In the midst of its current school-record nine straight postseason wins, UCLA continues to stress that it is playing its style of baseball – Bruin baseball.
“It was kind of a Bruin game. Tight game, and at the end of the night we were fortunate to come out of it with the win,” said UCLA coach John Savage after the Bruins’ 3-1 win Monday night.
What is Bruin baseball exactly? Savage tried to explain after UCLA’s 4-1 win over North Carolina on Friday night that put the Bruins (48-17) through to their second-ever CWS finals appearance.
“It was our style of baseball. What can you say? It was pitching, solid defense, opportunistic offense,” the coach said.
For the fourth straight game in the College World Series, UCLA’s pitching and suffocating defense held the opponent to just one run on Monday night.
At the same time, the Bruin bats again did just enough on offense, taking advantage of mistakes by their opponent while providing just enough support to come away with a victory.
On Monday night, Mississippi State starter Trevor Fitts struck out three of the first five hitters he faced, yet he was already down a run and still in trouble in the first inning at that point. Fitts issued strikeouts to the first two Bruin batters, but sophomore third baseman Kevin Kramer reached on his strikeout when a wild pitch on strike three went to the backstop.
It was all the opening UCLA needed to take the lead in Game 1 of the CWS championship series. Sophomore right fielder Eric Filia followed with a double to left and junior shortstop Pat Valaika drove in Kramer with a single to center.
In the blink of an eye, the Bruins had the advantage, one they would build on with a pair of unearned runs in the fourth inning that ultimately proved to be the difference.
“It’s such a great pitching staff and defense, we don’t really have to score that many runs,” Valaika said afterward. “We tried to have quality at-bats and get a runner on, execute him over and get a timely hit. That’s what we’ve been doing all year.”
It’s not always pretty – the Bruins are tied for 264th out of 296 teams in batting average – but the team has found ways to win. With the sixth-best earned run average in college baseball, UCLA has typically relied on its pitching and defensive strength – no secret to the team or its opponents.
The Bruins’ formula is simple but highly effective and has continued to leave opposing coaches shaking their heads.
“It doesn’t happen a lot when you punch out 12 guys and your guys strike out twice. That’s not an equation we lose a whole lot … you know, it’s frustrating,” said MSU coach John Cohen after the loss. “You feel like you put yourselves in a great chance to win a game over and over again. They’re a very, very good club.”
Now one win away from the program’s first-ever national title, and the school’s 109th overall, UCLA hopes to continue its flummoxing style of play to accomplish something it has never done before.
With Monday night’s win, the Bruins need just one victory from two games to call themselves the national champions. One game from getting over the hump, Savage stuck with his familiar refrain from this postseason, stating that the team still has work to do and wouldn’t appreciate its win for too long.
Even after setting a new NCAA record for saves in a season with his 24th of the year Monday night, sophomore closer David Berg said he wouldn’t allow himself too much time to enjoy the win or the record.
“Really, the last 24 saves don’t mean a thing, only the one that matters is the next one,” Berg said. “If we win a national title, I’ll go enjoy that. But a record without going out and winning this thing really wouldn’t be worth it.”
Junior starter Nick Vander Tuig will be on the mound tonight for Game 2 of the championship series against MSU (51-19). Vander Tuig has a team-high 13 wins this season with four losses and a 2.31 ERA.