COLLEGE BASEBALL : Sun Devils’ Rees Heeds Message

The message was simple and written in large black letters next to Sean Rees’ name on the lineup card in the Arizona State dugout.

“YOU MUST GO NINE.”

Sun Devil Coach Jim Brock penned the command a few weeks ago to motivate Rees, a sophomore left-handed pitcher from Mission Bay High in San Diego, who wasn’t finishing what he started.

But no one anticipated the impact it would carry.

“It gave me the initiative to go out and battle,” Rees said. “I get pumped up when people get on me.”

In his last four starts for the Sun Devils, no one has touched him.

Rees, 5-feet-11, 178 pounds, has pitched a four-hitter, two three-hitters and a two-hitter since getting the message. In 36 innings, he has allowed just 12 hits and eight walks and recorded 55 strikeouts to raise his nation-leading total to 120.

Rees’ performances have keyed the Sun Devils, 30-9, who have won 14 consecutive games and are ranked No. 1 by Baseball America.

“I’m just in a good rhythm,” said Rees, 8-0 with a 2.18 earned-run average. “It’s the best feeling ever.”

Brock, who has coached Floyd Bannister and Craig Swan, among others, says Rees’ streak is the most impressive in ASU history.

“Bannister, in his prime, never had four games back to back like that,” Brock said. “I’m not sure anybody did.”

Back on top: With a 12-5 record, No. 4 USC leads No. 3 Stanford, 8-3, in the Pacific 10 Southern Division.

Senior right-hander Randy Powers is 7-0 with a 1.99 ERA for the Trojans, who travel to Tempe next week for a key series with Arizona State. Powers has four complete games and has allowed only four walks in 72 1/3 innings.

UCLA, 9-8, has won eight of its last 10 games and is in fourth place behind Arizona State, 8-5. The Bruins are over .500 in conference play for the first time since 1987.

Junior left-hander Dave Zancanaro has won three consecutive games for the Bruins since being moved from the outfield and bullpen to the starting rotation. Zancanaro is 7-1 with a 2.47 ERA and three saves.

Arizona, 5-13, has lost a record 12 consecutive conference games. The Wildcats, who visit UCLA next week, have been swept by Stanford, Arizona State, UCLA and USC.

Last-place California, 3-11, figures to continue struggling when it plays host to Arizona State this weekend.

Feeling blue: The NCAA baseball rule book states: “It is the responsibility of the players, coaches and umpires who are participating under the NCAA rules to know the rules.”

That passage has created a minor stir among college baseball umpires in Southern California, several of whom have been wearing black arm bands to protest the power wielded by coaches.

Unlike football and basketball officials, who are assigned by the NCAA or conference offices, umpires are scheduled by a paid, veteran member of their organization based upon preferred lists submitted by coaches. The umpires, who make $60 a game, are upset with the outcome of an October meeting, during which the coaches decided that passing an NCAA rules test would no longer be a criterion for gaining assignments.

“In other words, the coaches said you don’t have to know the rules,” said Charlie Lupo, who is in his 36th year of umpiring college baseball. “But they’re the same ones that (complain) about rules interpretations when they’re on the field.”

UCLA Coach Gary Adams, the liaison between the coaches and umpires, said the coaches believe experience is as important as passing a test.

“We think that in some cases, when a guy is an excellent umpire in terms of his judgment--that can supersede his lack of knowledge on the rules,” Adams said. “When it comes to the bread-and-butter call, he’ll make the right one.”

Lupo isn’t so sure.

“It creates ‘homers,’ ” he said. “The umpires are so scared they’re going to get (taken off the approved list by coaches), they’re scared to do their job.”

Fernandez watch: Alex Fernandez’s stock as a major league prospect has not dropped a level, even though he has.

Fernandez, selected by the Milwaukee Brewers as the 24th pick in the 1988 draft, was 15-2 with a 2.01 ERA last season for the University of Miami and had 177 strikeouts in 147.2 innings.

The All-American right-hander transferred in January to Miami Dade-South Community College to be eligible for the June draft. Fernandez is 7-2 with a 1.32 ERA and has 89 strikeouts in 75 innings. He also is batting .358 with a team-leading seven home runs and 37 runs batted in for the Jaguars, 26-9.

Working out of a jam: Fearing even greater cutbacks by university presidents had it taken no action of its own, the American Baseball Coaches Assn. submitted to the NCAA last week a proposal that recommends: reducing the maximum number of games from 70 to 60; cutting full scholarships from 13 to 12; limiting schools to four coaches and adopting a national starting date, preventing teams from playing games before the first Friday in February.

“Personally, I don’t feel that any of the measures are necessary,” said Fresno State Coach Bob Bennett, who was part of the six-member committee that submitted the proposal. “But the cuts from the presidents are coming in all sports.

“What we heard from athletic directors around the country was, ‘You better come up with something that you can live with, or you’re going to get something you can’t.’ ”

College Baseball Notes

Arizona State outfielder Todd Steverson, a freshman from Culver City High, last week became only the ninth player in 16 years to hit a home run over the 30-foot-high center-field wall 400 feet from home plate at Packard Stadium in Tempe. Steverson is batting .185 with three home runs and 16 runs batted in . . . Danny Ramirez, a senior shortstop from Montebello, is batting a team-high .391 for Tennessee.

Oklahoma State pitcher Dennis Burbank, a junior right-hander from Anaheim who played at Pepperdine and Cypress College, is 3-0 with a 3.99 earned-run average for the Cowboys . . . Mark Loretta of Northwestern, a freshman infielder from Arcadia, is batting .385 . . . Yale right-hander Chris Forshner, a senior from Los Angeles, is 1-1 with a 3.60 ERA . . . Irvine infielder Chris Gallego is batting .348 and has a 15-game hitting streak.