May 1, 1997
Bears Host UCLA for Three-Game Series
THE SCHEDULE: The Bears (17-35, 3-24) take on UCLA (36-14-1, 15-9, ranked fourth in Baseball America and seventh in Collegiate Baseball ) for their final three-game conference series of the season...
Day Date Opponent Site Time
Fri. May 2 vs. UCLA Evans Diamond, Berkeley, CA 2:30 p.m.
Sat. May 3 vs. UCLA Evans Diamond, Berkeley, CA 1:00 p.m.
Sun. May 4 vs. UCLA Evans Diamond, Berkeley, CA 1:00 p.m.
RADIO: KALX Radio (90.7 FM) will broadcast all three games versus UCLA...the Bob Milano Show will air 10 minutes before the first pitch...SERIES RECORD: The Bears have a 149-138 overall series record against the UCLA Bruins...earlier this season, Cal was swept by UCLA (13-1, 9-0, 8-1) Mar. 27-29 in Los Angeles...last season, the Bears were swept by the Bruins and have lost nine in a row to UCLA...
HEAD COACH BOB MILANO: The Bears skipper, who is in his 20th season at Cal, has a career record of 635-578-4 (.523)...Milano is the all-time winningest coach at Cal in terms of total victories, having passed Clint Evans (547-256 from 1930- 54) Mar. 19, 1994 vs. Arizona (15-6)...he earned his 600th career win Feb. 24 with the Bears 5-3 victory over Fresno State...Milano has led Cal to six NCAA Regional berths ('80, '85, '88, '91, '92, '95) and three College World Series appearances ('80, '88, '92)...he was named Pac-10 South Co-Coach of the Year in 1980 and 1992...Milano will serve as the head coach of 1997 USA Baseball Team that will compete in the Intercontinental Cup, August 1-10 in Barcelona, Spain...
BEAR NOTES: The '97 Bears (17-35, 3-24) are currently on an eight-game losing streak, having been swept by No. 3 ranked Stanford last weekend (14-2, 8-0, 12-6) and losing 14-9 Tuesday at Santa Clara...Cal has now been swept seven times (twice by Arizona, twice by Stanford) by conference opponents this season...the Bears have lost all six games versus Stanford this season, thus making it the first time Cal has been swept by the Cardinal since 1990...against the Cardinal, the Bear pitchers gave up 13 home runs...Cal, however, hit some home runs as well...in the first game of the series, junior designated hitter Aaron Gordnier (Rocklin, CA) accounted for both of the Bears runs, hitting solo home runs in the sixth and eighth inning...on Sunday, sophomore third baseman Dan Garfin (Kensington, CA) hit his first collegiate home run, a grand slam shot in the fourth inning...Gordnier, who leads Cal in RBI (33) and home runs (six), is currently on a five-game hitting streak where he has gone 9-for-19 (.474) with two home runs and eight RBI...even with the Bears losing season, they have still been led by sophomore shortstop Brian Oliver (Antioch, CA)...Oliver continues to prove why he is a strong candidate for postseason honors, starting all 52 games at shortstop (the only Cal player to start every game this season) and leading the Bears in average (.365, nineth in the Pac-10), hits (76), doubles (13), triples (three), total bases (104), stolen bases (21-for-23, second in the Pac-10), slugging percentage (.500) and on base percentage (.429)...he is a third team preseason All-American in Collegiate Baseball and last year became the first Freshman All-American (selected in both Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball) in Cal baseball history...this year, Oliver has also knocked in two game-winning RBI...despite his 2-7 record, freshman starter Jon Shirley (Bakersfield, CA) has pitched solidly this season with victories over Long Beach State and Oregon State, and has had four no decisions in 11 starts...freshman reliever Jon Cuccias (0-0, two saves, 3.38 ERA, Woodland Hills, CA) continues to be impressive in league play...against Six-Pac competition, Cuccias has only given up five earned runs and has 13 strikeouts in 25.3 innings for a 1.78 league ERA...sophomore closer Tyler Walker (Ross, CA) is another one of the Bears top players and is the top rated amauter baseball player in the nation according to the Major League Scouting Bureau...he is 3-3 with a team-high four saves and a 3.29 ERA, and has an impressive 43 strikeouts in 41.0 innings...Walker, who began his Cal career as a catcher, was selected the Top Professional Prospect at the National Baseball Congress World Series last summer... Sunday's contest against UCLA will mark the last home appearances at Evans Diamond for seven Bear seniors-- right-hander pitcher Drew Fischer (Orinda, CA), first baseman John Furstenthal (Oakland, CA), left-handed pitcher Mark Gardner (Fountain Valley, CA), infield/outfielder Ivan Lewis (Berkeley, CA), left-handed pitcher Andrew Miller (Riverside, CA), right-handed pitcher Drew Pearce (Mountain View, CA) and second baseman/third baseman Jim Schmidt (Oak Forest, IL)...
