Taking the field with as many as five freshmen starting in his
lineup, eyebrows were raised when UCLA baseball coach John Savage
put together the hardest schedule in the nation.
But as the nonconference season wears on, the long-term plan is
taking form quicker than could have been anticipated.
The UCLA baseball team, winners of four of their last five
games, will host a three-game series against No. 19 SEC power Ole
Miss starting today.
This weekend’s series will be the 10th, 11th and 12th
straight games UCLA has played against ranked competition. By
Sunday afternoon, 18 of the Bruins’ 22 games will be against
ranked teams. UCLA is 7-8 against nationally ranked teams heading
into tonight’s series opener.
What is surprising is how sharp the learning curve for the
baseball club has been, considering how many freshman are still
acclimating to Division I competition. And the progress has been
attributed mostly to the grueling schedule.
The Bruins faced then-No. 18 North Carolina State, another SEC
foe, last weekend and delivered the program’s first road
series sweep since 2000. The Wolfpack hadn’t played many
ranked teams, while the Bruins have been forced to improve their
game while facing elite competition.
“We’ve got a lot of confidence (coming into the
weekend),” Savage said. “With (Hector) Ambriz, (David)
Huff, and (Tyson) Brummett, we’re always going to be ready to
go for the weekend.”
The three weekend starters for the Bruins (9-10) have been
coming on strong as of late. Both Brummett and Huff have won Pac-10
Pitcher of the Week honors in recent weeks, while Ambriz has been
consistent, posting a 4.25 ERA.
“I look forward to every Friday and the opportunity to set
the tone,” Ambriz said. “It doesn’t matter who
we’re playing, a baseball game is a baseball game.”
The Bruins would feel a lot better about this weekend’s
series if it weren’t coming on the heels of an inexplicable
loss at the hands of the Pepperdine Waves. Savage, however, sees
that loss as an important lesson for his team.
“That may be an example of how you always have to respect
the game,” Savage said. “I think we learned that lesson
and are ready to bounce back this weekend.”
If the occasional loss is the price of success, the Bruins will
take it. They would much rather have to deal with the consequences
of success than failure. They feel this weekend they have a good
chance of rounding back into winning form.
“We’re still a good team,” pitcher Brian
Schroeder said. “We just have to come out with the same
intensity every game. If we do that, we should be all
right.”
The Rebels (9-4) will certainly pose a challenge for the Bruins,
but that’s nothing new for this Bruin team, which has the
toughest schedule in the nation this season.
“Playing all these ranked teams, it’s hard to get
really worried about any series,” Ambriz said. “We just
have to play with consistency and with the same mentality every
game.”