In the UCLA baseball team’s litany of woes this season,
pitching and defense have been the two main culprits. But in the
Bruins’ 6-1 defeat at the hands of Loyola Marymount on
Tuesday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium, it was the Bruins’
ineffectual hitting that proved to be their undoing.
“I’m pretty disappointed with how we played,”
UCLA coach John Savage said. “We pitched OK, and we played
good defense. We just didn’t have very many good at
bats.” The Bruins (13-36, 2-16 Pac-10) had struggled all
evening at the plate, notching only six hits without drawing a
walk. While Sean Carpenter paced the quiet Bruin offense with three
hits, the Bruins didn’t threaten to score for the majority of
Tuesday’s game. “You have to hand it to their pitching
staff,” Savage said. “They didn’t give up walks.
It was just a frustrating night in general. We didn’t get a
whole lot of baserunners.” Adam Simon started the game for
the Bruins and pitched a very effective 5-2/3 innings, allowing
only three runs before getting pulled with runners on first and
second. Reliever Kevin Brophy then gave up a walk, and was pulled
in favor of Garett White, who gave up a single that scored two
runs. “Adam threw the ball very well,” Savage said.
“White made a mistake with his pitch. It was supposed to be a
curveball and he threw a changeup.” Though Simon began the
season as the team’s closer, Savage moved him to the starting
rotation because the Bruins haven’t had very many games where
they are leading in the late innings. “The whole fall I
trained to be a starter,” Simon said. “I accepted my
role as closer, and now that I’m a starter again, I’m
going to try to do my best in that role.” Simon allowed only
six baserunners in the start, and only two hits, one of which
didn’t leave the infield. “We’re capable of
throwing more strikes,” said Savage. “Right now we are
doing much better than we were earlier this season, but we can
certainly have better control.”
NOTES: Nolan Rouse, who has been hurt with a broken toe, played
his first game since injuring himself and will provide much needed
depth for an infield that has been sorely tested this year. Sean
Smith, who hoped to return against Stanford this past weekend, will
have surgery on his shoulder on Thursday and will not play again
this season.