The word “complete” fits well. After dropping the
first game of the series on Thursday night, the UCLA baseball team
rebounded to defeat Arizona 13-8 on Friday and 8-5 on Saturday,
completing its first road series win of the Pac-10 season. The
weekend was an almost complete turnaround from last year’s
meetings, when the Arizona Wildcats swept the Bruins in Westwood.
It all began with junior Dave Huff’s (4-2) starting
performance on Friday. Huff recorded his first complete game of the
season, throwing 131 pitches over nine innings and getting 11
strikeouts en route to the win. The junior looked vulnerable early,
giving up six runs in the first three innings. The Bruins (20-15,
5-4 Pac-10) answered with four in the top of the second, but were
followed up by four more from Arizona (15-18, 3-6) in the bottom of
the third, making the count 6-4. After three innings, Huff settled
down and silenced the Wildcat bats. “Everything started
working,” Huff said, chuckling at the simplicity.
“Coach called the pitch, I threw it, and they didn’t
hit it.” The Bruin starter retired 16 of the next 17 batters
he faced, including a stretch of 11 straight, and finished the game
despite the large pitch count. “He was cruising,” UCLA
coach John Savage said. “He was still at 88-90 (mph) in the
last inning. You have to go off the guy’s stuff. He was still
fluid, so we let him finish.” When Arizona’s bats fell
asleep, UCLA’s really sprang into action. The Bruins built a
seven-run lead that would prove more than enough for the win. The
team received offensive production from up and down the lineup,
with six different players getting multiple hits in the game.
Redshirt senior Josh Roenicke and freshman Ryan Babineau both had
big days from the bottom of the batting order, getting two hits and
three RBIs apiece. “It’s real important to have hits
from one through nine,” Savage said. “Roenicke and
Babineau had big weekends.” Saturday, meanwhile, saw the
Bruins jump out to an early lead, scoring seven runs in the first
two innings. UCLA rarely missed at the plate, totaling 17 hits in
the game. Freshman Jermaine Curtis had a big three-run triple and
redshirt senior Chris Jensen had a monster day, going 4-5 with two
RBIs. “The first two games I felt pretty good, but I
didn’t get results,” Jensen said. “I kept with it
and trusted it, and it paid off today.” Roenicke and Babineau
had an impact again. Babineau went 2-3 on the day and scored twice,
while Roenicke contributed on the mound. The senior came on in
relief and got his third save of the season to preserve the win for
junior Tyson Brummett (5-4). UCLA hosts Long Beach State on Tuesday
night before Arizona State comes to town next weekend. Looking at
the big picture, the whole team appreciates how important winning
series on the road is to putting together a complete season.
“We had to have two out of three,” Jensen said.
“We have to have these games to compete for the Pac-10
title.”
INJURY UPDATE: Freshman Tim Murphy, who had
just returned into the lineup after a wrist injury, left late in
the game on Saturday with a quadricep injury and is listed as
day-to-day. Also listed as day-to-day is redshirt senior Sean
Smith, who did not play at all Saturday because of a hamstring
injury. Junior Brant Rustich, who has been out with tendon
inflammation on his middle finger, is expected to be cleared for
the series at California in two weeks.