On a night when the cold February air appeared to infect the
bats of both teams, the Bruins were able to pull out a 2-0 victory
over the No. 9 Pepperdine Waves behind a strong pitching
performance from junior starter Brian Schroeder.
“I think we’re starting to prove out,”
men’s baseball coach John Savage said. “We’ve
been playing a lot of close games where every run matters.
We’re having a lot of very well pitched games.”
Over the last four games, the Bruins (5-6) have allowed a total
of six runs. Schroeder, who notched his first win of the season,
had a strong game, pitching six shutout innings with four
strikeouts against the Waves (6-5).
“It was nice tonight to get the win,” Schroeder
said. “Anytime you give the team a chance to win, it’s
great. It’s always good to get a win under your belt, but
team wins are more important than individual wins.”
In the sixth, Schroeder was able to work out of a tough
situation with a runner on third and two outs by inducing a ground
out. He was replaced by redshirt senior Josh Roenicke after walking
the leadoff batter in the seventh.
Roenicke, coming in from center field, was able to work out of a
bases-loaded jam, and then pitched an efficient eighth inning.
“It was nice to come in from center and contribute like
that,” Roenicke said. “It felt good to get to pitch in
the game. It’s nice coming in when the game’s on the
line and keeping the other team from coming back.”
The Bruins were led offensively by freshman shortstop Brandon
Crawford, who went two for four with an RBI in the eighth inning,
giving junior closer Brant Rustich a two-run cushion to work with
in the ninth.
Rustich earned the save, which was his second of the year.
Aside from Crawford’s RBI, the only other run was off of a
bases-loaded double-play groundout by Roenicke in the second inning
that scored the runner on third.
“(Waves starter Robert) Della Grotta kept us off
balance,” Savage said. “He competed well, and we helped
him out by hitting into a few double plays.”
The Bruins and Waves combined for just one extra base hit
““ a double by Bruin redshirt senior Sean Smith ““ and
only one earned run, given up by Waves reliever Jason Dominguez.
Luckily for the Bruins, they were able to scrape out just enough to
support Schroeder’s performance.
“It was nice to see Schroeder step up and pitch
well,” Savage said. “And it was nice to beat a good
Pepperdine team that has been very successful the last couple of
seasons.”
“It’s always nice to start the week off with a
win,” he said.