It’s safe to say the Tuesday starting job for UCLA baseball is wide open.
The Bruins dropped to 0-4 in midweek contests this season with a 14-7 home loss to the Cal State Fullerton Titans on Tuesday.
Coach John Savage opted to throw sophomore righty Jake Bird, who seemed to prove his starting mettle with a strong outing against Oklahoma on March 5. Bird struggled in his first midweek test, though, recording just four outs and surrendering seven runs – six earned.
“We need him,” Savage said of Bird. “He’s a good pitcher, but when you get into tough counts, they make you pay for that. That’s what they did tonight – and we couldn’t stop the bleeding, obviously, in the second inning.”
The Titans’ eight-run outburst in the second frame doomed the Bruins, who posted three two-run innings and a one-run inning but couldn’t mirror the Titans’ big inning.
Already holding a 1-0 lead entering the inning, Fullerton placed the first three runners on base with a single and two four-pitch walks against Bird.
The inning was just getting started.
After a run-scoring groundout, Bird walked a batter and hit two more before Savage pulled him in favor of junior righty Scott Burke.
The next Fullerton batter laid down a sacrifice bunt, and Burke made an error to allow another run without getting the out. Burke eventually escaped the jam, but the Titans held a 9-0 lead by that point.
The Bruins, who posted a 32-10-1 record in midweek contests over the past four years thanks to a wealth of starting pitching depth, have looked very different in this year’s Tuesday games. Savage tried first redshirt junior lefty Hunter Virant, then freshman lefty Justin Hooper as starters before turning to Bird. None have delivered thus far.
“We have been so good on Tuesdays for a long time and that’s what’s really disappointing,” Savage said. “We just have not been able to get a quality start out of Virant, Hooper and now Bird. Now, I think Bird will be okay – I really do. But it wasn’t a good start tonight.”
The Bruins’ 10 hits were spread out among five players, each with two apiece. Hot-hitting sophomore first baseman Sean Bouchard contributed three RBI to bring his team-leading total to 21.
Although redshirt senior right fielder Eric Filia went hitless Tuesday, he completed the month of March without a single strikeout in 65 plate appearances. Filia, whose combination of plate discipline and hand-eye coordination has always helped him avoid punchouts, struck out eight times in the Bruins’ first seven games before finding his groove.
A three-strikeout game against Cal Poly was the turning point. After that performance, Filia said, he felt embarrassed and re-evaluated his approach, re-focusing his attention on not allowing pitchers to out-battle him.