UNIVERSITY BEAT; UCLA RATING SURPRISING.

Byline: Lee Barnathan

A glance at the Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball preseason Top 25 polls reveals several highly ranked traditional powers: Stanford, Cal State Fullerton, USC, Miami, Louisiana State Wichita State, Arizona State and Texas.

UCLA is there, too, but what sticks out is the Bruins' 1999 record: 31-31.

No other team has as poor a record. What's more, the Bruins are fourth in the polls. Baseball Weekly has UCLA 10th.

UCLA coach Gary Adams is one who finds the rankings justified, albeit meaningless. He remembers Baseball America ranked his 1998 recruiting class as the nation's best.

Now, that class, including infielders Garret Atkins, Chase Utley and Bill Scott, outfielder Charles Merricks and pitchers Jon Brandt and Chad Cislak, are juniors. Since a good junior year often means being drafted high, this could be the year for the Bruins, especially if they continue where they left off last season. On April 2, UCLA was 15-22 after a loss at Cal. It went 16-9 the rest of the way.

``Expectations are high,'' said Adams, about to begin his 26th season. ``The players, it seems, their biggest improvement come between their sophomore and junior years. They've got so much to play for, not only for the team to do well but for themselves.''

Scott, from Alemany High in Mission Hills, led the team with a sort of triple crown, a .380 batting average, 28 homers and 86 RBI. His 19 doubles also was team best. Atkins (.375) led the Bruins with 96 hits, and Utley (.317) had a team-high 271 at-bats. Merricks made one error in 44 games and led the team with five sacrifice hits. Brandt pitched more innings (107) and struck out more batters (109) than anyone, and his 4.21 ERA was tops among regular pitchers. Cislak recorded a team-high six saves and 25 appearances.

There's also sophomore pitcher Josh Karp, who led the team with eight victories last year and had a 4.26 ERA.

But all isn't well. There are holes at shortstop and catcher that need to be filled. Senior Aldo Pinto (.236, 1 HR, 12 RBI) and freshman Warren Trott, from West Torrance, are the front-runners for the shortstop job. Juniors Ryan Hamill (transfer from UNLV)and Forest Johnson (.217, 1 HR, 6 RBI) are the leading catcher candidates.

A look at the other area schools:

--USC (36-26): Hard to believe the Trojans are ranked 11th by Baseball America and Baseball Weekly and 15th by Collegiate Baseball despite fielding 19 new players, including 12 freshmen. But remember, Collegiate Baseball named this class the nation's best.

``It's our belief this group is capable of becoming very good, very fast,'' USC coach Mike Gillespie said. ``We felt that when this group of players committed to us, we were going to get some tremendous young men with great ability.''

They're going to need it, since just two members of the 1998 national champions are still around: shortstop Seth Davidson (.345, 35 RBI) and pitcher Rik Currier (5-7, 6.38 ERA, 11.26 strikeouts per nine innings).

Currier is the only returning starter, but watch for sophomore Mark Prior, a transfer from Vanderbilt who earned Freshman All-America honors last season and pitched for the U.S. National team last summer. He could become the staff ace.

Sophomore Beau Craig, a freshman All-American, takes over at catcher for the departed Eric Munson. Munson was USC's most dangerous player and was taken third overall by Detroit. But he was hurt for 25 games last season and Craig gained experience. He also batted .319 with 50 RBI.

Davidson will team with third baseman senior Justin Gemoll (.300, 26 RBI) on the left side of the infield. The right side could be new with freshman Anthony Lunetta from Arlington of Riverside and freshman Alberto Concepcion of El Segundo.

USC will have an all-new starting outfield. One likely starter will be Rob Garibaldi, a transfer from Santa Rosa JC and the 199 Northern California JC Player of the Year recipient.

--Pepperdine (46-16): The Waves, with seven returning starters, seem to be ranked too low. They're not in the Baseball America or Baseball Weekly polls and are 26th by Collegiate Baseball.

Still, the Waves will be formidable. Junior catcher Dane Sardinha (.365, 15 HR) was second-team All-America and a Baseball America preseason All-America. Senior infielder Damon Katz (All-West Coast Conference) and junior first baseman Jared Pitney (.314) also return.

On the mound,Pepperdine won't have top returner Jay Adams (11-3, 2.56 ERA) for a month because he's recovering from shoulder surgery. That leaves sophomore Daniel Haven (10 wins, 3.08 ERA) to be the ace.

Pepperdine also has two top local recruits, pitcher Greg Ramirez from Rio Mesa of Oxnard and outfielder Mike Falco of Agoura. Plus, El Camino Real of Woodland Hills graduate Woody Cliffords returns for his sophomore season in the outfield.

--Loyola Marymount (33-28): The Lions have won the WCC the past two seasons and are ranked 17th in the Baseball America poll and unranked by Collegiate Baseball and Baseball Weekly. Three players to watch include Cleveland of Reseda graduate Mike Schultz, a junior pitcher who has 104 strikeouts in each of his first two seasons. He's 16-8 in his LMU career.

Also, junior catcher Scott Walter batted .337 with nine homers last year, and junior left-handed pitcher Billy Traber led the team with 135 strikeouts last season, second most in team history.