Following Wednesday night’s lopsided loss to Cal State Fullerton ““ the second one-sided defeat to the Titans in as many nights ““ coach John Savage had a few words for his team.
For close to 30 minutes after the game, long after the stands had cleared, Savage talked with his team in left field about the need to focus in practice and to prepare for each and every series with a sense of dedication.
A day later, the Bruins got the message.
“We haven’t been on the practice field this much this season because of playing five games (a week),” first baseman Casey Haerther said. “Today we got out hard, and we usually don’t before a weekend series. But we definitely got our focus back and our mentality back.”
The No. 3 Bruins (5-3) hope that the focused play in practice translates to on-field success this weekend when the team hosts the surprising Saint Mary’s Gaels (7-1) of the West Coast Conference.
“(Saint Mary’s) is swinging the bats real well, hitting 0.328 as a team, and their pitching is solid with an ERA under 3.00,” Savage said. “They are an up-and-coming team in the West, and we need to make sure that we are ready to play them.”
The Bruins and the Gaels have not played one another since 1980, even though the two played each other regularly from 1928-1942. The Gaels own the all-time series advantage over the Bruins with a record of 25-14, yet the record is unofficial due to the absence of records from 1948-1954.
The Bruins will look to jump-start an inconsistent offensive attack that came to a complete halt in the two games this week against Fullerton, managing a mere three runs off eight hits.
“We’ll get back at it,” Savage said. “We have a lot of work to do. They need to relax and be the hitters that they are capable of being. There’s no need to panic.”
Taking the mound for the Bruins tonight will be Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week junior Tim Murphy. Last week, Murphy threw 11 shutout innings in two appearances, including a complete game against Bethune-Cookman on Saturday on national television.
“It was just one of those things where everything was clicking,” Murphy said. “My fastball was good, curve was good. … (It) was getting ahead of batters. When you put good pitching with good defense behind, you’re going to win a lot of games.”
While health has been a major concern for the Bruins early this season, key players may return as early as this weekend.
Sophomore pitcher Gavin Brooks, who has been bothered by a blister, is scheduled to pitch Saturday barring a setback in a bullpen session, and junior catcher Ryan Babineau, with an injured hip flexor, is listed day-to-day.
For Savage and the Bruins, the struggles of the past week have taught the team a crucial lesson.
“We learned to respect the game,” Savage said. “We’ve had a very demanding start to the schedule. Five games in a week is a grind, especially with the injuries we’ve had. But we learned that every day is a new day and that we need to be ready to play, and we need to prepare better during the week.”