The UCLA baseball team was tied with Missouri, one run apiece,
in the top of the seventh in an elimination game of the Malibu
regional, when left fielder Blair Dunlap opened up the inning for
UCLA with a double to right center. The hit gave the Bruins a
chance to take control of the game if they could capitalize on it.
But they could not. After senior Josh Roenicke popped out on an
attempted bunt, a fly out, a walk and a pop out to the shortstop,
the inning quietly ended with Dunlap still stranded on second. The
missed opportunity was emblematic of the Bruins’ offensive
woes at regionals over the weekend. While the Bruins’
starting pitching kept the games competitive, their lineup just
couldn’t get it done at the plate. “(Pepperdine pitcher
Paul Coleman) got us to pop up,” UCLA coach John Savage said.
“We hit the ball in the air way too much. I think we were a
little too amped, a little too excited at times ““ went up
there and kind of lost our approach.” In their elimination
game against Missouri (33-26, 12-15 Big 12) on Sunday, the Bruins
(33-25, 13-10 Pac-10) were a combined 0-9, with runners in scoring
position, and ended up losing 2-1. “I’ll be the first
guy to stand up and say I could have done more,” senior Chris
Jensen said. “It’s just frustrating because we had good
pitching, we just couldn’t get any hits. We had a lot of
chances to hit with two outs and get the ball rolling. We just
couldn’t get that one hit.” The Bruin bats ran into
strong pitching from both Pepperdine and Missouri and had trouble
adjusting. “I think you’ve seen as good as pitching
anywhere in the regionals as this one,” Savage said.
“There’s a ton of good arms and a ton of pro pitchers
in this thing. We just didn’t get enough across the plate, so
it was frustrating.” On Saturday, Coleman tossed three
strikeouts and gave up only one walk to hold the Bruins scoreless
for 7.2 innings before handing the ball off to Jason Dominguez to
complete the shutout and the win for Pepperdine. On Sunday Missouri
freshman Rick Zagone threw a complete game, fanning seven Bruins in
the process to give the Tigers the victory in the close 2-1
contest. “It was a very well-pitched game, particularly game
three of the regional,” Missouri coach Tim Jamieson said.
“It came down to one at-bat, and it came down to our pitcher
being just a little better.”
DRAFT DAY: This Tuesday marks the upcoming MLB
player draft, which is most meaningful for the Bruins’ top
two starters. Junior transfer Dave Huff (left-handed pitcher) is a
projected first-round pick, and redshirt junior Hector Ambriz is
expected to be somewhere in the first three to four rounds.
SIGHTS AND SOUNDS: UCLA’s biggest and
loudest fan at Eddy D. Field Stadium for Saturday’s game was
a fellow Bruin, men’s basketball guard Michael Roll. The
freshman, accompanied by teammate Kelvin Kim, was very vocal in
cheering on the baseball team. Roll was emphatic, at one point
yelling, “He’s rattled,” about the Pepperdine
pitcher during a UCLA rally.