Coach John Savage’s upcoming weekend rotation isn’t only different from what he expected months ago – it’s different than what he expected last week.
Savage will throw in pitchers senior Jake Bird on Friday, junior Jon Olsen on Saturday and freshman Zach Pettway on Sunday in UCLA baseball’s (4-0) three-game series against Baylor (2-1), starting Friday at the Jackie Robinson Stadium.
Originally, Savage planned to insert Kyle Molnar into the rotation, but the redshirt sophomore suffered a setback with his elbow. Molnar was cleared to throw Thursday and could be back in around four weeks.
Justin Hooper was also slated as a rotation option, but the junior will miss this season with Tommy John surgery.
Even with Molnar down, Savage said Olsen would be his Friday starter before the season began, but he changed his mind after the season’s first four games, during which UCLA’s pitching staff allowed just six runs.
Olsen has fully recovered from his appendectomy in late January, but Bird’s six-inning, six-strikeout performance against Portland on Feb. 16 secured him the No. 1 spot for at least another rotation.
“I don’t like messing with success,” Savage said. “You have a good weekend, you throw good, I like keeping them on the same sort of days on, days off.”
Savage also pointed to the fact that former Bruin and current Cleveland Indian starter Trevor Bauer, a 2011 Golden Spikes Award winner, pitched Saturdays.
UCLA’s pitching core has accumulated 36 strikeouts and walked just three batters to start the season.
“Our biggest thing is just not walking people, and that’s what we’ve done so far – just not allowing free passes,” Bird said. “That makes it so they have to beat us rather than we beat ourselves.”
Bird attributes the success in pitching to the Bruins’ infield, which has recorded 47 assists and one error through four games. UCLA’s opponents, in comparison, put up 31 assists with three errors against them.
“It’s nice to be efficient with our pitches because we know our defense can make plays behind us,” Bird said. “It gives us a lot of confidence to be aggressive and pitch contact a little bit more than you would otherwise.”
Bird will face off Friday against Baylor left-handed pitcher Cody Bradford, who had a one-hitter through seven innings in the Bears’ season opener.
Savage explained he would likely keep the batting order the same as last week. Freshman right fielder Garrett Mitchell did not start Feb. 16 because Portland started a left-handed pitcher. Savage could potentially opt to sit Mitchell against Bradford on Friday, but said he would definitely start Saturday and Sunday against two Baylor right-handers.
The freshman has started the year hitting 0.444, and slugging .556 with two walks.
“Individually, I would say that I fit in pretty well just in the grand scheme of things,” Mitchell said. “I’ve been able to just play my game and not to worry too much about the other stuff and just having fun.”
UCLA will face a Baylor team that also lost in the NCAA regionals last year, finishing with a 34-23 record. The Bears return six position players including catcher Shea Langeliers, who made the D1Baseball Preseason All-American First Team.
“I think they probably have the best catcher in the country,” Savage said. “We expect Baylor to be a legitimate playoff team.”