Facing possibly the best pitching staff in the country, the
Bruins matched the Dirtbags inning for inning and looked to have
squeezed out a victory.
Then it was snatched right back.
After taking a one-run lead into the eighth inning, the UCLA
baseball team took a tough 2-1 loss to fifth-ranked Long Beach
State after allowing a single run in the eighth and third baseman
Tito Cruz’s game-winning single in the ninth. That ruined a
superb effort by starter David Johnson.
“(Johnson) pitched great tonight,” pitching coach
Tim Leary said. “He is in a groove. He has pitched very well
in the midweek starts and is a lot more confident as a
starter.”
In his best outing of the year, Johnson stymied LBSU for seven
innings, allowing no runs and only four hits, and matching Dirtbag
starter Brandon Villalobos’ six scoreless innings.
“Coming in, (Villalobos) didn’t look like a great
pitcher, but he did a good job of hitting his spots,” center
fielder Jarrad Page said.
Johnson’s effort appeared to be rewarded when the Bruins
finally broke onto the scoreboard pushing a run across in the top
of the eighth.
With one out and runners on the corners, shortstop Ryan McCarthy
squeezed home third baseman Preston Griffin, seemingly the perfect
way to end the low-scoring contest.
“(Coach Gary Adams and hitting coach Vince Beringhele)
told me to go ahead and squeeze on the second pitch, and luckily,
he threw a fastball down the middle,” McCarthy said.
Kyle Wilson, who entered with a 1.56 ERA, relieved Johnson in
the eighth and allowed an RBI double to tie the game.
In the next at-bat, Page came up with what could have been the
game-saving play as he fielded a single and threw a strike catching
the runner from second at home.
But in the ninth, normally reliable reliever Kevin Brophy
allowed the winning run on three consecutive hits.
The last hit seemed to laugh right at Adams’ strategy.
Cruz hit a grounder that found its way through, despite an extra
Bruin infielder.
“The ground balls that were finding fielders before
started getting through, which was the difference,” McCarthy
said.