The UCLA baseball team was swept at San Diego State over the weekend, losing the three games 8-2, 12-6 and 5-3.
The Bruins (8-13) extended their losing streak to five and have lost three straight series.
“I think we just need to go back to the drawing board and make the necessary adjustments,” sophomore catcher Ryan Babineau said. “We couldn’t get the hits when we need them. We’re a better team than we showed.”
UCLA entered this season ranked in the preseason polls and had high expectations. This season, the Bruins have played one of the toughest schedules in the country, but have also struggled at times in all parts of the game.
“We’ve got to get tougher,” UCLA coach John Savage said. “We’ve got to make big pitches and have better execution at the plate.”
Sunday, UCLA dropped a close 5-3 contest to San Diego State (15-11) in which the Bruins nearly came back from an early deficit, but the comeback attempt was not enough. Down 4-1 in the seventh, the Bruins scored two runs on an RBI groundout by Mickey Weisser and a sacrifice fly by Brandon Crawford. In the eighth, down 5-3, UCLA had two runners on base but hit into an inning-ending double play.
Starter Gavin Brooks pitched 6 1/3 innings, his longest outing of the season, allowing five runs (four earned).
“We need to execute,” said Crawford, a sophomore shortstop. “We need to pay attention to the details and get the runs in.”
Saturday, the Bruins jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning after a three-run double by senior first baseman Tim Stewart. The Bruins still lost 12-6 after their defense committed five errors.
“We’ve played good defense for the majority of the season, but we didn’t this weekend,” Savage said. “Our basic philosophy is to play good pitching and defense for nine innings and we didn’t do that.”
Friday’s 8-2 loss saw ace Tyson Brummett last only 4 1/3 innings, allowing four runs (three earned). Freshman Casey Haerther was the only Bruin with two hits that game.
The Bruins’ road struggles also continued, as their road record fell to 2-9.
“We haven’t proven we can win on the road,” Savage said. “Good teams win on the road. We need to be able to do that.”
UCLA does not play a Tuesday game this week, and has only one more series before Pac-10 play begins ““ a home weekend against Pacific from March 24-26.
The roster is still filled with talent, and the team believes in itself. The season is relatively young, and there is still time to turn it around.
“I’m very confident in our players” Savage said. “I believe in our players. We need to be tougher.”
San Diego State swept UCLA for the first time since 1977.
“Our results are not going to change until we do the things we need to do,” Babineau said. “We pride ourselves in our pitching and defense, but our defense has been subpar.”