As strange as it may sound, the UCLA baseball team might be happy to be hitting the road this weekend.
The Bruins (20-16, 4-5 Pac-10), went 7-6 in the season’s longest home stand, and now travel to the Pacific Northwest to take on Washington (24-14, 4-5 Pac-10) in a three-game series at Husky Ballpark.
UCLA has arguably played its best baseball away from Westwood this season, but the Huskies have gone 18-5 at their home field.
Something has to give.
“We need to go up there and compete,” coach John Savage said. “We’ve played well on the road the last several years and for whatever reason, we’ve swung the bats better at times on the road. We swung it real well at Arizona and Cal Poly; now we need to go out to Washington and hopefully continue the trend.”
Earlier this season, UCLA did damage with the bats in a 22-2 win at Northridge, put up 30 runs in a three-game series at Cal Poly, and rode the aluminum on their way to a 20-8 rout of Arizona in Tucson.
There are additional reasons to believe that an offensive explosion looms. Going into tonight’s game, the top four batters in the batting order are also the four leading hitters on the team.
Second baseman Alden Carrithers, who leads the team in nearly every offensive category, has been a catalyst in the lead-off spot ever since he and third baseman Jermaine Curtis switched places in the lineup.
Curtis has benefited too, leading the team in hitting during conference play. Most recently, shortstop Brandon Crawford and first baseman Casey Haerther have been driving in runners with opportunities to score runs.
The Bruins also possess a very capable trio of pitchers. Junior left-hander Tim Murphy will take the hill tonight and will be opposed by right-hander Jorden Merry. On Saturday afternoon, sophomore right-hander Charles Brewer will draw the Pac-10 strikeouts leader, left-hander Nick Haughian. Sophomore left-hander Gavin Brooks will seek his fourth consecutive victory on Sunday afternoon against right-hander Cam Nobles.
Although each pitcher has struggled at some point this season, each has also shown glimpses of dominance.
“All of them have had their struggles throughout the season,” Babineau said. “But that’s going to happen. I do see these guys getting on the right path, though. With the season coming down to the wire and the team needing some wins, all you can ask for is the guys to go out and give us an opportunity to win every time they get on the mound. I’m confident that all three pitchers are going to do that.”
Both teams have records of 4-5 so far in conference, which currently rank them near the bottom of the jam-packed Pac-10 standings. Typically, a team would prefer to improve its position playing at its home field, but Babineau explains the excitement of facing a challenge away from Jackie Robinson Stadium.
“Usually teams play better at home,” the junior catcher said. “I think we’re actually playing better on the road for some reason. Sometimes it is easy to fall into comfort when you are at home and you take that for granted instead of taking advantage of it. I think everybody is ready to go on the road for this huge series and we’re really excited to have the opportunity.”