The night was exemplified, curiously enough, by the grill.
In the fifth inning of the UCLA baseball team’s Tuesday
night win over the Long Beach State Dirtbags, the grill in front of
the snack bar at Jackie Robinson Stadium was engulfed in flames
while the Bruins led 9-4.
Once the fire was extinguished, so was the offensive output for
the Bruins, although their efforts would prove to be enough in the
9-7 win.
The Bruins (21-15) jumped out to a 5-1 lead after an explosive
first inning in which all nine of the Bruins went to the plate.
UCLA was able to tag Long Beach State (16-18-1) starter Scott
Turmail for six runs in his two innings, though only three of the
runs were earned, due to gaffes in the field by his center fielder
and second baseman.
“It’s nice to get the season sweep of Long
Beach,” coach John Savage said. “They are a perennial
top Big West team. This is a big win over a young team, and
it’s nice for our RPI.”
The Bruins chose to start the game with reliever Jason Novak,
who was predetermined to go no more than three innings. Novak, in
his 2 2/3 innings, gave up three runs and struck out two. The
Bruins threw seven pitchers on the night, several of whom have not
seen many innings this year.
“Those are some guys who haven’t pitched in a long
time,” Savage said.
“To their credit, they made some big pitches when they had
to.”
Usual Tuesday night starter junior Brian Schroeder was
unavailable because of the flu and a fever that reached 103
degrees. Exceptional pitching was not needed on a night in which
the Bruins’ bats were scorching. UCLA rattled out eleven hits
and two home runs, courtesy of junior third baseman Eric Taylor and
freshman designated hitter Cody Decker. Decker came in for junior
designated hitter Hector Ambriz in the second inning, after Ambriz
fouled a pitch off of his knee. Ambriz is not expected to miss any
further playing time.
“It’s exciting to get an opportunity to hit,”
said Decker, who hit his home run on the first pitch he saw and had
two RBI in the game. “It was nice because he just gave me
something to hit, something that I was looking for, and I was able
to make serious contact.”
Senior Josh Roenicke, who has doubled as center fielder and
closer in the weeks since senior Brant Rustich has been hurt, went
2-for-4 while also recording the save. In the ninth, with runners
on first and second with two outs, he was able to strike out the
final batter to end the game.
“I’m adapting pretty well to being the
closer,” Roenicke said. “In the offseason, I was
preparing for pitching some relief and then (Rustich) went down so
I was given an opportunity to close. I really enjoy going in with
the game on the line.”