Great Scott! There’s a Powerful Presence at UCLA

Bill Scott did not hit a home run in every game he played last season for UCLA--it only seemed that way.

Scott hit 28 homers and finished his sophomore year with homers in 10 consecutive game days. The streak carried over into this season when he hit home runs in the Bruins’ first two games in Hawaii.

“It couldn’t last forever,” said Scott, a 6-foot-1, 210-pound outfielder from Granada Hills. “I didn’t really think about [the streak] too much when it was happening last year because I was having such a good time.

“But my swing was so good at that time, I knew if I just waited for my pitch, I had a good chance of hitting one out. And I eventually got my pitch every time.”

Scott is off to a good start this season, and the Bruins are as well.

UCLA opened the season ranked No. 4 by Baseball America and moved up to No. 2 this week on the strength of a 6-1 record that included two victories in three games last weekend at Nevada Las Vegas. Florida State is No. 1 after winning two of three against Stanford, which opened the season ranked No. 1 and swept then-No. 2 Cal State Fullerton in its first three games.

UCLA lost, 5-4, to No. 16 Loyola Marymount on Tuesday and will play host to North Carolina in a three-game series starting Friday.

“If [the polls] are going by talent and ability, I think we belong where we’re ranked,” said Scott, who is batting .467 with three homers and nine runs batted in. “We know we belong among the top teams in the country and we’re going to try and move up.”

Scott, a 24th-round draft pick by the Atlanta Braves in 1997, is part of a junior class that includes second baseman Chase Utley, first baseman Garrett Atkins and pitcher Jon Brandt. It is a class that was hailed as one of the best in the nation upon arrival as freshmen in the fall of 1997, after UCLA’s second appearance in the College World Series.

Scott batted .324 with four homers in 27 games as a part-time starter as a freshman.

“Everybody expects to start, but we had a couple guys who came back that weren’t expected to be back,” Scott said. “It was real frustrating.

“On the positive side, it got me more focused. It made me a better ballplayer because I realized you can’t take anything for granted.”

Last year, Scott started 61 of 62 games in left field. In addition to his 28 homers, he batted .380 and drove in 86 runs. He also had a 16-game hitting streak during which he hit .438 (28 for 64) with six homers and 30 RBIs.

His most prodigious performance came in a 16-15 loss at Washington on March 30 when he hit four homers--including two grand slams--and had 11 RBIs and 17 total bases.

Despite Scott’s performance, UCLA finished 31-31 overall and 13-11 in the Pacific 10 Conference.

“Last year, it seemed like we would get up for the big teams--anybody ranked,” Scott said. “We’d get up to play Rice, go smoke ‘em and then play a midweek game against San Diego and lose.

“This year, we’re taking every game seriously. We’re aware of the expectations and there is a good reason for them.

“So far, we’ve shown some of the things we can do hitting-wise, and the pitching is only going to get better. We have the talent to get back to the World Series. It’s just a matter of staying focused.”

*

Fullerton rebounded from being swept in its season-opening series at Stanford to win two of three games at Baylor last weekend.

The Titans, ranked No. 5, lost, 7-6, to No. 9 USC Tuesday night to fall to 2-5. Fullerton plays host to UNLV this weekend.

USC had lost two of three games at Texas Tech last weekend. The Trojans are 6-3 and do not play this weekend. They play host to UNLV on Monday, San Diego on Tuesday and then entertain UCLA in a nonconference three-game series Feb. 25-27.

Loyola Marymount is 4-1 and could have had an even more impressive record had nature not interrupted. After trailing, 7-0, against USC on Feb. 8, the Lions came back to pull within 8-7 in the bottom of the eighth inning before the game was suspended because of darkness. It will resume March 21 at USC. The Lions also had two games rained out last weekend at UC Santa Barbara.

Loyola plays host to Utah this weekend.

Cal State Long Beach (3-3) took two of three games from California last weekend. The 49ers play Cal State Northridge (4-3) today after Tuesday’s game between the teams was postponed because of wet grounds.

Pepperdine is 3-5 after ending a three-game losing streak with two victories over Missouri last weekend. The Waves play host to California in a three-game series starting Friday then play seven of the their next nine games on the road, including a matchup Tuesday at UCLA.