Zito Has Plans to Strike It Rich With Successful Season at USC

Barry Zito of USC doesn’t plan on pitching for the Trojans for more than one season.

The 6-foot-4 junior left-hander is eager to start his pro career. And he will get the opportunity--again--if he remains healthy until the amateur draft in June.

Zito, drafted in the third round by the Texas Rangers last year, established himself as perhaps the most dominating pitcher in college baseball when he struck out 16 in consecutive seven-inning appearances against Oregon State and Arizona last month.

Zito is 6-2 with a 3.62 earned-run average for the defending national champion Trojans, who are 20-16 overall and 7-2 in the Pacific 10 Conference after a 4-11 start. USC plays a nonconference game today against Loyola Marymount and will play host to California in a three-game Pac-10 series starting Friday.

“I think you could call me a strikeout pitcher, but I won’t be a true power pitcher until I get my velocity up to about 93 or 94 mph like I’m capable of,” said Zito, who has used a fastball, curve and changeup to get 90 strikeouts in 59 2/3 innings this season. “My arm is not 100% in shape yet. I always hit my highest velocity in the summer.”

Because the tournament has been expanded from 48 to 64 teams this year, the nine-day World Series will not begin until June 11--just when Zito traditionally begins heating up the radar gun.

Zito graduated from University High in San Diego. He was 3-6 with a 6.43 ERA and 123 strikeouts in 85 1/3 innings as a freshman at UC Santa Barbara, but transferred to Pierce College for his sophomore season so he could be eligible for the draft.

The Rangers selected Zito in the third round after he went 9-2 with a 2.62 ERA and struck out 135 in 103 innings.

Zito and the Rangers, however, could not come to terms on a contract. He pitched Wareham to the Cape Cod League title last summer, enrolled at Grossmont College for fall classes, underwent arthroscopic knee surgery in October and arrived at USC a few weeks before the season opener.

“I have the same stuff I had last year, but I’m proving I can do it against Pac-10 hitters,” said Zito, who struck out eight in five innings in a nonconference start against Cal State Northridge last week. “The strikeouts are great, but my main goal is to help get our team back to the College World Series.”

The Trojans suffered what appeared to be a major setback when catcher Eric Munson broke a bone in his hand March 27 in a game at Washington State. Munson, projected by some as the potential No. 1 pick in the draft, is expected to be sidelined six to eight weeks.

Munson’s injury, however, might be considered an omen of sorts. Last season, he missed 19 games because of a foot injury, then came back for the Trojans’ run through the playoffs and World Series.

Freshman Beau Craig has replaced Munson and the Trojans are 5-1 since the injury.

USC is in second place in the Pac-10 behind second-ranked Stanford (9-0 in conference) and will play the Cardinal at Palo Alto April 16-18. Twenty-fifth ranked Washington (6-3), 19th-ranked Arizona State (5-4), Cal (4-5), Arizona (4-8), UCLA (2-7), Washington State (1-5) and Oregon State (1-5) trail the Trojans in the conference race.

Notes

Spencer Oborn of seventh-ranked Cal State Fullerton went hitless in an exhibition game against the Angels on Sunday, but his 32-game hitting streak was alive entering today’s game against San Diego because the Angel game is not regarded as official by the NCAA. Oborn, a junior transfer from Brigham Young who played at Diamond Bar High, is within six games of tying the Fullerton and Big West Conference record of 38 set by Brent Mayne in 1988. . . . Pepperdine (30-3) is ranked fifth this week, the Waves’ highest ranking in the Baseball America poll since finishing No. 1 after their College World Series victory in 1992.