COLLEGE SCENE UCLA.

Byline: - Jill Painter and Chris Cocoles

Baseball pitcher/first baseman Wes Whisler, one of the nation's premier freshman in 2002, is starting to come around after a slow start on the mound and at the plate. The left-hander, hit hard in his first four starts, earned his first victory with six shutout innings to beat Utah at the Texas A&M tournament last weekend. The all-tournament selection is 1-3 with a 5.82 earned-run average and is hitting .281 with eight RBI.

The Bruins have a tough assignment in the Kia Baseball Bash this weekend with a game at No. 5 Cal State Fullerton. They also play defending national champion Texas and 21st-ranked Tulane.

USC 

The last thing the suddenly struggling baseball team needs is another pitching injury. But senior ace Anthony Reyes was scratched from his scheduled start last weekend at Baylor (the Trojans were swept in the three-game series) with an undetermined elbow injury. Reyes also missed part of the 2002 season with elbow problems.

On Tuesday, he was not in the projected rotation for this weekend's nonconference series at Stanford, but that could change if he's feeling better by the end of the week.

The 16th-ranked Trojans (5-6) have lost four in a row and are without injured relievers Brett Bannister and Jon Williams.

CSUN 

The softball program will reach a milestone with one victory this weekend at the Red Desert Classic in St. George, Utah. CSUN has 999 victories and will play five games in the tournament.

Also, senior Marcshannon Milligan will try to defend his titles as the Big West Conference champion in the 1- and 3-meter diving events, which start today at the Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach. Milligan hasn't won a diving event this season and will be pushed by freshman Joe Castellani, a La Crescenta High of La Crescenta product.

LMU 

Volleyball player Laura Gustorf has received an NCAA women's postgraduate scholarship for careers in athletics. Gustorf, who has a 3.79 grade-point average, will earn her degree in business administration this spring. She plans to attend grad school in the fall.

Gustorf is among the school's top-10 leaders in total digs and digs per game in her career as a three-year starter.

PEPPERDINE

It's No. 1 vs. No. 2 today. The top-ranked men's volleyball team plays at No. 2 Hawaii today and again Friday. The Waves (12-1) have won 11 consecutive matches and are 10-0 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Pepperdine won the MPSF last year and would be in the driver's seat to win again with at least one victory at Hawaii.

Senior middle blocker Brad Keenan, the NCAA Player of the Year last season, has a .413 hitting percentage and averages 2.34 blocks per game.