UCLA:The UCLA Bruins, coached by Gary Adams (23rd year as head coach at UCLA, 763-604-7, .558), are 36-14-1, 15-9 (second in the Pac-10 Southern Division) after winning one of three games last weekend versus USC (lost 10-6, 11-2, won 14-4) and losing at Cal State Fullerton, 11-8, Tuesday...top hitters for the Bruins include junior shortstop Troy Glaus (.412, 27 HR, 75 RBI), junior first baseman Peter Zamora (.409, 14 HR, 57 RBI) and senior left fielder Jon Heinrichs (.376, 20 HR, 56 RBI)...UCLA's tentative starting pitching rotation is sophomore left-hander Tom Jacquez (9-2, 2.65 ERA), junior left-hander Peter Zamora (5-2, 4.89 ERA) and TBA...in 1996, the Bruins were 36-28 overall (16-14, third in Pac-10 Southern Division play) and 3-2 (second) in the NCAA Central I Regional in Austin, TX...
TENTATIVE LINEUP AND STATS: Here is a look at Cal's tentative lineup and pitching rotation...
No. Pos.Player '97 stats
26 2B Ivan Lewis, Sr. .245, 23 RBI, 3 HR
2 1B John Furstenthal, Sr. .330, 15 RBI, 1 HR
5 SS Brian Oliver, So. .365, 29 RBI, 3 HR
9 DH Jim Schmidt, Sr. .325, 18 RBI, 8 2B
33 LF Aaron Gordnier, Jr. .274, 33 RBI, 6 HR
6 CF Preston Sharp, So. .219, 15 RBI, 1 HR
10 RF Juan Hernandez, Fr. .283, 13 RBI, 2 HR
45 C Jason Hill, So. .189, 25 RBI, 3 HR
8 3B Dan Garfin, So. .246, 12 RBI, 1 HR
34 RHP Jon Shirley, Fr.(Fri.) 2-7, 5.10 ERA
TBA
30 RHP Drew Fischer, Sr.(Sun.)3-6, 6.24 ERA
SIX-PAC RACE (as of May 1)
Conference Overall
W L PCT GB W L T .PCT
Stanford 17 7 .708 -- 34 13 .723
UCLA 15 9 .625 2.0 36 14 1 .716
USC 17 13 .567 3.0 37 18 .673
Arizona State 16 14 .533 4.0 32 19 .627
Arizona 13 14 .481 5.5 32 23 .582
CALIFORNIA 3 24 .111 15.5 17 35 .327
CAL INDIVIDUAL PLAYER NOTES
DREW FISCHER: Is 3-6 with a 6.24 ERA...in last start suffered the loss vs. Stanford Apr. 25 (2.7 innings, six hits, seven earned runs, two walks, two strikeouts)...picked up the win vs. USC Apr. 11 (6.3 innings, seven hits, two runs, one walk, five strikeouts)...got a no decision but pitch well Mar. 15 vs. Arizona State (6.0 innings, five hits, only one earned run, no walks, five strikeouts)...picked up win Feb. 21 vs. Oregon State (7.0 innings, nine hits, six runs, only one walk, tied a career-high seven strikeouts)...suffered loss Feb. 14 at Long Beach State, throwing his first collegiate complete game (8.0 innings, five hits, three earned runs, two walks, six strikeouts)...in the first UCLA series, pitched one inning in relief with a strikeout Mar. 29...has an 1-2 career record with a 6.43 ERA vs. UCLA...is slated to start Sunday for the Bears...
