The Bruin baseball team is singing a new tune these days. Where a few weeks ago they might have been singing “Stormy Monday” by T-Bone Walker, nowadays, Randy Bachman’s “Taking Care of Business” might be more appropriate.
The Bruins (15-15, 5-1 Pac-10) took care of business on their home field by beating the Washington Huskies (16-13, 5-4 Pac-10) two out of three for their second straight conference series victory. Over the weekend at Jackie Robinson Stadium, the Bruins held off the Huskies 6-5 to win on Thursday night and crushed them 11-2 on Friday, before falling 9-4 in the final game on Saturday.
While the seven-game winning streak came to an end on Saturday, the Bruins were still riding high after their sweep of Stanford last week and a series victory over a hot Washington team who came into this weekend’s series as winners of 13 of their last 16 games.
“We should have momentum,” coach John Savage said. “It’s crazy to think that we wouldn’t have momentum. We played well at Stanford. We played well here this weekend. We just didn’t play good enough baseball today.”
The Bruins’ successful weekend began a day earlier than usual, on Thursday, due to Easter. That night, the Bruins staved off a furious ninth-inning comeback by the Huskies and were able to come away with a 6-5 win.
The ace of the staff, senior Tyson Brummett, earned his fifth win of the season and almost threw his fourth complete game of the season. The hard-throwing right-hander lasted 8.1 innings, giving up five runs (four earned) off 11 hits and striking out six while giving only one free pass.
“I would have liked to get another complete game but my pitch count was up,” Brummett said. “My defense kept me in it and we scored a bunch of runs early and it held out. I think tonight I did a good job of locating the fastball and getting ahead in the count. It was a good start to the weekend and we won.”
Brummett was relieved by closer Brant Rustich. The junior gave up two hits and walked one batter, but held on to notch his fifth save of the season.
Friday’s game had a decidedly different feel. Whereas Thursday’s game came down to the wire, the second game was a blowout, with the Bruins cruising to an 11-2 victory. The Bruins put up one run in the first, two in the second, one in the third, three in the fourth, and four in the sixth, providing more than enough insurance for the rest of the game.
The man of the hour was catcher Ryan Babineau. The sophomore out of Rancho Cucamonga went 4-for-4 with two home runs, three runs scored, and three RBIs. Babineau said that he does not remember the last time he had four hits in a game, and that he has not gone yard twice in a game since his senior year of high school.
“It’s a good feeling,” Babineau said. “I have struggled a little bit early in the year. It’s also nice to be up two games after two on a weekend series. That’s more satisfying than anything.”
The Bruins dropped the final game of the series on Saturday, falling to the Huskies 9-4 and snapping their seven-game winning streak. Nursing a 2-1 lead against Bruin starter freshman Gavin Brooks (3-4), the Huskies put the game out of reach when left-fielder Ty Rasmussen hit a solo shot in the fifth and third baseman Matt Hague hit a three-run bomb in the sixth, putting the score at 5-1 in favor of the Huskies.
Despite Saturday’s result, the Bruins were happy with the direction of the team.
“We’re making strides,” Savage said. “We’ve been getting really good starting pitching and we’ve been really swinging the bats. … Whenever you win the first two weekends in league, I think that you would have to be satisfied. We’re excited to be where we’re at, but we know that we have to get a lot better.”
NOTES: Sophomore shortstop Brandon Crawford was the designated hitter for Friday and Saturday’s games. The sophomore standout was hit by a pitch twice in Thursday night’s game and was limited to just hitting. Coach Savage said that it was just a bruise and that he expects Crawford to be in the lineup on Tuesday when the Bruins host UC Irvine.