When senior Chris Cordeiro recorded the final out of a 7-4 UCLA
victory Friday, the team knew that something monumental had just
occurred. The win didn’t seal a national championship, a
Pac-10 championship, or even a regular Pac-10 game.
But, in a way, this victory was sweeter than anything else.
With the win, the Bruins beat USC for the first time in over two
years.
Feb. 16, 2001, was the last time UCLA managed to beat the
Trojans. The world was a much different place then: UCLA head coach
Gary Adams had his trademark moustache, which he shaved before the
weekend series against USC.
Despite scoring five runs in the first inning, it looked like
the Bruins would once again fail to beat USC as the Trojans put
runners on second and third with one out and UCLA clinging to a 6-4
lead. Who could pull the team out of the proverbial fire?
How about sophomore Bryan Beck?
At first it looked like the young pitcher was rattled by the
mounting Trojan comeback, walking the first batter he faced to load
the bases. But there would be no comeback on this day. The
right-hander got a strikeout and a ground ball to finish shutting
the door on USC and to preserve a victory for UCLA.
Beck went on to throw two more scoreless innings, giving up only
one hit with four strikeouts.
“I just wanted to throw strikes and get a ground ball. We
couldn’t let them have a big inning so I just wanted to get
out of there right away,” Beck said.
When asked about how he felt about finally breaking the 11-game
losing streak, all the young reliever could do was smile.
“It feels really nice. It’s about time,” he
said. “Our pitching is a lot better than it used to be. We
can actually stay in the game with them now.”
With a 17-5 victory on Sunday the Bruins finally won a series
against their crosstown rival. With young and talented pitchers
like Beck, it seems as though the gap between the programs is
finally beginning to narrow.