It’s not a surprise that Matt Thayer is the UCLA baseball
team’s leading hitter. Being the team’s leading
slugger, though, is a little more shocking.
At 5-foot-10, 180 pounds, Thayer is hardly a prototypical big
bat. Yet with a .351 batting average and a .544 slugging
percentage, he tops both categories on the Bruin’s
leaderboard and will be a key cog when the Bruins take on Arizona
State University today.
“I’ve made more of a mental adjustment just maturing
a little at the plate and knowing what they’re trying to do
with me,” the junior outfielder said.
While Thayer has been a steady performer throughout the year,
his play has noticeably picked up of late.
He has hit .444 over the last seven games. But most importantly,
he has played the last seven games, avoiding the injury bug that
has recently hit the Bruin outfield.
Regular right fielder Billy Susdorf went down with a broken
kneecap about a month ago. His power presence has been noticeably
absent for the Bruins (19-14, 3-3 Pac-10). When he went down, he
was leading the team in hitting at .338.
“We wondered where we would be without Billy
Susdorf,” coach Gary Adams said. “Then Matt Thayer
stepped it up. I don’t know where we would be without Thayer.
We wouldn’t be doing as well as we are now, that’s for
sure.”
Occasional starter Jarrad Page also been absent from lineup for
the past 10 days ago with muscle spasms.
Thus, after starting mostly in center field last year, Thayer
has had to play different positions this year to accommodate other
outfielders.
“I’ve moved around a lot and that’s not a
problem with me,” he said. “I can do whatever (the
team) needs me to do.”
This weekend the outfield may be especially important as the Sun
Devils (24-11, 3-6) have one of the most potent offenses in the
country with a .318 team batting average.
But, it seems to be the optimal time for UCLA to face Arizona
State. After spending the whole season in the top 25, with much of
it in the top 15, the Sun Devils dropped out of the poll this week
after having loosing four of their last six games.
Conversely, the Bruins are on the rise. They have won four of
their last five, including three Pac-10 wins ““ two over
Arizona and one over No. 2 Stanford. They also are coming off of
one of their best games of the year, an 11-1 romp Tuesday over No.
5 Long Beach State.
“We have a tough weekend coming up,” Thayer said
after Tuesday’s win. “We had a rough loss on Sunday, so
it’s a good thing going into ASU to have this going for
us.”
ASU is led by shortstop Dustin Pedroia, one of the top prospects
in the nation. He is following his remarkable .404 clip last season
with a .403 average this year.
The pitching matchups for the series are Bryan Beck (2-2) v.
Jeff Mousser (1-3) Friday, Casey Janssen (6-2) v. Jason Urquidez
(8-2) Saturday and Wes Whisler (1-3) v. Brett Bordes (2-0)
Sunday.