The No. 3-ranked Bruins (5-1) used great pitching to sweep through three different opponents over the weekend in the inaugural Urban Invitational baseball tournament. UCLA defeated Southern, Bethune-Cookman and crosstown rival USC to push their winning streak to four games.
“It was an exciting weekend,” coach John Savage said. “It was a good and long week with five games, and I’m pretty proud of our guys.”
In the first game, UCLA used a balanced mix of pitching, offense and defense to defeat Southern (0-4) 11-2 on a chilly Friday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Charles Brewer finally made his first collegiate start and carried the pitching load. Brewer hurled a marvelous seven and two-thirds innings en route to earning the victory. He had a no-hitter intact before it was broken up with two outs in the top half of the seventh inning.
“I’ve been waiting two years for this win,” Brewer said. “I think it’s great that I came out with a boom. I just thank God for helping me out on my first start.”
Brewer’s battery mate was senior catcher Brent Dean, who filled in for regular starter Ryan Babineau behind the plate. Dean led the Bruins with his bat by reaching base in four of five at-bats and hitting a three-run home run.
“It was just a good team effort,” Dean said. “A lot of guys work hard throughout the year and when they get the opportunity, they’re ready. Being behind Babineau, you get better just ’cause he’s so good. He makes others guys better and that kind of reflected my outcome out there today.”
A few days prior to Saturday’s nationally televised 2-0 win against Bethune-Cookman (2-3), scheduled starter Tim Murphy said the exposure would allow the Bruins to showcase what they are made of. Murphy let his pitching do with a complete game shutout.
UCLA finally broke through Bethune-Cookman pitcher Joseph Gautier in the top of the seventh inning when sophomore right fielder Gabe Cohen blasted a towering home run to left-center field to give the Bruins the only run they would need. The offense added an insurance run in the top half of the ninth inning.
The Bruins received another brilliant performance on the hill Sunday to defeat USC (5-3) by a score of 4-3 at Dedeaux Field. Redshirt junior Brendan Lafferty pitched five scoreless innings in relief of starter Matt Drummond to give the offense a chance to erase an early deficit.
“(Lafferty) has really matured,” Savage said. “He’s a veteran on the pitching staff. His hard work is paying off; he’s getting a lot of opportunities and he’s taking advantage of those.”
UCLA trailed by two runs in the seventh inning before shortstop Brandon Crawford hit a solo home run to pull the Bruins within one. In the following frame, Alden Carrithers capped a two-out rally with a double that scored two runs.
“(Carrithers) is a special hitter,” Savage said. “He’s got great hand-eye coordination, uses the middle of the field, and is one of our toughest outs. When he’s swinging the bat well, he’s as good a hitter in the Pac-10 as there is out there. He’s just a really good, balanced hitter.”