputation as one of the nation’s best finishers.

Hubbs, a 6-2, 200-pound right-hander, entered the week 2-0 with a 1.47 ERA and 11 saves for the No. 11-ranked Trojans, who are 8-4 in the Pacific 10 Conference Southern Division and tied with No. 8 UCLA (4-2) for first place. California, ranked No. 23, is third at 4-4, followed by No. 13 Arizona (5-7), No. 15 Arizona State (3-5) and No. 14 Stanford (2-4).

Last week, Hubbs recorded three saves in four appearances as USC won for the ninth time in 10 games.

“I take pride in not letting runners score because I worry about everyone else’s ERA,” said Hubbs, who has allowed only three of 15 inherited runners to score.

Hubbs longed to attend Stanford as a high school senior in Renton, Wash., but he said the Cardinal’s interest waned when he broke his foot during his senior year. He came to Southern California with his father, and visited USC, UCLA, Pepperdine, Loyola and San Diego State.

“Everyone else was like, ‘Yeah, you can come down here and we’ll see what happens,’ ” Hubbs said. “USC was the only one that gave me a little hope.”

Hubbs walked-on with an academic scholarship and made a few appearances as a freshman. He was a long reliever as a sophomore and was expected to be the closer last season. An injury to Mike Collett, however, forced Hubbs into he starting rotation, and he finished the season 7-6 with a 3.97 ERA and one save.

This season, he has been dominant. He entered the week six saves shy of the Trojans’ single-season record set by Brian Nichols in 1987.

“I finally feel like I’m in the role I’m best suited for,” said Hubbs, expected to graduate in May with a degree in finance. “This is what I hoped I could accomplish when I came here.”

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Rank and file: Daniel Choi of Cal State Long Beach is 8-1, with a 2.45 ERA and 57 strikeouts in 62 1/3 innings.

Choi, who played at Fairfax High and redshirted at Cal State Northridge before pitching last season at Los Angeles City College, has beaten six ranked teams: No. 8 UCLA, No. 11 USC, No. 18 Pepperdine, No. 19 Northridge, No. 21 Florida and No. 23 California. His only loss was against No. 17 Miami.

“When I looked at the schedule before the season, I wanted to go against certain teams for revenge (because they didn’t offer me a scholarship),” Choi said. “UCLA was a given, and so was Pepperdine. Northridge was especially sweet because of the way things went for me there. USC? I grew up as a UCLA fan and (never liked) USC.”

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Streak over: When Pacific defeated Cal State Long Beach, 1-0, in a Big West Conference game on March 13, it marked the first time in 270 games that Long Beach was shut out, the fourth-longest streak in Division I history.

Long Beach’s last shutout defeat was a 10-0 loss to Loyola in 1988. Loyola’s coach at the time was Dave Snow, who is in his fifth season as coach at Long Beach.

Coastal Carolina went 349 games without being shut out between 1983-89, setting a record.

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On the run: Georgia Tech shortstop Nomar Garciaparra has stolen 31 consecutive bases over two seasons for the top-ranked Yellow Jackets, who entered the week with a 16-2 record.

Garciaparra, a sophomore from Whittier, played for the U.S. Olympic team at Barcelona. He was successful in all 25 of his attempts last season for Georgia Tech and is six for six this season.

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Trivia answer: Chris Chambliss, who played in the College World Series when UCLA made its only appearance in 1969. Chambliss, a first baseman, played in the 1976, ’77 and ’78 World Series with the New York Yankees.

College Baseball Notes

Catcher Casey Burrill is batting .491, with 10 home runs and 31 runs batted in, in 29 games for USC, which is playing a Pac-10 Southern Division series this weekend at Arizona. . . . Mike Mitchell is batting .439 with five home runs and 22 runs batted in for UCLA, which is playing at California this weekend. Left-hander Tim Kubinski is 5-1 with a 3.64 ERA in 47 innings.

Catcher Adam Millan of No. 6 Cal State Fullerton (16-7) is batting .395. The Titans lead the Big West Conference with a 6-0 record and play host to Pacific this weekend. . . . Andy Small is batting .325 with eight homers and 26 RBIs for No. 19 Cal State Northridge. Northridge, 17-5 overall and 3-3 in the Western Athletic Conference, plays host to conference-leading Cal State Sacramento this weekend.

Freshman left-hander Ryan Graves of Loyola Marymount (12-15) pitched a five-hit shutout against Pepperdine in a West Coast Conference game last Friday, handing the Waves only their third loss in their last 33 home games. Graves is 4-0 with a 2.41 ERA for the Lions, who are third in the WCC and play at conference-leading San Diego this weekend. . . . Senior left-hander Corey Giuliano is 6-1 with a 3.16 ERA and five complete games for Chapman (15-13).