FULLERTON “”mdash; It is bleak at season’s end. When the end comes via popouts and ground outs, missed spots and mistakes, it makes it all the bleaker.
UCLA lost 2-1 to Cal State Fullerton in the final game of its first trip to the NCAA Super Regionals since 2000. Despite a strong performance from starting pitcher Gavin Brooks, the Bruins will not be advancing to the College World Series.
In the final game of their season, the Bruins demonstrated their youth. They failed to score when they had the opportunities and allowed one big hit when they needed an out.
The Bruins led off four innings with doubles and scored in just one of them. In the ninth inning, a questionable decision to send Justin Uribe home on a ground ball to the left side left the Bruins all but defeated.
In the sixth inning, Brooks missed one spot and the result was a towering home run over the right field wall off the bat of center fielder Clark Hardman.
It was a statement series of a certain variety. The Titans, despite being in the midst of a down year, proved why they are college baseball royalty. The Bruins proved why they are just not in that league.
Yet.
Because here at season’s end, there are high hopes on the horizon.
The last few weeks have seen the emergence of Brooks and Tim Murphy as potentially dominant pitchers. The last few months have seen the emergence of a UCLA lineup that, loaded with sophomores and freshmen, should be one of the most potent in the nation next year. And the last two years have seen coach John Savage turning UCLA quickly into a force to be reckoned with.
But that is no solace to the Bruins now.
The Bruins were beaten by the Titans’ bats in the first game and by the Titans’ arms in the second. It was evident that the Bruins were simply neither as good nor as deep as the Titans.
On Saturday, senior Bruin ace Tyson Brummett faltered. Brummett was tagged for nine runs in 4 1/3 fitful innings and left the college mound for the last time with disappointment.