There was only one goal for the UCLA baseball team this weekend:
to sweep North Carolina State at home. The Bruins fell just short
of accomplishing their goal, winning the first two games 8-6 and
12-5 before dropping the third 9-6.
Senior pitcher Mike Kunes established the tone for the first two
games of the series, dominating the Wolfpack through seven
scoreless innings. After striking out the side in the seventh,
Kunes opened the eighth inning but got himself into a jam after an
error and two singles loaded the bases with no outs. Still, the
Bruins managed to hold on to take the opening game of the
series.
“We just need to become more consistent and play our
game,” redshirt freshman Chris Denove said. “When we do
that we tend to win.”
The second featured more impressive pitching from UCLA, as
junior Casey Janssen threw six innings giving up only three earned
runs and striking out five. The offense also put together a
fantastic fourth inning, when the team put up 10 runs capped by a
grand slam from sophomore Ryan McCarthy.
The Bruins looked to continue their dominance and sweep the
Wolfpack on Sunday, but strong pitching from North Carolina State
derailed UCLA. Sophomore starting pitcher Wes Whisler gave up four
runs in six innings. While not a spectacular line, it was his best
start in what has become a shaky early season. Before Sunday,
Whisler had given up 10 earned runs in 9.2 innings. Still, his head
coach is confident that the All-American will turn it around.
“He’s just got to keep improving every day in small
increments,” head coach Gary Adams said. “Today was his
best outing so far. That’s the important thing.”
Offensively, the Bruins went stagnant, and were unable to put
any runs on the board until the seventh inning, when junior Preston
Griffin hit a three-run homer. Griffin added a two-run shot in the
ninth, but by then it was too little, too late.
“Their starter mixed it up a bit and we didn’t make
adjustments fast enough,” freshman Brett McMillan said.
Still, with two wins the Bruins have evened their record and
gained a boost of confidence. Since the team will now have to play
10 consecutive road games in less than two weeks, the players are
hoping to build off of the momentum from this home series.
“This is good for the team to get back to .500 and
hopefully we’ll stay above .500 all season,” McMillan
said.