Sophomore pitcher Gavin Brooks’ performance in Sunday’s 4-2 win over USC served as an accurate metaphor for the UCLA baseball team’s play over the weekend.
Brooks struggled in the first inning, allowing two hits and a wild pitch to translate into an early 2-0 deficit, just as the No. 23 Bruins (14-12, 3-3 Pac-10) struggled in the first two games of the series, dropping Friday’s game 6-1 and Saturday’s 7-4.
Yet Brooks calmed down, began to get ahead in the counts and shut the Trojans (15-15, 4-5) out over the next seven innings, securing the bounce-back win for the Bruins.
“I thought that (my performance) was good,” Brooks said. “It was good to get out there and get into those later innings again. Been struggling a little bit lately. I was really happy with my performance today, and the team did a great job.”
Brooks’ official numbers were 8 1/3 innings of work and two runs off four hits, while walking five and striking out four, in what coach John Savage felt was his best outing of the year.
“Whenever you throw up seven zeros in this conference, you have to get a lot of credit,” Savage said. “He struck out four, he walked five, he hit a few guys, but they got four hits. Same old analogy: If you walk a few, you can’t give up any hits. He stepped up today as he did so many times last year, and hopefully this will get him on track to where he can help us tremendously down the road.”
After taking two of three games at No. 18 Arizona and defeating a tough San Diego State team on Tuesday to start an unheard of 13-game home stand, the Bruins seemed to have momentum entering this weekend’s series against USC.
Yet they were unable to translate that into on-field success, losing 6-1 on Friday in a game that was 1-0 going into the eighth inning, before a lackluster effort on Saturday.
“First two days, obviously, were not good at all,” shortstop Brandon Crawford said. “We didn’t play very well. We didn’t play as a team; we didn’t play well individually. We didn’t really do anything right.”
Following Saturday’s loss, the players called a meeting, discussing the need to get back to playing their brand of baseball if they wish to achieve the goals set at the beginning of the season.
“We had a heart-to-heart talk after the ball game (Saturday),” Savage said. “(We) said , “˜Hey, fellas. We need to pick this thing up if we want to get to where we want to get to. Tomorrow’s game is the biggest game of the year.’
“So overall, we’re disappointed we lost two out of three, but whenever you win the third game and you’re sitting at 2-3, now you are 3-3. I think, in the big scheme of things, that’s the biggest win of the year.”
Due to the team’s recent struggles, Savage tooled with the lineup on Sunday, moving regular second-baseman Alden Carrithers into left field and from the No. 2 spot in the batting order into the leadoff position. Freshman Niko Gallego got the start at second base.
While Savage said the changes are not permanent, he did believe that the changes were successful.
“I thought that Gallego played really well at second base and Alden made some big catches in center field,” Savage said. “I think it paid off. We’ll see if it lasts. You’ll see (Gabe) Cohen, you’ll see (Cody) Decker, you’ll see (Ryan) Babineau. But you know what? I think for one day you could say that it worked.”
With Sunday’s win evening the Bruins record in conference play at 3-3, whereas a loss would have put them in a perilous position sitting at 2-4 in conference, Savage had only one thought following the win:
“It was the biggest win of the year. Period.”