It’s Only Omaha, but Bruins Impressed

UCLA pitcher Tom Jacquez walked onto the field at Rosenblatt Stadium Thursday, tilted his cap back and spoke, his words betraying the difference between the Bruins and most of the other teams in the 51st College World Series.

“It looks a lot different than it does on TV,” Jacquez said.

It was not something the players from Miami, UCLA’s opponent Saturday, were saying. Nor was such innocence heard from Louisiana State, Stanford, Alabama, Auburn or Mississippi State.

Even little Rice, making its first appearance to UCLA’s second, seemed more like an Omaha veteran than the giddy Bruins.

“We’ve been high-fiving each other since we got off the plane,” said Bruin Coach Gary Adams.

Miami has made 16 appearances in the College World Series, Stanford 10, LSU nine, Mississippi State six and Auburn and Alabama four each. UCLA is 28 years removed--it was 1969--from its first visit to Rosenblatt, and showing it.

“When I walked out on to that field and looked back up at the stands, I was so excited, I wanted to throw my fungo [bat] up toward the sun,” Adams said. “I have to watch myself and make sure I don’t go crazy.”

Play begins today, with Stanford playing Auburn and LSU taking on Rice. That gives the Bruins another day of wonderment, 24 more hours to ponder whether experience plays as big a part in the tournament as they have been hearing.

A look at the field:

No. 1 ALABAMA

Roberto Vaz, the Crimson Tide’s leading batter and key pitcher in the rotation late in the season, broke his right foot Sunday and will miss the tournament. His absence figures to hurt Alabama more on the mound, where Vaz was 4-1 with a team-best 3.40 ERA after being tried as a starter late in the season.

On offense, Alabama will do as it has all season, swing for the fences.

No. 2 LOUISIANA STATE

The Tigers hit 178 home runs, a Southeastern Conference record, and have a starting rotation of two juniors and a senior. And, with Bertman’s nine CWS appearances and three national titles in the 1990s, experience is on the side of the defending champions, despite the loss of seven starting position players from 1996.

Shortstop Brandon Larson hit 37 homers and batted .381 with 110 RBIs but it is first baseman Eddy Furniss, batting .369, who leads LSU. He and Mike Koerner, batting .349 with 30 homers, are the lone position players from last year’s championship team.

No. 3 STANFORD

Coach Mark Marquess won Stanford’s first national title 10 years ago and this year’s team may be better, particularly the pitching. Two-time All-American Kyle Peterson (11-2, 3.67 ERA) is the ace but Marquess will give him extra rest and throw Chad Hutchinson against Auburn today.

Hutchinson, a sophomore right-hander, was a first-round draft pick coming out of high school, has a 97-mph fastball and is the quarterback of the Cardinal football team.

No. 4 UCLA

“We are a lot more than Troy Glaus,” said Adams when introducing his team Thursday. Indeed, while the third baseman and likely top-10 pick in the June draft stirs the Bruin offense, batting .413 with 32 homers and 88 RBIs, it is the production of outfielders Eric Valent (.348, 27 homers) and Jon Heinrichs (.366, 28 homers) that makes UCLA effective.

Ace left-hander Jim Parque (13-2, 2.97 ERA) will start Saturday against Miami, meaning sophomore Jacquez, also a left-hander, will probably start Monday’s game.

No. 5 MIAMI

It didn’t look as though the Hurricanes, who lost in last year’s final to LSU on a dramatic ninth-inning home run, would get back here after starting the season 11-10. But they won 39 of their last 46 and took two games from Arizona State in the Atlantic Regional.

Coach Jim Morris has All-American third baseman Pat Burrell (.425, 21 homers), who last season became the first freshman to lead the nation in batting, and senior left-hander J.D. Arteaga (11-3, 3.27 ERA), the winningest pitcher in school history and the probable starter against UCLA. The staff ERA is a tournament-best 3.98.

No. 6 AUBURN

Coach Hal Baird is giving ace Tim Hudson (14-2, 162 strikeouts) a rest against Stanford, meaning Brian Hepsen, who stands 6-feet-6, will start. Baird called the staff the “best collection of arms” he has had in 18 years of coaching and a 4.28 ERA seems to support that claim.

Hudson will start at first base, and he is batting .404 with 17 homers and 87 RBIs. The Tiger offense woke up in the East Regional to advance past Florida State, but the production hasn’t always been there.

No. 7 RICE

The Owls have the nation’s most feared batter in first baseman Lance Berkman, who became the first player to collect over 100 runs, RBIs and hits in a season. The switch-hitting junior batted .438, and had five home runs in four games at the Central Regional.

Sixth-year Coach Wayne Graham also has closer Matt Anderson (1.82 ERA), who is a top-five selection with a high 90s fastball and has given up only two runs in his last 14 appearances.

No. 8 MISSISSIPPI STATE

The Bulldogs are living proof of where an ace pitcher, Eric Dubose, and a coach with more than 1,000 victories, Ron Polk, can get you.

Dubose pitched two complete games in the Mideast Regional, the second on three days’ rest, for a 4-3 victory over Washington in the final. In that game, the junior threw 113 pitches, had 10 strikeouts, and then proclaimed afterward that he would be ready to pitch a Series opener.

“I got plenty of juice left for Omaha,” he said.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

THE PROMISED LAND

No. 4-seeded UCLA spends its first day in Omaha getting its feet back on the ground. C10

At Rosenblatt Stadium, Omaha

TODAY’S SCHEDULE

* Stanford (43-18) vs. Auburn (49-15), 12:30 p.m.

* Louisiana State (53-13) vs. Rice (47-14), 4:30 p.m.

SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE

* UCLA (45-19-1) vs. Miami (49-16), noon

* Alabama (52-12) vs. Mississippi State (46-19), 4:30 p.m.

SERIES CONCLUDES JUNE 7