Brock Bardeen always considered himself a pitcher who hit.

But through his junior year at UC Irvine, he had never taken the mound, not even one inning in a mop-up role.

"I was recruited by John Savage," said Bardeen, the former Fallbrook High star. "But he left before I got a chance to play for him, and Dave Serrano took over.

"Serrano was a good coach, but he came from Cal State Fullerton, and Cal State Fullerton never recruited me. So he had no idea who I was or what I did.

"So I just concentrated on hitting."

After his junior season last year, though, Bardeen approached UCI pitching coach Ted Silva to ask if he could pitch.

"Coach Silva said to work on it over the summer, and we'd see where we were," Bardeen said.

Now playing for Mike Gillespie -- his third coach since arriving at UCI and redshirting the 2005 season -- Bardeen is getting a chance to pitch as well as hit.

As a designated hitter, he's hitting .241 with 16 RBIs and a team-leading six home runs, including a two-homer game last Tuesday against Washington. And he's 4-0 on the mound, having appeared in eight games.

On Sunday, he worked three innings in relief, allowing one run while striking out a pair to earn the win as the No. 10-ranked Anteaters beat No. 19 Cal Poly 7-6.

Two weeks ago, Bardeen was the Big West Conference pitcher of the week after picking up victories against USC and Tulane.

"It took me a while to get back in the rhythm of pitching," Bardeen said "I had to fix some bad habits left over from high school.

"I'm a drop-and-drive guy with a fairly violent motion. I had to fine-tune my mechanics."

To save Bardeen's arm, the Anteaters use him exclusively as a designated hitter when he isn't pitching.

"I like all aspects of the game," Bardeen said. "When you're pitching, you get to compete for a longer time. As a DH, you hit every two or three innings. As a pitcher, you're in the game."

Bardeen was part of the glory days of Fallbrook baseball, when Matt Parker coached the Warriors and the team won regularly, turning out numerous college and pro players in the process.

"Matt Parker is an awesome coach," Bardeen said. "I hated him my first year. He was tough, a disciplinarian.

"You learned quickly it was his way or the highway.

"He was hard on all of us because he ran the Fallbrook program like it was a college.

"Honestly, though, I don't think I'd be where I am if I hadn't played for him. Playing for Matt Parker, playing at Fallbrook, helped with the transition to college ball."

Bardeen is two classes short of finishing his degree in political science. He hopes to complete his coursework next quarter.

"Like every guy playing college ball, I'd like to get drafted," Bardeen said.

"And if I do get drafted, I go, for sure."

If not, he has plans.

"I'd like to get an internship in Washington, D.C.," said Bardeen, an honor student in high school and college. "My emphasis in college has been American government.

"I have some options, but I'd like to take baseball as far as I can take it."

On the verge

At age 32, and after 11 seasons of kicking around the minor leagues -- from independent ball to Japan -- left-hander Brian Mazone (San Dieguito) is on the verge of the big leagues.

A starting pitcher his entire career, Mazone was invited to camp by the Los Angeles Dodgers this spring, and manager Joe Torre is using him as a left-handed relief specialist. Mazone has responded with a 1.13 ERA and two saves in 10 spring-training appearances, covering eight innings.

His main competition for a roster spot is minor leaguer Erick Threets and veteran Will Ohman, who the team signed to a minor league contract Monday.

Mazone, who played collegiately at the University of San Diego, has never played in the big leagues.

Two years ago, he was called up by the Phillies to make a spot start. But the game was rained out and Mazone was returned to the minors.

Leake on fire

Arizona State junior right-hander Mike Leake improved to 6-1 on the season, allowing four hits in eight innings of a 10-1 win over USC.

In his last five starts, covering 39 innings, Leake has an 0.69 ERA, having allowed 18 hits and four walks with 42 strikeouts.

He struck out a career-high 15 on March 20 against Arizona.

Additionally, Leake is hitting .345 for the No. 3-ranked Wildcats.

