At the Malibu Regional a season ago, the Bruins lacked one thing that may have had a major effect on their performance ““ lights.
Making its first postseason appearance under coach John Savage, UCLA was the No. 2 seed in the regional hosted by Pepperdine. The main issue was that Eddy D. Field Stadium, where the Waves play all their games, has no lights. Teams were forced to try and squeeze in games while there was still sufficient daylight, often hurrying between plays and innings.
“It was really not what you look for in a regional,” Savage said. “Whenever you’re rushing through Game 2, the biggest game of the year ““ that winners’ bracket game with us and Pepperdine ““ and you’re rushing through the last three innings, why? Because you have no lights.”
While all the teams were forced to deal with the time constraints, the time crunch affected game play, something that none of the coaches appreciated. This year, Savage and his team have one less distraction on their minds.
“We don’t have to worry about (lights), and that’s a good thing,” Savage said. “All the regional (sites) should have lights. That was unfortunate for everybody.”
This year, the Bruins are set to open up regional play against Pepperdine on Friday, but they will do so in Long Beach. The Dirtbags play at Blair Field, which has lights and a playoff atmosphere.
“Last year it was (hyped at Pepperdine), but just not as big as I think it will be (at Long Beach) this year,” senior pitcher Tyson Brummett said. “So I look forward to that.”
The Bruins will be hoping to see a very different result than they ended up with the last time they played at Blair Field. When the Bruins and Dirtbags met in Long Beach, Savage’s team was dealt a 14-1 loss.
Although the players were not initially excited about playing in the large ballpark, Savage was quick to capture his team’s focus after their regional location was announced. In a talk with the team, he reiterated that there was no time for excuses about anything, and that the players needed to stay focused.
“They’ve played in a bunch of difficult venues,” Savage said. “Long Beach, Fullerton, North Carolina State,
Miami, Ole Miss ““ we’ve been to a lot of different places, and we should be prepared to go play in this tougher regional.”
After the team finished meeting on Monday, players picked up new T-shirts as they walked out of the clubhouse that clearly stated the Bruins’ goal. The T-shirts had a map of Nebraska on the back with Omaha, the site of the College World Series, highlighted. In blue letters the shirts read, “One Team, One Dream.”
FRESHMAN BROOKS HONORED: Sunday pitcher Gavin Brooks took home Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week honors for the week of May 21-27. The freshman left-hander won the award after throwing his first collegiate complete game against Oregon State to help the Bruins finish the home season on a good note. Brooks threw 4 2/3 innings of no-hit baseball to lead the Bruins to a 5-2 victory over the defending national champions. The win let the Bruins avoid the sweep and gave the team its 30th victory of the year.
Brooks has thrown 79 strikeouts in 93 2/3 innings in his first year as a Bruin.