Thursday, 4/10/97
Pitching relief cause of Bruin headache
Offense fails to recover after 49ers have seven-run inning
By Kristina Wilcox
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The fifth-ranked Bruins (29-10-1) lost Tuesday night 14-3 at
Jackie Robinson Stadium to the 14th-ranked Long Beach State 49ers
(24-13).
One may remember a similar blowout non-contest that took place
earlier this year up north, in another sport.
UCLA head coach Gary Adams sure did not forget that game.
"UCLA’s basketball team lost by 48 points to Stanford and they
came back and had a good run," Adams said. "This game was like the
48-point loss to Stanford. Our basketball team responded very well,
and I think we can do the same thing. We can make this the turning
point in our season. It’s a turn for the good. I think our team
knows what they need to do, and I know that they are going to do
it."
But, unlike that infamous basketball debacle, this baseball game
was actually close at the beginning. Long Beach jumped out to a
one-run lead in the third inning. It looked like it was going to be
a close contest because Bruin starter Gabe Crecion was having a
solid outing, despite walking four batters.
But, in the usual Tuesday game pitching move, another pitcher
was brought into the game (Tuesdays are notorious for having a
series of relievers pitch in the game, since the games are
non-conference match-ups.).
The new pitcher was right-hander Matt Klein, who hasn’t pitched
since a one-inning outing on March 2 against Minnesota, and who
subsequently allowed seven runs to cross the plate in one-third of
an inning.
But that one inning should not have spelled the end of the game
for the Bruins.
It did.
The offense could not muster a run until the bottom of the
ninth, when the reserve players rallied to score three runs against
the 49ers’ Ara Petrosian.