UCLA baseball prepares for heat in Arizona
Outfielder Beau Amaral and the Bruins will travel to face the Wildcats this week.
By Ryan Eshoff
April 22, 2010 9:16 p.m.
The state of Arizona boasts a sweet-swinging college baseball team that has propelled itself into the nation’s top 25 on the strength of its bats. Oh, and No. 1 Arizona State isn’t bad either.
This weekend, UCLA will travel to face the other team in the Grand Canyon State, the No. 17 Arizona Wildcats (27-9, 7-5 Pac-10). Playing largely in the shadow of their top-ranked rivals, the Wildcats have emerged as the hottest team in the conference. And it has nothing to do with the Arizona sun.
After defeating the Sun Devils in a non-conference matchup on Tuesday, Arizona has now rattled off six consecutive wins to shoot up the conference standings. The Wildcats’ rise is a testament to the strength of the Pac-10, which has emerged as one of the nation’s best conferences.
“I think it’s been proven over the first three weeks, four weeks of the season that (the league’s) as competitive as it’s ever been,” UCLA coach John Savage said. “Ten very good programs and competitive players and good coaches and tough environments. It is what it is, and you just have to live with it and make sure that you prepare to play every weekend.”
Arizona’s Kindall Field is one of those tough environments; the Wildcats have won both of their Pac-10 home series thus far including a sweep of Washington State over the weekend. Meanwhile, No. 5 UCLA (27-6, 5-4) has won all but one away game, and that was to Oregon State in a series the Bruins ended up winning. One of those trends is likely to be broken when the two teams butt heads in Tucson.
“This team likes to feed off a lot of energy,” freshman center fielder Beau Amaral said. “I’m sure that Arizona will bring a good crowd to the game, and we can thrive off of that.”
Success on the road is not the only area of the game where Arizona could prove to be UCLA’s foil. The Bruins have relied heavily on a pitching staff that leads the Pac-10 in ERA, strikeouts, and batting average against, while the Wildcats boast a lineup that is collectively hitting a conference best .352 and has scored a combined 63 runs in their seven conference victories.
Pitching will continue to be a point of emphasis for UCLA, particularly after Tuesday’s shellacking at the hands of Long Beach State. In that game, the UCLA bullpen was tagged for 13 runs in the 16-4 defeat. Despite their low ERA, the Bruins have given up the third-most home runs in the conference.
The mighty Arizona offense is complemented by a pitching staff that ranks in the middle of the Pac-10 in most categories.
“Every team in the Pac-10 is just so well-rounded,” UCLA freshman third baseman Cody Regis said. “Every team has a chance to win every game no matter who they’re playing. It’s just a huge step up from any other league.”
In Tuesday’s loss to Long Beach State, Savage experimented with a new-look lineup that featured, among other changes, second baseman Tyler Rahmatulla hitting in the second spot instead of his usual three-hole, with Dean Espy assuming that latter spot. Whatever order the Bruins end up hitting in, they may have to be ready for a wild weekend in the desert.
“It really comes down to one pitch, one inning,” Savage said. “I just know it’s as competitive a league as I’ve ever seen, and you better be ready to go each weekend.”
