LONG BEACH ““ With a win Sunday, the Bruins have the opportunity to achieve a feat that they have not attained in seven years: a place in the Super Regionals.
Thanks to Bruin starter Gavin Brooks and a 3-1 victory over No. 4-seeded Illinois-Chicago, the UCLA baseball team is on the brink of advancing to the second round of the playoffs for the first time under coach John Savage.
“It’s far from over,” Savage said. “It was a great game by Gavin and he really stepped up. (He) showed maturity beyond his years. It is good to win that second game because it is a big game, but there is a lot of tournament left and we need to be ready to go.”
The Bruins went with freshman Brooks (6-6) on the hill, who last week against Oregon State threw his first career complete game. Apparently Brooks is a fan of double features. On Saturday, he threw his second consecutive complete game in the regional contest against the Flames, limiting them to one unearned run off two hits. Brooks also fanned seven batters.
While Brooks pitched brilliantly, nerves seemed to get to him in the first as he struggled with his control, walking the first two batters he faced. The Flames got on the board first with two on and two out. Flames senior center fielder Larry Gempp Jr. hit a come-backer that careened off Brooks’ glove. A fielding error by junior second baseman Alden Carrithers allowed the Flames to score and take an early 1-0 advantage.
“There were a little jitters but I just had to work through them and trust my stuff more,” Brooks said. “I felt like I was trying to aim my stuff in the beginning.”
But, like so many times this season, Brooks settled into form and completely shut down the Flames.
“You can’t say enough about Gavin Brook’s performance,” sophomore catcher Ryan Babineau said. “He being a freshman and throwing a complete game in a regional setting. He started off a little slow, leaving the ball up a little bit. But once he settled down, he was in command of all his pitches and looked like he was throwing them where we wanted to. I’m proud of him.”
The Bruin hit parade began in the fourth inning when they touched Flames senior starter Zach Peterson for five hits, with the biggest one being a double off the bat of redshirt senior left fielder Will Penniall. With two on and one out, Penniall hit a shot to right, driving in both runners and giving the Bruins a 2-1 lead. Babineau added one more with an RBI single up the middle.
While the Bruins can take pride in being in the driver’s seat and on the cusp of an appearance in the Super Regionals, the team is adamant about not looking too far into the future.
“There is a lot of tournament left,” Savage said. “We are not looking ahead to the Super Regionals. We would not be very smart to do that. There is a lot of baseball to be played and we know that whoever we play (Sunday) night at 6 will be a good team. So we have to be sharp and we can’t be looking to win one of two. We will come out ready to play (Sunday) night.”
Sophomore Tim Murphy will start for the Bruins Sunday at 6 p.m. against the winner of Long Beach State and Illinois-Chicago earlier Sunday.