Baseball

< Kansas senior catcher Buck Afenir (Escondido) leads the Jayhawks with a .368 batting average. He has three home runs, five doubles, a triple and 17 RBIs. Sophomore pitcher Brett Bochy (Poway) had the best outing of his college career Sunday, hurling three perfect innings with a career-high seven strikeouts in a 6-5 loss to Texas A&M. Freshman outfielder Jason Brunansky (Poway) is hitting .218 with a home run and four RBIs.

< Whittier College freshman Mike Hachadorian (Westview) earned his first college victory with a six-inning effort against Rutgers-Camden. He allowed seven hits and two unearned runs in a 10-2 win that was aided by a home run from Anthony Cappelletti (Mt. Carmel). Cappelletti leads the Poets in batting average (.455), home runs (eight), RBIs (32), doubles (11) and triples (four).

< Sophomore Brian Kolb (Santa Fe Christian) and freshman Ryan Miller (Poway) form the keystone at Wheaton College in Schaumburg, Ill. Kolb plays second and leads the offense, hitting .491 with a homer and 14 RBIs. Miller plays shortstop and is hitting .390 with two doubles, two triples and nine RBIs.

< Stephen Gillette (San Pasqual) is hitting .371 with 11 homers and 33 RBIs at Azusa Pacific.

< Freshman Brian Busick (Poway) has appeared in three games at Stanford.

< Alex Dickerson (Poway) is hitting .374 with 27 RBIs and a team-leading seven home runs as a freshman at Indiana. Infielder Jerrud Sabourin (Torrey Pines) is hitting .365 with two homers and 12 RBIs for the Hoosiers. Freshman pitcher Drew Leininger (Poway) has appeared in seven games.

< Sophomore outfielder Tony Nix (Poway) is hitting a team-leading .403 at UC Riverside. He has a homer and 19 RBIs. Sophomore catcher Dan Pellegrino (Poway) is hitting .238 with a home run.

< Matt Veltman (Cathedral Catholic) went six innings Saturday to earn the victory in Arizona's victory over UCLA. Veltman is 2-3 on the season.

Softball

< Jessica Vasser (Mt. Carmel), a freshman first baseman at UC Riverside, is hitting .306 -- second on the team -- with a homer and nine RBIs.

< Sarah Akamine (Escondido) is 13-4 with a 2.57 ERA at Arizona. She has appeared in 23 games for the Wildcats with 17 starts.

< Raylene Asman (Escondido) is hitting .235 with a homer and seven RBIs at Long Island University.

Professional soccer

Four former North County prep stars are playing in the new Women's Pro Soccer league.

Jayme Leigh Cargoni (Mt. Carmel), who starred at Wake Forest in college, is playing for the Washington Freedom.

Rachel Buehler (Torrey Pines), Carrie Dew (La Costa Canyon) and Leigh Ann Robinson (Mt. Carmel) are playing for FC Gold in the Bay Area.

Buehler played at Stanford, Dew played at Notre Dame and Robinson played at USD.

Rahon leaving Santa Clara

After a fine freshman season, James Rahon (Torrey Pines) has decided to leave the men's basketball program at Santa Clara.

In an e-mail, Rahon said, "I've enjoyed being a student-athlete at Santa Clara. However, upon much thought, I have decided to transfer at the end of my freshman year. The basketball program wasn't a good fit for me, so I plan to continue my career elsewhere."

Rahon played in 32 games for Santa Clara, starting 17. He averaged 11.3 points and 1.7 rebounds a game with 42 assists. He made 59-of-145 3-point attempts, 40.7 percent and was named to the West Coast Conference all-freshman team.

Out of high school, Rahon considered San Diego State, Arizona, Utah and USD before choosing Santa Clara.

Men's basketball

< NBA draft analysts say the performance by Arizona's Chase Budinger (La Costa Canyon) in the NCAA tournament may have jumped him as much as 20 places in the NBA draft. Budinger averaged 19 points in three tournament games.

