Riding a three-game win streak and winning eight of the last nine, UCLA baseball entered the weekend with the momentum of a close midweek victory over Long Beach State.
However, No. 18 UCLA (16-10, 6-3 Pac-12) faltered against Pac-12 opponent Arizona State (15-11, 5-4), losing the final two games of the series on Saturday and Sunday. The losses put UCLA in second place in Pac-12 standings, two games behind Washington.
“Welcome to the Pac-12. Every team is good,” said coach John Savage. “Every series comes down a lot of times to the last pitch. Winning on Friday doesn’t mean you win the series.”
There was a feisty atmosphere and rowdy crowd at Jackie Robinson Stadium all weekend as players got tangled up; UCLA players were hit 12 times and ASU coach Tim Esmay was even ejected in Sunday’s game.
UCLA did not get off to a hot start on Friday, but ran away with the game once it found its groove.
Sophomore starting pitcher James Kaprielian struggled through the first two innings, giving up three runs and throwing over 60 pitches. Savage said the Sun Devils could have easily scored five or six runs in the first inning before Kaprielian limited the damage.
“It could not have started out any worse,” Savage said. “Somehow (Kaprielian) settled down and started making pitches. He started to get more competitive and somehow went six innings.”
However, his first seven outs came via strikeout and he recorded a career-high 12 in the game.
UCLA took the lead in the third as it scored in four of the first five innings, but the feisty atmosphere trickled down onto the field.
Trying to score on a grounder in the second inning, senior designated hitter/second baseman Kevin Williams collided at home plate with Sun Devil catcher Brian Serven. Serven then stepped over Williams and dragged his leg over him, which resulted in words being exchanged and coaches escorting the players away.
Williams said he intended to slide but could not since Serven had come up the line to field the ball. He talked to Serven later to clear up the incident.
As the focus returned to the game, the Bruins got RBIs from six different players en route to the 7-3 victory.
Unlike Kaprielian’s rough beginning, Saturday was the complete opposite for junior pitcher Grant Watson who was perfect through the first three innings. However, he lost control in the fourth as he gave up five runs on four hits and three walks.
“I just got away from what was working for me,” Watson said. “The game started speeding up on me.”
The Bruins responded with four runs in the inning, highlighted by sophomore left fielder Ty Moore’s first collegiate home run.
However, UCLA would never lead in the game as it squandered opportunities down the stretch, leaving runners in scoring position in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.
“We had bad at-bats mixed in with runners in scoring position,” Savage said. “It just seemed to me that we were a little behind today … in the execution of the game.”
On Sunday, UCLA could not hold two different leads as the Sun Devils would come from behind to take the game and the series in extra innings.
The Bruins blew a 3-1 advantage after six solid innings from sophomore pitcher Cody Poteet when the Sun Devils took a 4-3 lead in the seventh.
Yet, ASU did not hold the lead for long as UCLA scored two in the bottom of the seventh on Williams’ triple. After the triple, Esmay was thrown out of the game after arguing with the umpires for an unknown reason.
Junior closer David Berg pitched a career-long four innings, but gave up an unearned run in the ninth and the go-ahead run in the tenth. UCLA was unable to score in the bottom of tenth, giving Berg his first loss since May 20, 2011, which snapped his streak of 11 straight winning decisions.
“They didn’t really give me much room for error,” Berg said. “I made a couple of mistakes in the tenth and I paid the piper for it.”
Savage said the team beat itself with bad defensive play – the team made six errors this weekend – which ASU capitalized on, while the Bruins did not cash in on their own opportunities.
“It’s the best conference in the country and you better be prepared,” Savage said. “You better work hard everyday to become a better team.”