UCLA was feeling pretty good about itself last Sunday after its
dramatic ninth-inning comeback against USC.
Maybe too good, in fact.
Since that victory, the Bruins have lost four of their last
five, including a pair of hideous non-conference losses against
Arizona this weekend in which UCLA surrendered 31 runs.
“I think a little satisfaction creeped in and this team is
not good when it is satisfied,” UCLA coach Gary Adams said.
“To win, this team has to stay hungry.”
Changes in the weekend rotation could not stop UCLA’s
bullpen from struggling mightily on Saturday or its offense from
disappearing on Sunday. Despite ace Casey Janssen’s victory
over the Wildcats (25-20-1) Friday, the Bruins (26-23) find
themselves firmly on the NCAA Regional bubble.
Dropping the final two games against Arizona puts pressure on
UCLA, currently in third place in the Pac-10, to finish strong in
its last nine games of the season.
Coach Gary Adams defended his decision to start freshman Brant
Rustich and junior David Johnson in place of juniors Bryan Beck and
Wes Whisler in the final two games of the series. While both
spotted Arizona big leads in the early inning, they did allow Adams
to rest his big guns for the all-important stretch run.
“Going into the last nine (conference) games of the
season, I want those horses to be strong,” Adams said.
“I’ve seen guys peter out from pitching 110 pitches per
game so I wanted to prevent that from happening.
“We played eight games in ten days, so we did not have
much choice. We went with the guys who have pitched the
least.”
Beck was shut down completely for the weekend, Whisler relieved
Johnson in Sunday’s game, and Janssen was limited to 70
pitches in his start on Friday.
With the series on the line, Sunday brought about
Johnson’s first weekend start, and it was his worst outing of
the season. Johnson (1-2) yielded seven runs and three wild pitches
in only three innings of work in the Bruins’ 11-2 loss.
“I was falling behind early and they were hitting good
pitches,” Johnson said. “They have been hot all
weekend, and when I fell behind they were hitting my mistakes and
my good pitches.”
Meanwhile Arizona starter John Meloan (5-0) used a variety of
sliders and change-ups to befuddle the Bruins. He threw a complete
game two-hitter, surrendering only solo home runs by senior third
baseman Preston Griffin and junior shortstop Ryan McCarthy, to get
the win.
“He kept us off balance and threw a lot of breaking balls,
Whisler said. “He moved the ball in and out and just tried to
keep us guessing.”
It was a far cry from Saturday’s slugfest, in which the
teams combined for 29 runs. Most of those seemed to come off of
Rustich (3-2), who gave up six runs in 1 and 1/3 innings in his
first collegiate start.
The bullpen imploded for 14 more runs as UCLA lost 20-9.
On Friday Janssen (8-3) pitched 4 and a 1/3 effective innings to
lead the Bruins to a 7-3 win. Redshirted sophomore catcher Chris
Denove drove in three runs while sophomore first baseman Brett
McMillan hit his fifth home run of the year to lead the Bruins
offense.
UCLA next faces Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday at Jackie
Robinson Stadium.