The effect was the same, but the cause was different.
UCLA baseball (12-14, 4-5 Pac-12) lost its fifth straight midweek game Tuesday night, falling to Cal State Northridge 4-1. Whereas pitching was the reason for the Bruins’ first four midweek losses, hitting was the problem Tuesday.
“Obviously, the offense is where it’s scuffling,” said coach John Savage. “We just have a lot of guys trying to do too much, and a lot of times when you’re trying to do too much in baseball, it’s like you’re not trying at all.”
UCLA didn’t register a hit until the sixth inning. It was junior left fielder Brett Stephens who broke up the no-hitter after CSUN gifted him a fourth strike by failing to make the play on a high foul pop-up. The Bruins would only collect two more hits all night en route to dropping their sixth straight game overall.
The Matadors (21-8, 0-3 Big West) sent six different pitchers to the hill, ensuring that no UCLA hitter would ever get comfortable facing the same hurler.
“We had to face a new guy pretty much every time we hit, so it was a little difficult in that sense,” said sophomore first baseman Sean Bouchard. “It’s just a different view, different guy, different stuff, different angle of where the ball’s coming from. It’s just different.”
Senior second baseman Brett Urabe was the only UCLA batter to get two looks at the same pitcher. In that second plate appearance, Urabe laced a line-drive double to right-center field. But the momentum ended there, as CSUN brought in a new pitcher who held UCLA hitless for the rest of the inning.
Meanwhile, UCLA had its starter – sophomore righty Jake Bird – pitch into the sixth inning. It wasn’t a standout start for Bird, but it was effective. He allowed three earned runs in five-plus innings, keeping the Bruins close. It was a vast improvement from Bird’s last midweek start, when he allowed six earned runs in 1.1 innings.
“Last time did not go well,” Bird said. “You learn a lot from that with approach coming in. Tuesday’s a little different, with multiple classes, and then getting ready before the game. This week I had a little better idea of what i wanted to do with it, and a better approach mentally.”
Bird’s start marked the longest for a UCLA midweek starter this season; no other midweek starter had made it past the second inning.
In the end, though, Bird’s start wasn’t enough to bail out a struggling UCLA offense. The Bruins managed to draw five walks, but they were 0-for-14 with runners on base.
“It’s more of just … not having enough quality at-bats and not putting enough pressure on people,” Savage said. “Because our pitching tonight did a pretty good job.”
UCLA will return to practice on Wednesday before facing one of the Pac-12’s best in Stanford (15-8, 4-2) on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.