UCLA's comeback effort falls short against Cal State Fullerton
Wednesday, 4/30/97 UCLA's comeback effort falls short against Cal State Fullerton Scoring opportunities not taken advantage of; Bruin's season drops to 36-14
By Tim Yun Daily Bruin Contributor UCLA's road to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. took a minor detour last night, as the Bruins lost a barn-burner, 11-8 to the Cal State Fullerton Titans. The Bruins (36-14-1) went into the top of the ninth inning behind by five runs, and they made a valiant comeback effort, but could only muster two runs. The two teams put on a hitting clinic as both clubs combined for a total of 30 hits and 19 runs. The Bruin offense was able to jump on the Titan pitchers for four home runs. Junior right fielder Eric Byrnes blasted his 14 homer of the year. Junior shortstop Troy Glaus added another home run to his own UCLA career record, as he smashed his 27th round-tripper of the season. However, the night belonged to sophomore center fielder Eric Valent as he kept his hot bat swinging. Sunday afternoon he hit for the cycle, and Tuesday night he went 2-for-5, while hitting his 17th and 18th home runs of the year. His two home runs accounted for four of the team's eight runs. The Bruins did not take advantage of many scoring opportunities against Fullerton (30-19-1), as the team left 10 runners on base. Freshman starting pitcher Gabe Crecion scattered nine hits and allowed four earned runs over his four innings of work. He also walked one and struck out two batters as his season record dropped to 1-2. Pitchers Dan Keller and Nick St. George came on in middle relief and were blasted for six hits and five earned runs in only 3 2/3 innings of relief work. The Titans used a combination of four pitchers to hold on for the victory over the Bruins. Starting pitcher Mike Garner pitched only three innings as the Bruin batters tagged him with five hits and three runs. Pitchers Scott Hild, Tim Baron and Mike Greenlee came on in relief and held the Bruins at bay for the rest of the game. They allowed only five hits and five earned runs to preserve the victory, which improved their overall record to 30-19-1, and boasted an impressive 17-7-0 record at Titan Stadium. The Bruins' season record on the other hand, dropped to 36-14. This loss was just another example of the team's tendency to play poorly during the weekday non-conference games. In their last seven weekday games, the Bruins hold an unimpressive record of 3-4. They have not been having a spectacular month of April, hovering around the .500 mark for the month. Cal State Fullerton 11, UCLA 8
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