JOHN FURSTENTHAL: Is second on the team in hitting, batting .330 with five doubles, a home run and 15 RBI...went 4-for-12 last weekend vs. Stanford and was 3-for-5 with an RBI Tuesday at Santa Clara...was 3-for-4 with his first collegiate home run Apr. 8 vs. Saint Mary's...at Hawaii went 6-for-11 with two RBI...was 4-for-9 with a double and an RBI vs. Arizona series, 4-for-10 with a double and an RBI at USC and 3-for-9 at UCLA...is 10-for-46 (.217) with 13 RBI with runners in scoring position...has a career batting average of .318 (7-for-22) vs. UCLA...
AARON GORDNIER: Is batting .274 with six doubles, and a team-leading 33 RBI and six home runs...was 6-for-11 with two home runs last weekend vs. Stanford and was 1-for-3 with two RBI Tuesday at Santa Clara...is currently on a five-game hitting streak from Apr. 22 (9-for-19, .474, 2-HR, eight RBI)...went 5-for-12 with two doubles, a home run and two RBI at USC, 5-for-11 with a home run and two RBI vs. Arizona State and 3-for-12 with a home run and two RBI vs. Stanford...hit his first collegiate home run Feb. 4 vs. Santa Clara (1-for-3, HR, two RBI)...went 5-for-11 with two doubles and five RBI in the Hawaii series...had a career-high 11-game hitting streak (16-for-43, .372, 2-2B, 3-HR, seven RBI) from Mar. 7-24...was 2-for-8 in the first UCLA series...is 21-for-58 (.362) with two home runs and 29 RBI with runners in scoring position...
JUAN HERNANDEZ: Has started 50 games in right field, batting .283 (team-leading .316 in conference) with 10 doubles, two home runs and 13 RBI...is fourth in the conference in stolen bases (19-for-21)...was 4-for-5 and hit his first collegiate home run (three-run homer) Feb. 11 at Saint Mary's...went 3-for-7 at USC, 4-for-11 with a double and two RBI vs. Arizona State, 7-for-12 with two doubles vs. Stanford, 2-for-11 with a home run at UCLA, 4-for-8 with an RBI vs. USC and last weekend was 3-for-10 with a double vs. Stanford...had a career-high seven-game hitting streak (13-for-27, .481, 3-2B, three RBI) from Mar. 15-27...is 10-for-43 (.233) with an HR and 12 RBI with runners in scoring position...
JASON HILL: Is hitting .189 with six doubles, three home runs and 25 RBI...was 0-for-10 last weekend vs. Stanford...broke an 0-for-39 season hitting slump (from Mar. 22-Apr. 8) vs. USC Apr. 11-13, going 3-for-10 with a double and an RBI...knocked in the game-winning RBI in the bottom of the 10th vs. Washington State Mar. 18...went 5-for-11 with two home runs and six RBI vs. Arizona State...was 3-for-4 with two home runs and four RBI Mar. 14 vs. ASU...went 7-for-17 with seven RBI Feb. 14-17 at Long Beach State...had a career-high five-game hitting streak (7-for-15, double, 2-HR, seven RBI) from Mar. 11-18...is 15-for-62 (.242) with a home run and 21 RBI with runners in scoring position...has thrown out 22 baserunners (22-for-73, 30.1 %) this season...was 0-for-10 in first UCLA series...has a career average of .100 (2-for-20) with an RBI vs. UCLA...
IVAN LEWIS: Is batting .245 with nine doubles, three home runs and 23 RBI...was 1-for-12 last weekend vs. Stanford...went an impressive 8-for-13 with two doubles, two home runs and five RBI at Arizona State...had a seven-game hitting streak (15-for-30, .500, 2-2B, 3-HR, 11 RBI) from Apr. 13-25...has hit three home runs in the last three weeks...was 2-for-4 with a home run and a career-high five RBI Apr. 13 vs. USC...went 4-for-13 with four RBI at USC...is 13-for-45 (.289) with a home run and 21 RBI with runners in scoring position...is 10th in the conference in toughest to strikeout (.106)...was 0-for-11 in the first UCLA series...has a career average of .269 (18-for-67) with a double and five RBI vs. UCLA...
