The UCLA-Washington State series may not have changed the
landscape of the Pac-10 baseball standings much.
But in Sunday afternoon’s rubber match in Pullman, Wash.,
there was still plenty on the line for both teams, who have been in
a race to avoid the conference basement this year.
Less than 20 hours after giving the Cougars their first
conference victory of the year, the Bruins came back to secure
their first Pac-10 series win of the year with a 4-1 win. While the
outcome might not matter much to the rest of college baseball, UCLA
coach John Savage did not underestimate the moral victory in
closing a disappointing season on a positive note.
“We are finishing the season strong and a lot of it has to
do with pride,” Savage said. “Nobody wants to lose, no
matter what the implications might be.”
Sunday’s win marked the Bruins’ first series win in
nearly four months.
“It was exciting to get over the hump, but also a relief
because we’ve come close to winning a series but
haven’t been able to do it,” Savage said.
“It’s a nice accomplishment to get out of the
way.”
Waiting until the second to last week of the season to do so,
however, only served as a reminder of how difficult the season has
been for the Bruins.
“This shouldn’t have been the first series win in
conference we’ve had. The team’s had opportunities
before but now we are finally capitalizing on them,” Savage
said. “I’m happy we’ve picked it up recently, but
we just wish it could have happened earlier in the
season.”
UCLA ensured that it would not finish in last place in the
Pac-10 behind the left arm of Brian Schroeder, who pitched a
six-hit complete game on Sunday. The sophomore southpaw mowed down
Washington State and was only touched up for a solo home run by
Cougar catcher Brady Everett in the fourth inning. After that,
Schroeder cruised to a comfortable victory in only his third start
of the season.
“I got into a rhythm and never really had any trouble out
on the mound,” Schroeder said. “I felt in control and
was happy to contribute in the win.”
Meanwhile, Washington State’s inability to play
fundamental baseball provided Schroeder an early lead he would not
relinquish. UCLA leadoff man Josh Roenicke reached base in the
first inning on an error and advanced to third base on a wild
pitch, later scoring on an RBI groundout by first baseman Brett
McMillan.
In the top of the fifth, Will Penniall hit a sacrifice fly to
score Eric Taylor Jr. Neither team scored again until Hector Ambriz
came up with a pinch-hit RBI single with two outs in the eighth
inning. Nolan Rouse’ sacrifice fly in the ninth capped the
efficient offensive production.
“We did the little things to win the game,”
Schroeder said.
The Cougars’ shoddy defense, coupled with the
Bruins’ strong pitching, illustrated how quickly the
“little things” add up at the end of a game.
“The weekend proved how you need to have the basics
covered in offense, pitching and defense to win games,”
Roenicke said.
Those are basics the Bruins have been lacking for a large part
of the season. But this past weekend, they came together, allowing
UCLA to finally experience something that’s been a rarity
this year.
“In the end it was a relief to get out of here with a
series win,” Roenicke said.