Ah, Selection Monday. So maybe it doesn’t have the same name association that Selection Sunday does, but it’s an exciting time nonetheless.
UCLA learned its postseason fate Monday morning. The Bruins will be hosting a regional as a No. 1 seed, hosting No. 2 Fresno State, No. 3 UC Irvine and No. 4 San Francisco. The Bruins will face the No. 4-seeded Dons Friday at 6 p.m., while the Bulldogs and Anteaters will face each other to open regional play at 2 p.m.
The Bruins have faced both the Anteaters and the Dons this season, going a combined 4-1 against the two clubs. San Francisco made a trip to Jackie Robinson Stadium on opening weekend, where the Bruins swept the series and limited San Francisco to just one run.
Should UCLA advance to the Super Regionals, it will be paired with the No. 1 overall seed and the No. 2 team in the nation Virginia if it, too, is fortunate enough to advance.
Here’s some reactions from the trip to the Jackie Robinson Stadium clubhouse I made Monday morning to watch the selection show with the Bruins.
Coach John Savage
Daily Bruin: When you saw that pairing flash up on the screen, what did you think initially?
John Savage: It’s a very tough regional. Very highly-respected coaches and two of them have won national championships. Tough. That’s the first thing that comes to my mind when I see all four teams.
DB: We hear a lot about the “eye test” that your team appeared to have passed in earning a No. 1 seed despite RBI and those sorts of numbers. Do you think you passed the “eye test” in the committee’s eyes?
JS: I did. A couple things added up for that. You look at three Pac-10 team hosts, we won the Pac-10. That gave me a pretty good indication that we would be a one. A lot of people said we wouldn’t host. A lot of people said we would be a two and they were wrong on both accounts.
DB: You went 4-1 against USF and Irvine already this year. Do you feel like you have an edge in that regard?
JS: I think they probably feel the same way as we do. USF knows us, we know them. Irvine knows us, we know them. We haven’t played Fresno in a couple years but we know their players and we know they’re very good.
Junior first baseman Dean Espy
Daily Bruin: You’re familiar with USF after playing them in the season opener. Do you think things have changed since then?
Dean Espy: Absolutely. I think we’re way better than we were then. There was a lot of feeling for our swings and feeling for the game. They’re a good team, they made a regional. They came out and had a good year so I expect it to be a different kind of game than it was. In a regional, you won’t find many high-scoring games, especially now with the new bats, and the pitching is usually so good, but I feel like it will be a little bit of a different game.
Junior pitcher Gerrit Cole
Daily Bruin: What do you remember from that season-opening series against USF? You got the 1-0 win, obviously.
Gerrit Cole: Teams change over the course of a season, so for them to come out there and look exactly like they did the first game of the year? That’s not going to happen. They’re going to swing the bats better. Of course, I’m going to be better as well and I think the game is going to be an elevated style of play for both sides. I’m looking forward to it.
DB: Do you think coach Savage will mess with the rotation at all?
GC: I don’t think he will. I’m throwing my pen today and I just talked to him and he said he’s pretty sure we’re going to keep it the same, but he said he would let me know. I think it’s basically the same.
DB: It’s been quite a ride this season. Do you think those ups and downs have helped you out?
GC: We’re battle-tested for sure. We’ve faced a lot of adversity and some of it we brought on ourselves, but I think we have a good grasp of all of the situations that we’ve seen this year and we can just use those to our advantage. It’s great to have experiences like that. You don’t always want them to be negative, which they aren’t, but it’s a calming feeling when you’re in a playoff game or when you’re coming down the stretch, when you come into a situation that you’ve seen before and you’re like “Oh, we know how to do this. This is old news.”
With the ups and downs of the season, we understand what we need to do to play well and we understand what happens when we play bad, so I think we have a really good sense of identity and understanding of how we need to play the game.