Some baseball analysts believe the position of closer is
overrated. Stick any reliever at the end of the game and he will
perform adequately, they say. On the surface, this would appear to
hold true for the UCLA baseball team. The Bruins (25-19, 8-7
Pac-10) have been without their closer, junior Brant Rustich since
Feb. 21. Rustich has been nursing an inflamed tendon in the middle
finger of his pitching hand for 10 weeks. Over that period of time,
the Bruins have gone 20-13, which would appear to indicate that
they are doing fine in the absence of their closer. But their coach
will be a lot more comfortable if and when Rustich gets back, so
the rest of the bullpen can fall into place. “There’s a
big void there,” coach John Savage said. “This is the
time for Rustich to get healthy. He’s going to be a big part
of our May.” In Rustich’s absence, freshman Jason
Novak, redshirt junior Paul Oseguera and redshirt senior Josh
Roenicke have shared the closing duties from the seventh inning on.
Oseguera leads the team with a 2.23 ERA, while Roenicke leads the
team with four saves. Novak remains the wildcard of the bunch. He
has appeared in 17 games, second only to Oseguera’s 22. While
he did receive the loss on Saturday against California when he gave
up a run in the 11th inning, he has given up only that one run over
his last five and one-third innings to lower his ERA to 5.00.
“A lot of our guys have done a great job of stepping
up,” Savage said. “At the same time, we need to get
Rustich back.” Savage hopes that Rustich will be ready when
UCLA opens up a three-game series against USC on May 12. A more
modest timetable is set for the following Tuesday night against UC
Irvine. Rustich has suffered setbacks from an injury that was
initially diagnosed as a blister on his middle finger, but the
condition worsened to an inflammation of the tendon in his middle
finger. Most recently, he was expected back for the series against
Cal last weekend, but his return has been postponed yet again.
Savage said he is hopeful that the time off this weekend will give
Rustich a chance to return at full strength.
UPCOMING: The Bruins have the weekend off, but that
doesn’t mean they are getting a break from the schedule, as
USC (24-22, 10-8) will also have the weekend off. The Trojans, like
the Bruins, struggled in their last Pac-10 series, losing two out
of three to the Washington State Cougars. This series will likely
have more meaning for the conference race than last year, which was
a three-game sweep by the then 21-9 Trojans over the then 7-21
Bruins. UCLA resumes play at UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday before
hosting its series against USC.