At the start of the season, the Bruin baseball team (28-22, 12-6 Pac-10) resembled a car with a faulty spark plug.
Some games, the Bruins were able to play well and score runs, much like a spark plug allows a car to start. Yet they were inconsistent, looking great at one point and dreadful the next, much like a car that can’t start without a reliable spark plug. Staring at a record of 10-14, the Bruins needed a consistent and powerful spark before conference play began.
They found that spark in sophomore third baseman Jermaine Curtis.
Curtis was unable to play for UCLA in the early part of the season because of academic ineligibility. The team’s leading hitter from the previous season, he was forced to sit out and was limited to a spectator’s role.
Suffice it to say, this did not suit Curtis.
“It was frustrating sitting on the bench those games,” he said. “I knew that the team could play well, but they weren’t. I just wanted to get back out there on the field and help my team out.”
Curtis returned to the lineup for the series against Stanford, and it wasn’t a coincidence that the Bruins not only won that first game, but they swept Stanford on the road for the first time since April 1991. Those three wins sparked a tremendous hot streak for the Bruins, as they went on to win 15 of the next 20 games (before last weekend against Arizona State) and their next four conference series.
“He’s been the energy that we needed and were missing,” coach John Savage said. “He is the guy that has brought the team together. We are a different team with Jermaine in the lineup. It’s tough to compare it to a team missing a point guard or a quarterback because baseball is such a different sport, but what you see is that one guy has a made a difference in bringing this team together and helping us achieve the success we have had.”
One of the intangibles that Curtis brings to the table is his drive. His great passion and love for the game is contagious and rubs off on those around him.
“He brings a lot of energy and keeps our energy up,” sophomore shortstop Brandon Crawford said. “Both on the field and on the bench, he gets our team going. He gets the pitchers going and the bench going. Our energy is high because of him.”
Whether it is rubbing the ball down for the pitcher before the inning begins, shouting encouragement to his fellow teammates on the diamond, or making spectacular plays on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, Curtis has provided the consistent and powerful spark that the team needed desperately going into conference play.
“I think that my energy comes from the respect that I have for the game,” Curtis said. “I’m always excited to play the game and to go out there fired up. I just want to help my team win, and if that means playing with the energy and intensity I have, then that’s what I’m going to do. I believe that I am playing the game the way that it was meant to be played.”
Not only does Curtis bring energy, he brings his uncanny ability to get on base and score runs.
“He is a great leadoff hitter for us and knows how to get on base for us, whether it is getting a hit, drawing walk, or taking one for the team,” Crawford said.
Curtis’ presence at the top of the lineup has amounted in a dramatic increase in the number of runs produced by the Bruins.
Through the first 24 games in which Curtis was forced to sit out, the Bruins averaged 5.04 runs per game. With Curtis in the lineup, the Bruins have averaged 7.5 runs per game.
“He’s been absolutely terrific in the leadoff spot for us,” Savage said. “He sets the tempo for us on offense. He has knocked in 30 runs in the 26 games that he has played.”
While Curtis has provided a spark for the successful Bruin team, the season is not over. Second-place UCLA must put last weekend’s disappointment behind them and look ahead to this weekend’s games in Pullman, Wash., against Washington State (25-22, 8-13 Pac-10).
But with a spark plug like Curtis in the lineup, the Bruins should be cruising at a high speed toward the top of the Pac-10.