Redemption.
This one word sums up the feelings of UCLA sophomore catcher
Chris Denove after a 3-2 win over UC Santa Barbara that began with
only lows, but ended on the high of his 12th-inning walk-off home
run Tuesday night at a frigid Jackie Robinson Stadium.
“It was definitely redemption. I am just happy to
contribute,” Denove said.
First, there was the low of Denove’s passed ball in the
eighth inning that allowed the Gauchos (8-6) to score the tying
run, paired with a continuing hitless streak that continued well
into their fifth game.
Then came the redemption.
Denove got his defense back as he smothered a bounced curve by
the Bruins’ (10-3) sophomore reliever Garret White and threw
out a Gaucho runner trying to take third on the pitch, helping end
an 11th-inning rally.
Then, with a team weary from travel in Hawaii and in the 12th
inning of a game played in 50-degree temperatures and howling wind,
Denove found his bat.
He blasted a lead-off home run to left centerfield in the bottom
of the 12th, sending the less than 100 remaining Bruin fans home
happy. It was his first home run of the year.
“It was a long, grueling game, and it felt good to win it
for the pitchers,” Denove said.
When Denove made contact with UCSB reliever Loren Fraser’s
ill-fated pitch, the UCLA bench jumped up in delight, and the
Gauchos walked off the field immediately. But Denove himself was
unsure of the ball’s fate when it struck aluminum.
“During the daytime, I know the ball would have been gone,
but at night this place is like a graveyard, so I was not
sure,” Denove said.
Denove’s home run gave the win to the seventh UCLA pitcher
of the night, sophomore Daniel Miltenburger, the first win of his
collegiate career.
“I’m very happy about it. Last year, I didn’t
get a chance to pitch much, and this year it just happened that I
came in the right situation,” Miltenburger said.
Sophomore Hector Ambriz started the game with five and one-third
scoreless innings. Junior Kyle Wilson and White gave the Bruins a
chance to win, shutting the door on the Gauchos in innings nine
through 11.
And the game would not have gone to extra innings if not for the
excellent defense turned in by middle infielders junior Ryan
McCarthy and senior Mike Svetlic.
The duo made no less than four diving stops on balls most
infielders would not have reached.
“I think we both like to see each other make great plays,
and we work hard at it. Today it just came naturally,”
Svetlic said.