UCLA to face Virginia in regional

Located in right-center field of Cal State Fullerton’s Goodwin Field are four blue and orange circle signs.

Each sign designates a College World Series title the Titans have won ““ 1979, 1984, 1995 and 2004 ““ and they serve as continuous reminders of the rich history of the Fullerton baseball program.

And those signs provide all the motivation that UCLA catcher Ryan Babineau needs.

Last season, the Bruins’ season ended in a series sweep in the Super Regionals at the hands of the Titans, ending the team’s Omaha aspirations.

For Babineau, returning to the same field where his season ended last year with a chance to return the favor, those four signs are all he needs.

“Me personally, I have vivid memories of Fullerton’s Omaha poster in right-center gap,” Babineau said. “That’s all I really need to think about.”

Today at 4 p.m., the No. 2-seeded Bruins (31-25, 13-11 Pac-10) begin play in the Fullerton Regional of the NCAA Tournament against No. 3 Virginia (38-21, 15-15 ACC), hoping to replicate last year’s success in the regionals. Following the game, No. 1 Fullerton (37-19, 16-8 Big West) will take on No. 4 Rider (29-26, 13-10 MAAC).

Last year, the Bruins were seeded No. 2 in the Long Beach Regional and won all three of their games to advance to the Super Regionals for the first time under the tenure of coach John Savage. That success and the experience gained will be crucial to achieving the same success this year, according to the team.

“Experience always helps ““ you can never have too much, in my eyes,” said junior pitcher Tim Murphy, who will start tonight for the Bruins. “We have the confidence, we know we can do it.”

Standing in the Bruins’ way is Virginia, which advanced to the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship game before falling 8-4 to Miami. For a team that started the season winning its first 11 games yet struggled with consistency for the remainder of the season, the Caviliers are arguably playing their best baseball coming into the regionals. Virginia made an impressive run in the ACC Tournament to the championship, upending powerhouses North Carolina and Florida State along the way.

Fortunately for UCLA, the same could be said about the Bruins. The team struggled to maintain consistency throughout the season but may have found it in the last few weeks of the season, winning five of their last six conference games and seven of their last 10 overall.

“A lot of things clicked (against Cal) ““ pitching, defense, offense,” Babineau said. “It was really all there, and I think that’s if not the best then closest to the best we’ve played all year, and I think that’s where you want to be at this time.”

One particular area in which the team feels confident is pitching.

In the last few weeks, the Bruins have recieved quality performances from both starters and relieves, which Savage believes to be very encouraging signs.

“We know that the way to get to Omaha is to pitch and play defense, and that shows up everyday if you’re a good team,” Savage said. “The offense ““ a lot of that depends on who’s pitching. You may hit 10 line drives in a row that get caught. Some of those things you can’t control. But you can control defensive menatality and you can control your mindset on the mound.”

Should the seeds play out, the Bruins and the Titans will meet on Saturday at 8 p.m. in a game that many of the Bruin players believe would take place.

“Going down to Fullerton, we always thought that even after playing them last Tuesday that we would play them again,” Murphy said. “There was always a possibility that we would play them in the postseason, and sure enough, they’re hosting and we’re going there.”

For junior third baseman Jermaine Curtis, this regional ““ the third consecutive for the Bruins ““ marks the chance for the long-time mediocre baseball program to solidify itself as perennial contender.

“Obviously, this is the most important one,” Curtis said. “Last year we had Fullerton in the Super Regionals, and we play them this year. They’ve got the best of us. I think that it’s our time now. I think everything happens for a reason, and last year losing, I think that it set up for us this year.”

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