It was one of those nights for the UCLA baseball team. Nothing seemed to go right for the Bruins, as they fell 11-1 to the Highlanders of UC Riverside, on Wednesday at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
The No. 9 Bruins (2-3), coming off a 7-6 loss to UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday, dropped their third consecutive game after opening the season with two wins.
“We didn’t come out and compete as well as we should have,” freshman catcher Steve Rodriguez said.
After missing his start on opening night last Friday due to what coach John Savage called “mechanical problems,” junior left-hander Gavin Brooks got the starting nod on Wednesday.
And if his outing is any indication, those issues persist. The southpaw hit the first three batters he faced, to load the bases in the second inning. The following hitter, UCR first baseman Brian McConkey, promptly cleared the bases with a three-run double to left-center field. Brooks walked the following batter and then hit the ensuing hitter, forcing Savage to summon junior right-hander Charles Brewer from the bullpen after 44 pitches from Brooks.
“He lost his focus and his confidence,” Savage said. “As I’ve said all along, we need him to be Gavin. We need him to be the guy he is capable of being.”
Brooks, who also lacked control in a relief appearance on Sunday, looked like his old self in the first inning on Wednesday. After walking the second batter of the game, Brooks avoided damage by striking out UCR’s Michael Hur with a high fastball to leave the runner stranded at third base. But things took a downward turn following the solid opening frame.
“Gavin looked so good in that first inning,” Savage said. “I thought he was going to build off of that momentum. I don’t know what happened between the first and the second innings. But clearly he was a different guy.”
Brooks had similar accuracy problems in his previous appearance, walking three and surrendering four runs on two hits in an inning pitched out of the bullpen Sunday against UC Davis. In all, the Highlanders (3-1) capitalized on Brooks’ inability to find the strike zone, posting six runs in the second inning on just two hits.
“He just had one of those outings,” Rodriguez said. “It was a tough outing, but it wasn’t all him.”
UCLA’s offense could not figure out right-hander Ryan Platt, who struck out eight in a dominant six innings pitched. Platt gave up only three hits and retired the last 10 batters he faced.
UCLA’s best scoring opportunity came in the first inning when the game was still scoreless. With no one on base, the Bruins sparked a two-out rally to load the bases, but sophomore Chris Giovinazzo struck out swinging to end the scoring threat. The Bruins posted their lone run with two outs in the ninth inning to avoid the shutout. For the game, UCLA hitters stranded nine runners on base.
“We just had some poor at-bats,” Savage said. “When you start stringing a lot of those together, you start stringing up zeros.”