This was unfamiliar territory for the UCLA baseball team.
Winners of 22 straight to open 2010, the Bruins had their first loss of this season to San Jose State ““ then lost again.
UCLA (5-2) partially salvaged its weekend with a 12-2 victory in the finale of Sunday’s double-header but still lost the series to the visiting Spartans (6-1).
“San Jose State outplayed us,” coach John Savage said. “In the first two games, they outpitched us, they played better defense, they swung the bats better.”
In winning Saturday and the first game Sunday ““ rescheduled from Friday because of rain ““ the Spartans pulled off a rare feat: They beat both Trevor Bauer and Gerrit Cole.
Neither of UCLA’s junior aces, both preseason All-Americans, were able to silence a San Jose State team that won 5-3 on Saturday and 8-3 on Sunday afternoon.
“They didn’t pitch, but guys were just able to touch their stuff,” said catcher Steve Rodriguez, who caught both Bauer and Cole. “They weren’t able to get as many strikeouts as they’re used to. … San Jose State found the holes.”
Already in a hole of their own and needing a win to avoid what would have been a stunning series sweep, the Bruins turned to a guy making his second career start. Freshman Adam Plutko delivered ““ the right-hander tossed seven strong innings in the Sunday nightcap to live up to his billing as one of the nation’s top rookie pitchers.
“He had to put a stop to the bleeding,” Savage said. “He went out there and set the tempo and threw strikes. Adam’s done a fantastic job.”
The Bruins will have to hope that the Sunday nightcap will be the game that breaks them out of their offensive woes. UCLA didn’t have a singular huge inning, but rather scored two runs in the first, three each in the third, fourth and fifth, and one in the sixth.
That output came after managing just three runs in each of the first two games of the series.
For the most part, it was UCLA’s veterans who found their stride at the plate in Sunday’s win. Junior Dean Espy had four RBIs, while sophomores Cody Regis, Cody Keefer, Jeff Gelalich and Beau Amaral each supplied three hits. With the production coming from up and down the lineup, UCLA had little trouble scoring consistently.
“That’s when we’re at our best,” Espy said. “The big innings will come, but just throwing up a number every inning is huge because our pitching is so good.”
It definitely was on Sunday, as Plutko earned his second win.
Still, UCLA knows that it will be taking every team’s best shot.
San Jose State proved that sometimes, those shots can be pretty damaging.
“We got punched this weekend,” Espy said. “How we respond is really going to be the makeup of this team.”