After falling behind early on the road, the UCLA baseball team
rallied with a five-run fifth inning to beat UC Irvine 8-4 Tuesday
night to keep its postseason chances afloat. The Bruins (28-21,
10-8 Pac-10) picked up where they left off from their weekend
series against USC, putting big innings together with a string of
clutch hitting. The players remained optimistic during a rough
April in which timely hitting with men on base was a rarity. They
believed it was only a matter of time before something ignited the
team. On Tuesday, it was Jermaine Curtis. The freshman infielder
jump-started the Bruins’ offense, lacing a double down the
right field line to start a five-run fifth-inning rally that turned
a 4-1 deficit into a 6-4 lead. They would add two more runs in the
seventh before closing out the win. “We learned from last
week (against UC Santa Barbara),” UCLA coach John Savage
said. “We know we can’t let good opportunities get past
us. We had them on the ropes and didn’t let them back in the
game,” said Savage, who coached UC Irvine from 2002-2004
before accepting the coaching job at UCLA. The Bruins grabbed a 1-0
lead in the top of the first on a two out, RBI single by redshirt
senior Sean Smith. But soon the game would open up offensively as
neither starting pitcher made it past the fourth, taxing both
team’s bullpen. Freshman Jason Novak, in his newly cemented
role as the No. 4 starter, struggled with his control early and
never found his rhythm. Novak walked three batters in only 3.1
innings of work, and giving up hits after falling behind in the
count. He was tagged for two runs in the second inning that gave
the Anteaters (32-19, 7-8 Big West) a 2-1 lead. Novak retired the
first batter in the fourth, then proceeded to walk a batter, throw
a wild pitch, and walk the next batter as he was promptly relieved
by redshirt junior Paul Oseguera. “Novak was okay,”
Savage said. “He got into trouble with his control and Irvine
is a very opportunistic club.” After giving up a two-run
double that was charged to Novak, Oseguera (3-1) was almost
unhittable. He scattered four hits and six strikeouts across 4.2
innings of work to earn the win. Although primarily used as
UCLA’s setup man, Oseguera serves as a nifty bridge to junior
Hector Ambriz, who made a rare relief appearance to close out the
ninth. “Paul really was great (Tuesday),” Savage said.
“He saved the bullpen from more work. Once we got the lead,
he shut them down.”
SHORT HOPS: Freshman Cody Decker got the start
at designated hitter after hitting two home runs against USC last
weekend. Ambriz pinch hit for Decker in the fifth, and hit a solo
home run in the seventh. … Oseguera retired eight consecutive
Anteaters before giving up a base hit to lead off the bottom of the
seventh inning. … Senior Brett McMillan hit his first triple of
the year, and fifth of his career, pinch hitting for Tim Stewart in
the fifth. … Before the game, redshirt senior Chris Jensen was
named the Pac-10 Player of the Week for May 9-15 after hitting .571
(8-14) with a home run, two doubles, five RBI and six runs
scored.