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Friday, 5/30/97 Hurricane warning BASEBALL: UCLA opens the College World Series vs. the Miami team that spoiled last year's postseason

By Sierra Roberts Daily Bruin Contributor On Wednesday, head baseball coach Gary Adams lead his Bruins to a place they'd never been - Omaha, Neb., for the College World Series. Fourth-seeded UCLA will have its first match-up on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. against the fifth-seeded University of Miami (49-16) at Rosenblatt Stadium. The battle will be fierce for the fourth-ranked Bruins (45-19-1) as they embark on their first journey to the World Series in 28 years . The nationally third-ranked Hurricanes have a very different recent history from UCLA. They have appeared in the last four World Series and have participated in the last 24 Regional playoffs. However, the last time a national title went home with the Hurricanes was in 1985. Meanwhile, the Bruins have some history going for them - the history of their Midwest Regional last weekend. They won the regional title by winning five straight games after a surprising loss to Harvard in the opening day of play. In two games with the Oklahoma State Cowboys on the regional's final day, the Bruins tallied 36 runs and 51 hits, while allowing just four runs to Oklahoma State. If the Bruins continue to blow their opponents away with sheer offense, they will be hard to beat no matter how much experience the opposition has. Besides the bit of recent history on their side, the Bruins are seeking redemption for the 1996 postseason, when they placed second in the Central I Regional behind Miami. After battling for 10 innings with Southwest Missouri State the day before, the fourth-seeded UCLA looked to upset the Hurricanes in the championship game. But that would not be so, as Miami beat the Bruins 8-4 to advance to Omaha, where the team was the national runners-up to Louisiana State University. Starting on the mound for the Bruins on Saturday will be former Olympian left-hander Jim Parque (13-2). He enters the series with an ERA of 2.97. In regional play, Parque went eight innings against Oklahoma State in Sunday morning's 14-2 victory. He allowed only four hits and struck out nine. He also pitched for three innings in the 15-1 blowout of Ohio on Friday before Adams pulled Parque to save him for a possible championship day appearance. Senior left-hander J.D. Artega is the probable starter for the Hurricanes. Artega is Miami's all-time winningest pitcher after compiling a 11-4 record this year. He has a career total of 369 strikeouts. Related Links: NCAA

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