After about as dramatic a win as possible Saturday, the UCLA
baseball team experienced a double dose of disappointment Sunday.
The elation of Brett McMillan’s game-winning 12th inning
grand slam Saturday was quickly erased Sunday by a walkoff homerun
and elimination from the playoffs at the hands of No. 7
Stanford.
The Bruins (26-30) needed to win at least five of six games
heading into the weekend’s series at the Sunken Diamond in
Palo Alto. Sunday’s loss coupled with a loss Friday has
relegated the team’s season to a relatively meaningless
three-game series next weekend at Washington State.
On Friday, Stanford exhibited the sort of dominance over the
Bruins expected from a national power over a team struggling to
make .500. Cardinal pitcher John Hudgins stifled the Bruin bats
with a masterful 10-strikeout, four-hit complete game for the 9-1
win. The Cardinal hitters made things comfortable for him by
scoring in each of the first five innings.
UCLA bounced back Saturday and rode Wes Whisler’s strong
nine innings of pitching and a two-RBI double to a 5-5 tie heading
into extra innings. In the twelfth, Warren Trott, Wes Whisler and
Billy Susdorf reached base on a fielder’s choice, an
intentional walk and an error ““ setting the table for the
freshman McMillan. McMillan, the team’s leading hitter, had
uncharacteristically gone 0 for 5 in the game thus far, but more
than made up for it by driving a pitch over the right-field wall.
Junior Chris Cordiero pitched two and two thirds innings for the
9-5 win.
On Sunday, the drama of the previous day reversed course as
Stanford’s Donny Lucy hit a walk-off home run in the tenth
inning for a 9-8 win. For the Bruins, Susdorf provided a 2-0 lead
in the first with a two-run homer. Whisler had another good day at
the plate with three hits, three RBIs and two home runs, one of
which gave the Bruins an 8-5 lead heading into the bottom of the
seventh inning. However, the bullpen could not hold the lead,
relinquishing two runs in the seventh and one in the eighth.
With the win, Stanford (38-15) clinched the Pac-10 title, the
first since it shared the title with Arizona State and UCLA in
2000. That was also the last year UCLA made the playoffs.
With no Tuesday game this week, the Bruins have three games left
to try to pad their record against last-place Washington State in
Pullman, WA.