This is all you need to know about how well last weekend’s
series against Washington went for the UCLA baseball team ““
the Bruins are talking about first place. After taking two of three
from the then-first place No. 14 Huskies in Seattle, the Bruins,
sitting comfortably in a tie for third place in the Pac-10 at 12-9,
have almost assured themselves a postseason berth. And lo and
behold, UCLA even has an outside shot at a share of first in the
Pac-10, something it hasn’t accomplished since 2000.
“We’re really excited (about possibly making the
playoffs),” starting pitcher Casey Janssen said. “We
also have a shot at the Pac-10 if some teams help us out.”
“We’re fighting for first place right now,” coach
Gary Adams said. “It would take a lot of different
combos.” To sneak into first, UCLA (31-26) would have to
sweep Oregon State (9-12, 30-20 Pac-10) next weekend, and
first-place Stanford (42-11, 14-7) would have to drop two of three,
a plausible but highly unlikely scenario. Of course, the playoffs
are certainly not a foregone conclusion. Using the precedent of
four Pac-10 teams reaching the postseason, the Bruins must win two
of three from the Beavers to stave off fifth-place Arizona if it
sweeps USC. Even then, the Bruins would still be at the mercy of
the NCAA regional selection committee. “I just hope that
we’ve got someone representing us that will fight for us to
get in,” Adams said. “We’re not too far above the
.500 mark and we haven’t been mentioned in anyone’s
polls all year. “I just hope our athletic director and
assistant athletic director will fight for us. This team is
deserving, and I expect them to do that.”
PAGE’S UN-HOME RUN: Though it had no real
bearing on Saturday’s 7-2 loss to Washington, the ninth
inning produced one of the stranger plays in baseball. With Brandon
Averill at third and Will Penniall at first after singles, Jarrad
Page hit a one-out high fly ball that seemed like it was going to
be a three-run home run. Then, a circus ensued. “You
didn’t know if it was going to get caught,” Adams said.
“(Penniall) went halfway between first and second, and then
our first base coach told him to tag up at first. “Penniall
was going full speed back to first to tag, and Jarrad was going
full-speed forward, which with the way he runs is very fast. Jarrad
couldn’t put the breaks on in time.” Even though the
ball ended up over the fence, Page passed Penniall between first
and second, which in baseball means Page is automatically called
out. Penniall and Averill were allowed to score, and Page was
credited with a single and two RBI. Along with Chris Denove’s
home run that was taken away last month after an Arizona State
outfielder caught it off a dumpster, duping the umpire, the Bruins
have been a part of two of the strangest plays in collegiate
baseball this season. “That’s two home runs this year
that were not home runs,” Adams said. “In all my years
in baseball, I’ve never seen that before.”
HOME RUN LEADERS: The top three Bruin home run
hitters all went deep this weekend ““ Denove hit his seventh,
Averill his eighth and team-leader Ryan McCarthy hit two on Sunday
for 12 on the year. McCarthy has started all but one game this year
at shortstop, and besides stellar defensive play, has been the
leading slugger with a .531 slugging percentage. Despite hitting a
rough spell the last few weeks, McCarthy came through with two of
the most timely home runs of the year Sunday against Washington,
including the eighth inning game-winner in the tense 4-3 victory.
“Ryan has been clutch,” Adams said after Sunday’s
game. “He’s been just warm lately. He wasn’t
swinging a great bat, and he’s hit some hard outs. “But
we kept him in the third spot, and today he reached out for a
little extra. I’m glad he saved them for today.”