For much of the opening leg of the season, the UCLA baseball team has fallen victim to the recurring theme of failing to deliver in the clutch.
There have been hits, but no runs. There have been base runners, but very few that have crossed home plate. The starting pitchers have delivered solid performances, which have been unwittingly undermined by poor offensive execution in critical situations.
And there have been defensive struggles.
The plot line was much the same in Houston this weekend, where No. 9 UCLA (2-6) traveled to compete in the Houston College Classic at Minute Maid Park. UCLA finished on the losing end in each of its three contests, exiting the weekend with its fourth, fifth and sixth consecutive losses at the hands of No. 5 UC Irvine, No. 10 Rice, and No. 6 Baylor. The Bruins fell 7-4, 5-4 and 5-1 in those contests.
UCLA knew going into the weekend that wins would not come easily. The Houston College Classic is arguably the most competitive collegiate baseball tournament in the country.
Coach John Savage described the weekend as a learning experience that, while disappointing, will help focus the team on improving its weaknesses.
“At the end of the day we didn’t get what we wanted,” Savage said. “But we’re going to grow from this weekend and learn from this,”
UCI scored first to jump out to a 1-0 lead Sunday and never trailed from that point. UCI had two three-run innings, both the fifth and the sixth.
The bottom of the sixth inning typified the poor mechanics UCLA displayed this weekend, which led to losses. In that inning alone, four UCI batters reached base without a hit. Senior left-hander Brendan Lafferty hit three batsmen, and the infield recorded two errors. Three runs scored for the Anteaters on no hits.
The Bruins also left a total of 10 runners on base against the Anteaters, three of which remained stranded in the eighth. Five errors were recorded by the infield in nine innings.
“Mentally, we need to play the game at a faster speed, a higher tempo,” Savage said. “As a team, we need to play our game and do the things necessary to win games.”
In Saturday’s matchup with the Baylor Bears it was the same story. The Bears led 1-0 going into the eighth inning when they broke the game open with two runs off a combination of bunt singles, wild pitches and Bruin errors.
Then a somewhat controversial triple play executed by Baylor in the eighth inning halted a late Bruin rally to compact the team’s frustrations. On the play, Bruins runners were unsure if the first out was clearly indicated by the empire.
Friday’s contest got the weekend off to a rough start as Rice broke a 4-4 tie in the bottom on the 10th, utilizing a Bruin error to earn the “W.”
There were however multiple bright spots for the Bruins. Senior catcher Gino Aielli and Haerther went 3-3 and 4-for-5 against UCI respectively. Haerther has hit safely in 19 consecutive games dating back to last season. The starting pitchers also performed well for the Bruins. Junior right-hander Charles Brewer allowed only two earned runs against the Anteaters, while freshman right-hander Gerrit Cole allowed one unearned run versus Baylor. Sophomore left-hander Rob Rasmussen had a solid start going six innings and allowed three runs on six hits against Rice.