One of the UCLA baseball team’s few positive stories this
season came to an end Sunday when junior rightfielder Chris Jensen
had his 18-game hitting streak snapped. Still, that story has
brought to light another more inspiring one. Jensen, who is
expected to be in the UCLA lineup today when the Bruins (13-35)
host Loyola Marymount (25-25), took a medical redshirt last season.
He also missed the first half of this season due to an upper
hamstring injury in his left leg. After all the injuries, Jensen
became frustrated to the point that he started to question whether
he would have to sit out his second consecutive season. Luckily for
the Bruins, he regained his health and has emerged as the best
hitter on the team since April, helping to stabilize a Bruin team
that has struggled more than any other in recent history.
“The streak has been kind of a personal reflection,”
Jensen said. “I’ve been blessed to have the opportunity
to come back. I prayed a lot about it when I was hurt. I
didn’t know if I would be back.” This past weekend
against Stanford, Jensen launched his fifth home run Friday to give
the Bruins a 1-0 lead. Then on Saturday, he came up with two outs,
the bases loaded and promptly slapped a single to left that plated
two Bruins and proved to be the game winner, as UCLA held on for a
4-3 victory. In 21 games, Jensen is batting .410 and also leads the
team in on-base percentage (.447) and slugging percentage (.667).
On a team that has struggled with its offensive production all
year, Jensen has provided much needed hope for next year, when the
Bruins expect him to remain healthy and have a full season to start
another streak.
BECK WINS: On Saturday, senior right-hander Bryan Beck ended a
personal 11-game losing streak that dated back to last year and
improved his record to 1-9. Despite a bloated 5.47 ERA, the
coaching staff believes this record is misleading, as Beck has
often been victimized by a lack of run support. “The guy has
pitched much better than his record,” UCLA coach John Savage
said. “His numbers are good and he doesn’t walk people.
I’m happy that he got to win his last game at
Stanford.” Beck threw 8-1/3 innings and struck out four
Cardinal hitters. He allowed just two earned runs in eight hits,
seven of which were singles. “Normally, I’ve had one
inning where I’ve fallen apart,” Beck said. “I
just kept hitting my spots with the fastball because they had
trouble hitting that pitch all weekend.”
SHORT HOPS: Savage said he is still undecided about whether he
will start Adam Simon or Paul Oseguera, who picked up his first
victory last Tuesday against UC Irvine.