Freshman pitchers leading Bruin comeback

Let me get this straight.

The same UCLA baseball team that I said would not make it to the NCAA Regionals, due to another case of being “consistently inconsistent,” goes out and sweeps Washington over the weekend.

I would like to say that my words had an impact on the Bruins’ performance, that they provided bulletin board material. That my column adorned the wall of Gerrit Cole’s locker.

If that’s true, you’re welcome, Bruins.

However, I doubt that happened. Instead, what really affected the Bruins’ performance last weekend against the Huskies and powered UCLA to three crucial wins in Pac-10 play were the performances of freshman starting pitchers Cole and Trevor Bauer.

The individual outings by each ““ Cole on Friday, Bauer on Saturday ““ were nothing short of brilliant.

Cole struck out a career-high 13 batters, limiting Washington to two unearned runs and one hit over eight innings in the Bruins’ 4-2 win.

Bauer threw a one-hit complete game in a 13-0 win, striking out a career-high nine batters. And equally impressive: Bauer did not allow a Washington runner to advance past first base while facing just 28 batters.

You want to know the scary part about Bauer? Both Bauer and coach John Savage thought he wasn’t at his best.

“Trevor came out and didn’t have his best stuff, which is hard to say when you throw a one-hitter and face only one above the minimum,” Savage said. “But he just pitched. He didn’t worry about not having his best stuff, he just went out and pitched.”

And to think that these tremendous performances were turned in by freshmen ““ that the top two pitchers have yet to experience their first Spring Sing. Heck, Bauer should be in high school right now; he graduated early and enrolled in UCLA for winter quarter.

This week, both Bauer and Cole were awarded with high honors. On Monday, Bauer was named the Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week. On Tuesday, it was announced that Cole was one of 17 initial invitees to the 2009 USA Baseball National Team Trials in June.

Savage said that while the two have achieved a great deal of success in such a short amount of time, he believes they will only get better.

“They’re comfortable in the roles they have right now, and they have cherished the opportunity and worked hard,” Savage said. “They want to win as much as anyone else on the team and want to fill that role and have that weight on their shoulders.”

When their UCLA careers are over, it’s not hard to believe that both will be first-round draft picks. After all, Cole was already drafted in the first round of the 2008 MLB draft, yet turned down the New York Yankees for the UCLA Bruins.

To have two potential first-round picks at the top of their starting rotation would be unbelievable for the Bruins and would be another step toward creating a truly great program.

But can we expect that to happen?

“You would hope for that,” Savage said. “Obviously performance (and) health play a major role in that. No one has a crystal ball. But you would hope to have those two guys in the major roles. It would be pretty exciting for UCLA baseball fans.”

Yes, it would.

E-mail Howard at ahoward@media.ucla.edu if you would like to see Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer perform at Spring Sing.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *