After 21 days, 12 games and a somewhat disappointing six wins, the longest home stand of the season for the UCLA baseball team comes to an end tonight against UNLV.
Through the marathon 13-game home stand, the Bruins (19-16, 4-5 Pac-10) have experienced an array of emotions.
There was the satisfaction of defeating San Diego State to begin the home stand, then the disappointment of dropping a series against rival USC. Next was the euphoria of sweeping UC Riverside, followed by the frustration of a punchless loss to Cal State Northridge and finally the relief of salvaging a win from their series against Stanford.
“It’s been somewhat of a roller coaster home stand, for sure,” coach John Savage said.
The Bruins hope the ride ends on a positive note tonight against the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (18-20, 7-8 Mountain West). The Rebels come into the game after taking two of three games against the San Diego State Aztecs.
“They’re a Mountain West Conference team that has a chance to be in the regionals,” Savage said. “They have been in the postseason quite a bit the last several years. In terms of RPI and in terms of just amount of wins, we need to go out and get this W.”
UNLV boasts an impressive offensive attack, led by junior third baseman Xavier Scruggs, who has a .430 batting average, 14 home runs and 49 RBIs. Through 38 games, the Rebels have a team batting average of .322, and they also scored an impressive 40 runs in three games against the Aztecs this past weekend.
Yet for all the success the Rebels have had swinging the bats, they have struggled mightily on the mound. The Rebels have a team ERA of 7.26 and allowed an equally staggering 51 runs in the series against San Diego State.
With the Bruins performing well in two of the three aspects of the game ““ defense and pitching ““ an anemic opposing pitching staff may be exactly what UCLA needs to get its offense going.
“I think we are playing very good defense,” Savage said. “I think that we are getting good pitching. It’s just now the third piece, I think, needs to be a part of it, and (Sunday) was a good sign, and we have to build off that.”
Important in the Bruins’ 8-2 win Sunday against Stanford was the aggressive approach the team took on the offensive end.
“I think we just were aggressive today, and we jumped on them early and didn’t look back,” first baseman Casey Haerther said. “And I think that’s what we needed to do. We can’t fall behind.”
With the end of the home stand, a sub-.500 record in the Pac-10 standings and a road trip to Washington looming ahead, the Bruins hope to use this game against UNLV as a springboard into a solid finish through the rest of the season and into the postseason.
“Tuesday games, you know, they’re big,” Haerther said. “They set us up for the weekend. We lost the last one. But we definitely need some momentum going on the road. This last one would be big for us.”