Just when it seemed that the UCLA baseball team had finally figured out the reasons behind its offensive struggles in the early part of the season, the Bruins took a step back.
After being outscored 20-3 in two games against Cal State Fullerton last week and posting a paltry 0.210 batting average heading into this weekend, the Bruins seemed to get back on track on Friday night, scoring 14 runs off 14 hits.
Yet, that offense could not be sustained throughout the weekend series.
The No. 3 Bruins (7-4) took two games of the three-game series against the Saint Mary’s Gaels (8-3) this weekend at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The Bruins handled the Gaels with ease on Friday on the way to a 14-0 laugher and came from behind in dramatic fashion on Saturday, winning 7-6.
But it was Sunday’s finale, a 4-2 loss, that left the Bruins disappointed.
“Today we had just a ton of opportunities we could not cash in, so today was disappointing,” coach John Savage said. “We got a good bullpen appearance from (Matt) Grace, and (Brendan) Lafferty did an outstanding job again. But we just couldn’t get any runners going, and it was unfortunate that we weren’t able to get the job done today.”
The Bruins missed an opportunity to change the game early on. Down 1-0 in the bottom of the second inning, the Bruins had a chance to move ahead of the Gaels and take control of the game yet failed to do so. With center fielder Justin Uribe on third and right fielder Gabe Cohen on second with one out, shortstop Brandon Crawford hit a grounder to shortstop, scoring Uribe and tying the score. Yet Cohen tried to advance and was thrown out at third, and Crawford was caught stealing a few pitches later.
When asked what the reason was behind the team’s inability to drive in runs and sweep a series for the first time this season, second baseman Alden Carrithers was very clear.
“Just everybody,” Carrithers said. “Offense wasn’t able to get it done. Defense, I think we let their leadoff guy on several out of the nine innings. Any time they do that, chances of them scoring are greater. Just a nonteam effort today.”
Junior catcher Ryan Babineau, whose pinch-hit, two-run double in Saturday’s win was the difference in the game, believed the Bruins were simply not the more focused team.
“Sunday, everybody’s tired,” Babineau said. “I call it “˜Sunday Mentality Day.’ The team that’s most mentally focused and ready to play, that’s the team that usually comes out and wins on Sunday. It’s not necessarily the team that’s physically the best team or better rank; it’s not about that. It’s about the team that goes out there and gives it all they got for a few hours of the day, and really the team that is most mentally tough. And today we weren’t.”
At the end of a three-game series that saw the Bruins go from dominant to dormant, Savage summed up how the team is so far this season.
“We’re clearly struggling,” Savage said. “Overall, we wished we were swinging the bats better. We just have not been able to get really on track and put … back-to-back-to-back games together. Today we had an opportunity to sweep a team at home, and we just didn’t get it done.”