LONG BEACH “”mdash; The regional playoffs in college baseball are a tough business.
In each regional setting, there are at least three back-to-back games, but a coach has to prepare for as many as five back-to-back games because of the double-elimination format. Finding starting pitchers for five games over a four-day period is a headache for college coaches who usually only have to worry about finding four starting pitchers for an entire week.
But UCLA coach John Savage had it easy this weekend.
With starting pitcher senior Tyson Brummett going 8 2/3 innings on Friday and freshman Gavin Brooks pitching a complete game on Saturday, Savage was able to rest his bullpen and free up the maximum number of arms for the deciding contest on Sunday.
They were not needed, as sophomore Tim Murphy also went the distance, throwing 140 pitches in his complete-game victory over Long Beach on Sunday.
The combination of just three pitchers pitching every inning of the regionals was an unprecedented sight for many in attendance.
“I haven’t seen (three guys pitching every inning) in my 15 years of coaching baseball,” Savage said.
“I can’t say enough about their endurance. You have to give a lot of credit to those three guys that stepped up.”
It has been coach Savage’s philosophy over the last two years to let his starting pitchers go as long as they can.
It was not unusual to see last year’s pitch counts for Hector Ambriz and Dave Huff rise to 130, and it is not unusual with Brummett this year, who threw 128 pitches in his victory over Pepperdine on Friday.
With a bullpen that has struggled at times this year, it is easy to understand why Savage wants his pitchers going as deep as possible into games.
This bevy of quality pitching from the starters has been a recent and welcome addition to the team. The only consistent starter for much of the year was Brummett, yet even he struggled toward the end of the season.But Brooks has now thrown complete-game gems in his last two starts, and Brummett appeared to have righted the ship before giving up three runs in the ninth inning on Friday.
Despite all of the innings being eaten up by the starters this weekend, Savage is not worried about rust for the Super Regionals.
“That is why you have practice,” Savage said.
“Our guys will be ready.”