< Kenny Lawson (Vista) finished his sophomore season at Creighton with a fine game. In a 65-63 loss to Kentucky in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament, Lawson had 12 points, five rebounds, two blocked shots and an assist. His 3-point play put the Bluejays up 63-60 with 1:26 to play. Lawson had eight points, five rebounds, a block and a steal in a first-round NIT win over Bowling Green. For the season, he led the Bluejays with 56 blocked shots while averaging 8.5 points and 4.8 rebounds. He started all 35 games for the 27-8 Bluejays.

< AJ Reilly (Valley Center) played in all 29 games for BYU-Hawaii as a redshirt freshman. A backup point guard, Reilly averaged 5.1 points and 2.5 rebounds in 17.5 minutes a game for a Seasiders team that finished 27-2. He was second on the team with 82 assists and had 20 steals. The Seasiders lost to Cal Poly Pomona 59-58 in the NCAA Division II West Regional final. Reilly had four points, two assists and a rebound in that game. Reilly had four points, five rebounds and an assist on a semifinal win over Cal State Dominguez Hills and had four points, four assists and a rebound in a first-round playoff win over Humboldt State.

Women's water polo

< Katrina Thoreson (Rancho Bernardo) is off to a great start as a freshman at Whittier College. She had 12 goals as the Poets went 3-1 in the Claremont Convergence tournament, beating Macalester, Fresno Pacific and Carthage before losing to Concordia. She had 11 steals in another win over Macalester, had four goals in a loss Wednesday to Cal Lutheran and had three goals Saturday against Fresno Pacific.

< Julie Monday (La Costa Canyon) is having a good sophomore season at Occidental. She had two goals Saturday in a win over La Verne and had four goals in a win over NCAA Division I foe George Washington.

< Freshman Jennifer Pasch (Escondido) is playing at Azusa Pacific.

Women's basketball

< Paige Mintun (Valley Center) was named first-team All-Big West Conference after a stellar sophomore season at UC Davis. She led the 11-18 Aggies in scoring (13.0 points), rebounding (6.2) and assists (67). She blocked 37 shots and had 44 steals.

< Sophomore Jenna Breite (Mt. Carmel) played in 24 of Cal State Fullerton's 30 games, averaging 1.3 points and 2.5 rebounds a game. Sabrina Gonzalez (Carlsbad/Palomar College), a junior, was plagued by injuries all season and played in 19 games, averaging 3.0 points and 1.5 rebounds.

< Chelsea Burns (Carlsbad resident/La Jolla Country Day) was a significant contributor as a freshman on a Utah State team that finished 16-15 and advanced to the Western Athletic Conference tournament semifinal.

Wrestling

< Cal State Bakersfield senior Brandon Halsey (Rancho Buena Vista) finished seventh at 197 pounds at the NCAA championships in St. Louis, earning All-America honors. He qualified for the NCAA championships after finishing second at the Pac-10 championships. Halsey finished his career at Cal State Bakersfield with a 52-14 record, including 24-5 this season.

< Joey Granata (Fallbrook), a sophomore at Cal State Bakersfield, finished fourth at 165 pounds at the Pac-10 championships.

And the award goes to …

< Kami Klauber (Carlsbad) was named to the ECAC East women's ice hockey second team as well as to the conference's All-Rookie team. Klauber led MIT is scoring, finishing with 23 goals and 12 assists, and setting school records for goals and points in a season. Klauber is only the third MIT player to gain all-conference recognition.

Around campus

< Lucy McGovern (Cathedral Catholic) led the Loyola Chicago women's golf team with a 36-hole 157, good for 11th overall at the Springlake Intercollegiate in Florida. She shot a season-best 76 in the first round, helping the Ramblers to a fifth-place finish. In nine rounds this season, she owns an 81.3-stroke average.