As UCLA baseball approached its season’s halfway point, the outlook wasn’t great.
The Bruins started the season as a top-10 team, but poor play pushed them out of the rankings and into tenth place in the Pac-12. Coach John Savage said his team was out of the mix.
But at least one player was tired of losing.
Before the opener of a three-game set against Oregon on Thursday, center fielder Christoph Bono gathered his teammates.
“I’ve been here five years now and been a part of a bunch of different teams,” the redshirt senior said. “We don’t want to count ourselves out when we’re really not out at all.”
Bono brought some evidence to back up his claim. He told his teammates about the 2015 University of Virginia team, and how that team finished conference play at 15-15 last year before making a deep run in Omaha to win the College World Series.
Redshirt senior right fielder Eric Filia said the meeting brought the Bruins together as a team, a statement that was backed up by the way UCLA (19-18, 9-9 Pac-12) played this weekend, sweeping Oregon (17-16, 7-8 Pac-12) and jumping up three spots to sixth in the Pac-12 standings.
“We’ve put ourselves back somewhat in the mix,” Savage said. “We pitched, we played defense, we hit and I think you saw what we thought we might see early in the year. A lot of good signs, but we still have to build off that.”
Approach
Savage said that his team’s offensive approach has changed a little bit, noting that his players were becoming tougher outs.
“I think guys have started to be a little more mature,” said third baseman Luke Persico. “Taking walks where we can get them, hit by pitches where we can get them, not trying to do too much.”
The junior reaped the rewards of the new team-wide approach this weekend, going 7-for-11 with four RBI in three games against the Ducks. Five of Persico’s seven hits went either up the middle or the opposite way. The right-handed hitter even drove a home run to right field, and later said that he wasn’t trying to hit a home run at all during that at bat.
The Bruins have also cut down on strikeouts as of late. On the season, UCLA averages over six and a half strikeouts per game, but the team has only struck out 18 times in their last four games, an average of four and a half.
“I saw a stat in the beginning of the year where we were leading the league in strikeouts and not in hit by pitches,” Filia said. “We’ve been really preaching on having a lot of quality at bats, seeing a lot of good pitches.”
The Bruins also were also hit by 11 pitches in their weekend set, meaning that they were hit more than 3.5 times per game, dwarfing the season average of 1.2.
Bullpen changes
With his team leading by three in the ninth Thursday night, Savage didn’t go to freshman Brian Gadsby as he would have earlier in the season. Instead, Savage gave the ball to junior Moises Ceja. When the Bruins had a two-run lead to protect the next night, Savage went with Ceja again.
“I mean, it wasn’t really set that way,” Savage said, “but it looked like Moe (Ceja) now is our closer.”
Savage had not yet spoken to Gadsby or Ceja about their respective roles as of Saturday night, but said that he would sit down with each player and explain where they are and what they need to do.
Outfield in flux
Freshman Daniel Amaral started all three Oregon games at left field this weekend, with junior left fielder Brett Stephens coming on as a pinch hitter and remaining in the game each time.
Amaral has the ability to play center, but Savage is reluctant to move Bono out of that spot.
“Bono I think is an elite defender,” Savage said. “It’s like a good shortstop; it’s like a good catcher. In the middle of the field, if you have that elite defense there, it’s tough to move it. So we’ve taken Bono’s offense a little bit.”
Bono’s .184 batting average is the lowest average of any Bruin with at least 60 at bats this season.
Up next
UCLA will travel play Cal State Fullerton on the road Tuesday before making a trip to Utah. The Bruins trail the conference-leading Utes by a game and a half.
Email Gottlieb at dgottlieb@dailybruin.com or tweet him @BroadcasterDave.