Throughout the year so far, the Bruin baseball team has enjoyed success because of their ability to excel in three crucial aspects of the game. The Bruins have had solid pitching, stout defense and the quality at-bats.
Tuesday against the UC Irvine Anteaters (24-8-1, 4-2 Big West), the Bruins (15-16, 5-1 Pac-10) could not put all of the pieces together.
Mistakes were made on the mound with pitches and location, lapses were made on defense, and Bruin hitters were unable to drive in key runs, all of which accumulated in a 5-4 loss to the Anteaters.
UCLA players and coaches were despondent following the loss at their inability to carry over a successful weekend against Washington into Tuesday’s game, a crucial one as the season gets shorter and shorter by the weeks.
“The schedule is getting shorter,” coach John Savage said.
“We need to play well and games are becoming very critical. We let a good opportunity get away from us tonight.”
The ever-shortening schedule was the reason for some interesting pitching substitutions on the part of the Bruins. Sophomore Tim Murphy, who started the game in center field, came in to pitch in relief, as did senior ace Tyson Brummett.
“That was the plan all along,” Savage said.
“The plan was to go with Murphy, Brummett and (Brant) Rustich. Due to the short week last week, we wanted to pitch both Murphy and Brummett due to the game being a critical one.”
The plan was not new for Brummett, who pitched out of the bullpen while he was attending Central Arizona Community College.
“I know the system of coming out of the bullpen and the preparation needed,” Brummett said.
“Tuesday games are very critical and ones that we really want to win. We play tough opponents with high RPIs on these nights, so we need to win them.”
The usually stout defense that the team prides itself on was absent Tuesday night. There were botched plays defending bunts that allowed runners to get on base, overthrown balls to first, an unsuccessful rundown play that led to two runs later on in the fourth and a passed ball in the eighth that allowed the tying run to score.
“We did not execute,” Savage said. “We did not play particularly well on defense. We had the rundown where we did not get anyone out and the stolen base where we did not get anybody out. We pride ourselves on our defense and tonight it was a team loss.”
Savage and the players emphasized the need to win every game as the season winds down and believes that they can not have another repeat of Tuesday.
“It’s a mentality of being locked in and knowing what you are doing when you are out there,” Savage said.
“The best teams are winning games right now, and (Tuesday), we did not perform like a championship team and it was disappointing. We can learn that if we are not locked in and concentrating on what we are going to do, we will get beat. We take it one game at a time and we did not get it done (Tuesday).”
One positive that came from the game was the performance of freshman pitcher Garett Claypool.
“I thought he pitched well,” Savage said.
“He competed. He left with one run that turned into three, but he competed. He still needs to improve, throw the breaking ball for strikes, and own the changeup. But we see a promising young pitcher.”
On Tuesday night ““ a night of unexpected turns and outcomes ““ the Bruins simply didn’t have enough and will have only a few days to try and rebound and go after rival USC this weekend.