UCLA baseball caught a break this weekend when Cal ace Daulton Jefferies was scratched from his Friday night start with a leg injury.
Not that it mattered.
Jefferies’ absence did nothing to slow down the No. 12 Golden Bears (18-6, 7-2 Pac-12), who extended their winning streak to seven by sweeping the Bruins (12-13, 4-5) in a three-game series for the first time since 1985.
Cal controlled the series on both sides of the ball – its pitchers delivered three straight quality starts and its hitters produced double-digit hits off each UCLA starter.
The Bears put up 21 of its 22 runs against the three Bruin starters, scoring in the first inning in every contest.
“They came out swinging early,” said senior shortstop Trent Chatterton. “Anything we kind of left over the middle of the plate, they weren’t missing it.”
The Bears were aggressive all series, walking just five times but pounding five home runs and five doubles.
“They did a good job offensively, they made us pay for mistakes,” said coach John Savage. “Clearly, they’re one of the most offensive teams in the league and unfortunately we just gave them too much.”
Although Cal didn’t have the benefit of Jefferies, the Bears’ pitching still kept the Bruins at bay, holding them to just six runs over the weekend.
Senior righty Ryan Mason, who found out he would need to replace Jefferies 15 minutes before game time, took the mound Friday and flummoxed the UCLA bats over seven one-run innings en route to a 9-1 victory.
Sophomore Jeff Bain started Saturday, allowing two runs in the top of the first before settling in and working into the seventh in an 8-2 Cal win.
Sunday, the Bears turned to sophomore lefty Matt Ladrech, who allowed just one unearned run in 6.2 innings in a 5-3 win.
Catcher and cleanup hitter Brett Cumberland continued to anchor the Bears’ lineup, maintaining his spot atop the conference leaderboard in both batting average and home runs. He pounded his ninth and tenth long balls of the season Sunday to conclude a 6-for-9 weekend that raised his average to .425.
Savage pointed to his 2010 squad as evidence that a three-game thumping could, in the end, improve a team.
Those Bruins eventually reached the College World Series final, but midway through the season, they found themselves in the same position as Savage’s current group: below .500 in league play and fresh off a three-game sweep to a Pac-12 powerhouse.
“Arizona State came in and got us pretty good three games about this time of the year, and we responded and we really became better from it,” Savage said. “I think adversity sharpens things a little bit and hopefully, this will make us better.”
After Sunday’s loss, Savage assured his troops they were just one good series away from jumping back into conference contention, said junior third baseman Luke Persico.
The Bruins continue league competition next weekend at home against Stanford.
“You don’t win the Pac-12 in one series and you don’t lose it in one series, either,” Persico said. “We come back against Stanford and start playing our game, then everything will be fine.”
Email Cummings at mbcummings@media.ucla.edu or tweet him @mbcummings15.