BRIAN OLIVER: Leads the team in batting average (.365), hits (76), doubles (13), triples (three), total bases (104), slugging percentage (.500), on-base percentage (.429) and stolen bases (21-for-23)...went 2-for-12 last weekend vs. Stanford...was 4-for-5 with a double and an RBI Apr. 22 at San Jose State...had a career-high 12-game hitting streak (24-for-53, .453, four doubles, two home runs, nine RBI) from Apr. 6-26...was 6-for-12 vs. USC and 4-for-5 with two doubles and a home run Apr. 15 vs. Sac. State...on Apr. 8 vs. Saint Mary's went 3-for-5 with four RBI and knocked in the game-winning RBI with a double in the bottom of the ninth...was 7-for-14 with a double, a triple and three RBI at Hawaii, 6-for-11 with a double and an RBI vs. Pepperdine and 7-for-18 with a double, a triple and three RBI at Long Beach State...went 5-for-12 with a home run and five RBI vs. Stanford...knocked in the game-winning RBI Mar. 5 vs. CS Hayward with a two-run double in the bottom of the ninth...is 17-for-53 (.321) with a home run and 25 RBI with runners in scoring position...is second in the conference in stolen bases, fifth in hits and ninth in batting average...was 5-for-11 with an RBI in first UCLA series...has a career average of .424 (14-for-33) with four RBI vs. UCLA...
JON SHIRLEY: Is 2-7 with a 5.10 ERA, a save and a team-leading 46 strikeouts in 72.3 innings...in last outing, suffered the loss vs. Stanford Apr. 26 (5.3 innings, six hits, four earned runs, two walks, two strikeouts)...got a no decision Mar. 8 at USC (6.3 innings, nine hits, three runs, two walks, career-high seven strikeouts)...got no decision Mar. 1 vs. Arizona, pitching a career-high 7.3 innings (three hits, one run, four walks, three strikeouts)...earned win Feb. 22 vs. Oregon State (6.0 innings, two hits, no runs, no walks, career-high seven strikeouts)...picked up a save Jan. 30 at Hawaii, shutting down the Rainbows with the bases loaded and no outs in the ninth...first collegiate victory was Feb. 16 at Long Beach State (6.0 innings, two runs, three walks, one strikeout)...in first outing vs. UCLA got the loss (6.0 innings, 10 hits, six earned runs, four walks, one strikeout)...is slated to start Friday for the Bears...
TYLER WALKER: Is 3-3 with a team-high four saves and a 3.29 ERA...has 43 strikeouts in 41.0 innings pitched...in last outing Apr. 20 at Arizona State, threw 3.3 innings with four hits, three runs, no walks and three strikeouts...earned save Apr. 12 vs. USC (1.0 inning, one hit, two walks)...picked up two wins in relief in one week, defeating Arizona State Mar. 15 (3.0 innings, no hits, no runs, three walks) and Washington State Mar. 18 (2.3 innings, one hit, no runs, one walk, four strikeouts)...picked up the win Feb. 9 vs. Pepperdine (career-high 5.0 innings, one hit, no runs, no walks, three strikeouts)...picked up save Feb. 16 at Long Beach State (3.0 innings, four hits, two runs, two walks, three strikeouts)...earned save Feb. 21 vs. Oregon State (1.0 inning, no hits, no runs, no walks, two strikeouts)...earned the save Mar. 11 vs. Santa Clara (2.0 innings, two hits, no runs, no walks, three strikeouts)...is fifth in the conference in saves...suffered the loss in his first career start Mar. 29 at UCLA (3.3 innings, four hits, three earned runs, two walks, three strikeouts)...has an 0-2 career record vs. UCLA with a 7.00 ERA...
