In John Savage’s time as the UCLA baseball coach, the Bruins have relied on good pitching, good defense and an ability to put the ball in play on offense.
Four games into the 2016 campaign, they haven’t been able to count on any of those three. They’ve posted an ERA of 7.00, made nine errors and struck out 49 times at the plate.
“Right now, everything that we’ve been good at, we’re bad at,” Savage said after Tuesday night’s 10-1 loss to Long Beach State.
No. 14 UCLA (1-3) will have a shot at getting its season on track this weekend with three road games at unranked Cal Poly (4-0).
“(We can) be the hunters on the road,” said sophomore starting pitcher Griffin Canning. “I think it will be nice for us to just get away from this past weekend and Tuesday.”
If history is any indication, though, Cal Poly should put up a good fight. The Mustangs, fresh off a season-opening sweep of the University of the Pacific, have played tough against Pac-12 teams the last couple years.
Since the Bruins beat the Mustangs in the 2013 NCAA Regional, Cal Poly has gone 9-6 against Pac-12 opponents, including taking two out of three from UCLA in 2014.
Cal Poly lost six players to the draft this year, but a pair of Cal Poly freshmen stepped up and impressed during the first four games of their college careers: starting pitcher Kyle Smith and center fielder Alex McKenna.
Last time out, Smith dominated the University of the Pacific, throwing a complete game, striking out nine, walking one and allowing only two runs in a 6-2 Cal Poly victory. He is slated to start Friday opposite UCLA junior starter Grant Dyer, who threw five innings and gave up four runs in a loss to North Carolina.
McKenna put on a show in his debut, earning Big West Field Player of the Week honors by going 6-for-12 with a triple, two home runs, five RBI’s, nine runs scored and seven walks.
This weekend should be the Bruins’ last without sophomore starting shortstop Nick Valaika, who is expected to come back from a hand injury in the beginning of March. Valaika’s return will allow senior Trent Chatterton to slide over to his more natural position of second base.
Senior utility man Brett Urabe, who has filled in at second thus far, will then try his hand at catching, seeking to provide some relief for the Bruins’ well-documented hole behind the plate.
“I haven’t really caught outside of travel ball since I was like 14 or 15,” Urabe said. “(But) Savage has confidence that I can do it, and I trust Savage in his decision.”
Redshirt freshman Daniel Rosica, who was recruited as a bullpen catcher but has been forced into action as the starter after an injury to redshirt junior Darrell Miller Jr., impressed Savage in the weekend series against North Carolina but had trouble Tuesday.
“He was not as good as he was over the weekend,” Savage said. “And that’s tough, because he’s giving everything that he has, and that’s all I can ask.”
Savage is confident his team will learn from the early-season struggles.
“We’re going to get through this, and we’re going to be better because of this,” Savage said. “I just don’t know when.”