For the UCLA baseball team, a handful of recent wins might have finally signalled the turning of the tide of their season. Now the Bruins will try to build off that momentum against the Pepperdine Waves.
Fresh off a road series win at Washington, UCLA (22-17, 6-6 Pac-10) heads to Malibu to take on Pepperdine (25-13, 8-3 West Coast) in a crucial nonconference game at Eddy D. Field Stadium today at 3 p.m.
The Bruins managed to win two games against the Huskies, who were 18-5 at their home field going into the weekend series. Today’s game will pose the same problem to the Bruins, as Pepperdine has a dominant record of 17-3 in Malibu this season.
The Bruins, winners of four of their last five games dating back to their series finale against Stanford, are looking to continue their solid all-around play. Trailing by two runs on Sunday in the eighth inning of their last game, the top of the order sparked a three-run rally that gave UCLA a satisfying come-from-behind victory amid the drizzle in Seattle.
“It was obviously an important game,” winning pitcher Gavin Brooks said following the game. “It was a Pac-10 game, and we were down. It got us back to .500 and got us a series win. It was definitely a big win.”
Now, aside from helping the team get one step closer to consistency, a win against a high-caliber team such as Pepperdine would be beneficial in terms of RPI ranking. Additionally, UCLA will be looking to complete the season sweep, having defeated Pepperdine earlier this season 11-3 at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
The Bruins, then ranked No. 11 nationally, received home runs by second baseman Alden Carrithers, right fielder Gabe Cohen and designated hitter Cody Decker.
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Garett Claypool (1-1) will take the hill in his fifth start of the year for the Bruins. Although he left his last outing with the lead at home against UNLV on April 22, Claypool did not factor in the decision after the bullpen squandered a five-run lead.
The righty from West Hills had one of his best outings of the season, allowing just three hits and no runs over six innings, to go along with two walks and three strikeouts. So far this season, Claypool has a 3.29 ERA.
Though a balanced Pepperdine offense that has averaged just less than eight runs per contest poses multiple issues for Bruin pitchers, outfielder Eric Thames is one batter UCLA needs to focus on.
Thames leads the Waves with a .414 batting average, 12 home runs and 52 RBI in the 38 games played this season. For the response to Thames, the Bruin offense has recently been led by first baseman Casey Haerther, who has been on a tear since conference play began.
The sophomore cleanup hitter from Chatsworth went 6 for 12 over the weekend and has utilized a current 12-game hitting streak to raise his batting average to .344. Haerther, who hit eighth in the batting order in the first game of the year, credits some of his teammates for his rising success.
“I have three guys ahead of me that have played three years of collegiate baseball,” Haerther said in reference to Carrithers, Jermaine Curtis and Brandon Crawford. “They have taught me a lot in terms of pitch selection, which has made me a better hitter.”
Though the top four hitters have been doing well lately, coach John Savage said he would like to see the rest of the lineup begin to produce on a more consistent basis. An integral piece to the puzzle could be sophomore right fielder Gabe Cohen, who was the Pac-10 newcomer of the year last season.
Cohen, a teammate of Claypool at El Camino Real High School, has struggled this season, hitting only .213, a drastic drop from the .345 he hit a year ago. Known as a power hitter, Cohen is tied for the team lead in home runs (7) with Haerther but also leads the team in strikeouts (45).
Haerther believes scoring runs in the early innings will help make the lineup play well.
“We need to get the offense going earlier in ball games,” Haerther said. “We have the biggest weekend of the year coming up, and these upcoming games should do a lot to help us.”