Panel Wants Less Powerful Metal Bats

An NCAA baseball research panel has recommended that wood bats be tested and used as the standard for metal bats in college baseball in time for next season.

The panel, chaired by Cal State Fullerton President Milton Gordon, announced the recommendation Saturday at the College World Series.

Gordon said the panel recommended batted-ball exit speeds on non-wood bats be comparable to the highest speed of major league-quality, 34-inch wood bats.

The committee called for tests to begin this summer on the wood bats at an independent site to be set up at the University of Massachusetts.

“The consensus of the group is that a standard that attempts to keep the performance level of all bats as similar to wood as possible would best preserve the integrity of the game,” Gordon said.

The NCAA put new standards into effect this season that limited the diameter of the bats to 2 5/8 inches and reduced the weight to length differential, but stopped short of setting a standard for batted-ball exit speeds, pending further study.

The recommendation will be sent to the Baseball Rules Committee and the NCAA Executive Committee in a few weeks, Gordon said.

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Texas A&M;’s Matt Ward, who pitched for Irvine High and Rancho Santiago College, might be on the verge of the biggest starting assignment of his college career.

Either Ward (8-0, 3.52 earned-run average) or Chance Caple (8-5, 4.26) will start in the Aggies’ elimination game Monday against Cal State Fullerton.

“They told me earlier that I would pitch on Monday, and they haven’t told me anything different,” Ward said after the Aggies lost to Florida State, 7-3, Saturday.

But Coach Mark Johnson said after the game Saturday that he has made no decision on a starter.

Ward is known for his excellent control, and has walked seven in 84 1/3 innings and struck out 61. Three of those walks came in one game against Oklahoma in the Big 12 tournament.

The Aggies have two other area players on their roster.

Erik Sobek, a senior who also played at Irvine and Rancho Santiago, is normally the designated hitter against left-handed pitchers. Sobek is batting .314 with seven home runs and 29 runs batted in.

Senior Ken Sundstrom, who played at Kennedy High and Golden West College, is a reserve infielder.

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Actor Kevin Costner, a Fullerton alum, attended the Fullerton-Stanford game, but didn’t arrive in time to work out with the team as he has at other times before NCAA tournament games.

Mel Franks, an athletic department spokesman, said Costner brought a copy of his new baseball movie, “The Love of the Game,” with him and plans to have it shown today to an invitation-only gathering at a theater he has rented in Omaha. Costner has invited players from the eight College World Series teams, Franks said.

Series Notes

Pitcher-designated hitter Jason Jennings of Baylor was named Saturday as the winner of the Dick Howser Trophy, which goes to the Collegiate Baseball Writers Assn.’s selection as the nation’s top college player. Jennings, drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the first round, was 13-2 and batted .386 with 17 home runs.