No one would have thought the UCLA baseball team would be worried about its postseason chances at this point in the season when the Bruins debuted as the No. 1 team in Baseball America’s preseason poll.
But now, with the No. 54 RPI in the country and a 6-6 Pac-10 record, the Bruins are fighting for their postseason lives.
And there may be no more important stretch remaining than this weekend.
UCLA welcomes No. 4 Arizona State for a three-game series at Jackie Robinson Stadium ““ a series that may be a must-win for the unranked Bruins.
“Our backs are against the wall pretty much right now,” UCLA outfielder Brady Dolan said. “To get a series victory over the Sun Devils would be unbelievable. It would turn around our season and hopefully jump us into the playoffs.”
For the Bruins (23-18), playing on their home field is certainly an advantage against the first-place Sun Devils (35-7, 10-5 Pac-10), who have gone an astounding 29-3 at home this season, but only 4-4 away from Tempe’s Packard Stadium.
UCLA also enters the weekend with a bit of momentum; the Bruins won a three-game set at Washington last weekend and beat Loyola Marymount 6-2 on Wednesday night.
But some of the Bruins’ most costly losses this season have come at home.
“We haven’t taken care of our ballpark against Stanford and USC, and now it’s time to come back,” coach John Savage said. “We’re prepared and looking forward to the challenge of the first-place team coming into our ballpark.”
Left-hander Gavin Brooks, who has been remarkable as of late, is scheduled to start the series finale on Sunday afternoon. The sophomore southpaw has earned victories in each of his last four Sunday starts.
“I definitely feel like I’m in my groove now,” Brooks said. “I struggled a little bit early with the lingering injury, which made it tough for me to get my command down at times. I definitely settled down, and I feel comfortable now.”
Containing one of the best offensive teams in the country will not be an easy task. Led by junior tandem of Ike Davis and Brett Wallace, the Sun Devils have scored 10 or more runs 22 times this year.
“(Davis and Wallace) are always tough,” Brooks said. “As long as we keep pitching well, stick with our game plan, and pitch to our strengths, we’ll be fine. We just have to worry about ourselves and not worry about the other teams.”
The Bruin batting order, which has been fairly consistent lately, will also be looking to do its part. In order to secure a pivotal series win, Dolan feels that it will take a total team effort.
“This weekend is going to take the whole team, every guy on this team,” Dolan said. “Arizona State’s a good ball club. They’ve been storied and are always in Omaha. It’s going to take everyone on this team to do it. Hopefully we can get it done. I think we’re in good shape.”
With just three Pac-10 series remaining after this weekend, two wins against the Sun Devils could go a long way to calm fears about the Bruins’ postseason chances.
“I think it would get us back in the right frame of mind,” Savage said. “I think we are close.”