The Bruins are hoping that they don’t get a case of deja vu this week.
Last week, the Bruins (18-16, 8-1 Pac-10) took two of three against the Washington Huskies at Jackie Robinson Stadium, only to fall to No. 18 UC Irvine two days later. In that game, the Bruins were unable to successfully execute in the three crucial areas of their game: good starting pitching, solid defense and timely hits.
It was a performance that left sophomore Jermaine Curtis unhappy following the game.
“Tuesday night’s game was disappointing,” Curtis said, “We did not have the right mentality and we just were not there and in the game. We just did not deserve to win the game.”
This week, coming off a sweep of USC, the baseball team is looking for a different result. Next up for the Bruins is a home match today against No. 13 Pepperdine (28-11, 8-1 WCC), who dropped its first West Coast Conference game on Sunday to San Francisco. The Bruins are looking to carry over the momentum gained from a great weekend instead of repeating last Tuesday.
“Mentality is a big thing,” senior ace Tyson Brummett said. “We need to be able to take what we did successfully over the weekend into the next week and the Tuesday games. The Tuesday games are just as important as the weekend games. Momentum is a good thing to have going into these games because they mean as much as the Pac-10 games. We just need to stay focused and take it one game at a time.”
Bruin sophomore Cody Decker had a tremendously successful weekend against the Trojans. Decker batted .538 with 10 RBI and three home runs over the weekend. Coach John Savage believes the team will continue to do well if Decker is able to stay hot.
“Decker had a tremendous weekend,” Savage said. “Whenever you get that many RBIs, you know you had a successful weekend. He hit the balls on the button and drove balls into the gaps. He is a very hot hitter right now and this weekend he really stepped up for us. It’s good to see because we need him down the road.”
Not only do the Bruins need him down the road, they needed him over the weekend. On Saturday, Decker drove in the winning run that put the Bruins on top of the Trojans, 7-6, and on Sunday, he hit a grand slam in the eighth. These were runs that the Bruins needed down the stretch to win 12-9.
“(Once the ball went out) I was beyond pumped,” Decker said. “It was a great moment for me and a great moment for the team.”
While the team has momentum and confidence, it must remember to not get ahead of itself. If it does, then all its success this weekend was for naught.
“We know that we have only played three series so far in the Pac-10 season and that each game will be tough,” Decker said. “We just need to take it one game at a time and know that every game is critical. Pepperdine is a great team and we cannot take them lightly.”
“We just have to stay together as a team,” Savage added. “We need to focus on getting quality at-bats, playing solid defense, and getting good pitching. We need to make the other team earn everything they get.
“Also, we need to carry over the momentum earned from this weekend into (today’s) game and into next weekend. I tell the team that from here on out, every game is like a league game and we need to approach every game with that mentality.”
If deja vu happens to strike, the Bruins hope it is from the past weekend, not last Tuesday.