Of all the words in the English language that could be used to describe the Bruins and their season so far, one in particular comes to mind: transformation.
This season, the No. 22 UCLA baseball team (25-18, 10-2 Pac-10) has undergone an utter and complete transformation, looking more and more like a championship-caliber team heading into this weekend’s showdown at Jackie Robinson Stadium against the California Golden Bears (23-22, 7-8).
Back on March 24, following a disappointing 4-3 loss to Pacific, the Bruins were at their lowest possible point. They had just lost their sixth consecutive game, their 10th of their last 12, and were staring at a record of 8-14. Yet with one eight-run inning, an inning in which they transformed from a team that was struggling to make contact into an offensive powerhouse, the Bruins have done a 180 and turned their season around.
Following their win over the UC Irvine Anteaters on Tuesday night, the Bruins have totaled a record of 17-4 over their last 21 games, which includes a conference record of 10-2, their best conference record since the Bruins of 1924 went 10-0.
“We did not get off to a great start,” shortstop Brandon Crawford said. “But once we got a couple of wins, our confidence started to build. Once we had that confidence that we could win every time we played, then we were able to turn it around.”
The confidence of the Bruins has been up for quite some time and it has led to critical victories, especially in Pac-10 play. The Bruins have yet to lose a conference series, executing in three key areas of the game: strong pitching, quality at bats and stout defense.
One reason the Bruins have been able to maintain this hot streak has been the ability of the players to come together as one and handle anything that comes their way.
“It has really been a team effort to keep this streak going,” coach John Savage said. “They have stayed together as a team and have fought through a lot of adversity. Every team faces adversity during the season and we faced ours in the beginning. But we have learned from that and have grown as a team. You look at our lineup and the players that are injured and you see that we have never had a full roster. But we have fought through that and now we are winning.”
Going into this weekend against Cal, the Bruins will look to not only continue their streak of conference series victories, they will also look to gain a bit of revenge. Last year, the Golden Bears took two of three from the Bruins in Berkeley.
“Last year, we did not know much about them going into the series,” Crawford said. “We beat them on Friday, but then we kind of relaxed and ended up losing the last two games. We just took them lightly and underestimated them. So this weekend, we just can’t have the same thing happen to us. If we play like we should and play like we are capable of, then we should come away with a victory this weekend.
“All that we need to see is that they beat Arizona State two of three. They are a very competitive team and we can expect them to be very good. This weekend we need to take care of Jackie Robinson Stadium and our main focus right now is on (tonight).”