They say the outcome of a baseball game can be defined by one play. In the 3-2 victory by No. 2 UCLA over No. 3 Virginia on Friday night, that game-defining play turned out to be the rare hidden ball trick.
“The hidden ball trick, really, was a big play,” coach John Savage said. “We’ve done it a few times this year, and it’s kind of a West coast play. Sometimes it doesn’t work, but you really have to give credit to (Tim) Murphy and Jermaine (Curtis); the timing was good. Fortunately, the guy got off the base and he tagged him. The difference in the ball game was one run, so it was a big play.”
With a 2-0 lead in the top of the sixth inning, left-handed pitcher Murphy gave up a walk and a double to put the tying runners on base with no outs. Virginia second baseman David Adams cut the UCLA lead in half with a fly out to deep center field that scored Greg Miclat from third base. Most importantly, the run-producing fly ball was also deep enough to advance Tyler Cannon, who was at second base, 90 feet from tying the score.
Following his catch, center fielder Blair Dunlap threw the ball to the infield, where third baseman Jermaine Curtis caught it and took a few steps toward the mound. That’s when Curtis reached into his bag of tricks.
Instead of tossing the ball to Murphy, Curtis kept it in his glove and returned to his position. Murphy stood calmly on the grass behind the pitching mound, with his body facing home plate and his eyes glancing to his left.
“No, definitely not, no acting classes or anything like that,” Murphy said with a grin. “But it’s definitely an instinctual play. It’s something that comes with experience “¦ and knowing each other, knowing each other’s personalities.”
All of a sudden, Murphy quickly looked to his right and gave a celebratory fist pump.
“Murphy has to be off the mound,” Savage said. “He’s on the grass, so it’s a total legal play. You kind of have to become actors and let it play out a little bit. The guy took a couple of steps off, and Jermaine went over and tagged him.”
To the crowd of 1,655 on hand at Goodwin Field, it was unclear what Murphy was so excited about, seeing as he had just given up his first run and had the tying run standing on third base. But it turned out that Cannon was not standing on third base as he should have been. The mental mistake allowed Curtis to race over and tag him for the second out of the inning.
“Basically what happened, like coach said, there was excitement,” Curtis said. “The ball got thrown in, and I looked in the eyes of Murphy. We kind of just nodded, and I just took it from there. It was basically that simple.”
Savage stressed that since Virginia had just scored its first run, the runner on third was not as focused as he would have normally been. As it turned out, the play came at a crucial point in the game, since Cannon would have evened the game on the single by Jeremy Farrell, the next batter.
Though Virginia finally managed to tie the game at 2-2 in the eighth inning, the Bruins’ stellar defensive play continued. With runners on the corners, Farrell smacked a solid sacrifice fly ball to right field. The Cavaliers could have easily taken a one-run lead on the play, but right fielder Brady Dolan made an acrobatic diving catch in the right field corner to keep the runner on first.
“The play in right field ““ Dolan saved another run,” Savage said. “It was a huge play. He left his feet going up against the wall short of the track."
With two on and two outs, Curtis kept the game tied by sliding to his left to nab a sharp grounder and firing to first base for the final out.
The Bruins added a run in the ninth to win, but the game could have easily been tied if the hidden ball trick had not taken place.
“We do practice (the hidden ball trick),” Savage said. “We probably practice it once every two weeks. I think the timing has to be really good. There has to be some excitement involved. I can tell you now: It probably won’t work the rest of the tournament since we’re talking about it so much. We really try to avoid it to be quite honest. “¦ Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Fortunately, it worked tonight.
“I don’t think it’s a dirty play,” Savage said. “I think some people think it is, but whenever the ball’s in play “¦ you have to make sure you know where the ball is.”
UNITED THEY STAND: Something was different about the UCLA players when they took the field on Friday. As a sign of unity, the team decided to sport new buzz haircuts. “It was just kind of a team thing, spur of the moment,” Murphy said. “It was Brendan Lafferty and Ryan Babineau’s idea, just kind of a team solidarity thing heading into playoffs. Everyone got a phone call. “¦ It was a team-building thing, I guess you can say.”