The No. 12 UCLA baseball team has spent the last several months preparing themselves for the dawn of a new season.
That dawn has finally arrived.
This weekend, the Bruins open their season against the Aggies of UC Davis in the first meeting of the two universities’ baseball teams, which commences tonight at 6 p.m. in Jackie Robinson Stadium.
Since UCLA’s season-ending loss to Cal State Fullerton in the Fullerton Regional last June, the Bruins have been anxious to resume play.
“We’re chomping at the bit,” junior right-hander Charles Brewer said. “We’ve been playing against each other all fall and ever since we’ve been back in January. Everyone is super excited to get out there on the field and actually play someone with a different name on their chest.”
Sophomore left-hander Rob Rasmussen takes the mound in his first start since the Bruins were ousted from Fullerton Regional in their 2-1 series loss to Cal State Fullerton.
Rasmussen was injured in his first start as a freshman last February against UC Santa Barbara when he got hit by a line drive and broke his left foot, keeping him on the disabled list for 10 weeks. His second start came against Cal State Fullerton in what would be UCLA’s last game of the 2008 season.
Saturday afternoon’s crowds will bear witness to the highly anticipated collegiate debut of freshman right-hander Gerrit Cole. Cole was drafted in the first round (28th overall) of the 2008 Major League Baseball draft by the New York Yankees, and was the highest drafted selection to enroll in college out of high school for 2008.
Brewer will close out the weekend on Sunday in the series finale. Brewer went 9-4 last season, leading the Bruins’ pitching staff in wins, and posted a 5.10 ERA.
The Aggies are fairly new to the Division I scene; it was just last season that the university gained eligibility to participate as a competitor in the top tier.
UC Davis reached the NCAA Regional in its first year as a Division I contender, losing to Stanford in the series. The Aggies lost 13 of their players to either the draft or graduation, leaving the squad to rely heavily upon the talent of their younger players.
Junior infielder Ty Kelly and senior outfielder Ryan Scoma are two key weapons arming the Aggies. Playing primarily at third base, Kelly led the Aggies in slugging (.527) and on-base percentage (.448) last season. He ranked second in the Big West Conference with 94 hits. Scoma was among the team leaders with a .358 batting average and 52 RBI.
Rasmussen said that despite the fact that UCLA has never competed against UC Davis under the banner of NCAA baseball, the players are familiar with one another because of high school and summer league competition.
“That’s what’s typical of California baseball,” he said. “Everyone knows everyone.”
But regardless of the opponent, the Bruins are looking forward to taking to the field Friday night under the lights.
“We are all excited to start playing,” Rasmussen said. “We just want to starting competing and play our game.”
With reports from Blair Angulo, Bruin Sports senior staff