Baseball looks to rebound

Under normal circumstances, losing three games to one of the nation’s best baseball programs would not be seen as that big of a deal.

Normal circumstances, though, do not exist for teams that won their first 22 games and emerged as a legitimate title contender.

After getting swept ““ at home, nonetheless ““ by No. 3 Arizona State over the weekend, No. 12 UCLA will have to get back on track on unfamiliar turf. The Bruins (30-10), who fell seven spots in Baseball America’s new rankings Monday, begin a stretch of five consecutive road games tonight against Pepperdine, and chances are the results of the weekend will still be fresh in their minds as they move forward.

“We’re not really looking to compare ourselves (to other programs), we’re just trying to go out there and play our game,” UCLA first baseman Justin Uribe said. “Pitching and great defense really, just getting back to basics. We’re just looking to have good at-bats.”

While the mental focus will be on the Waves (13-22), the physical emphasis for the Bruins will be on fine-tuning elements of their game that were absent over the weekend ““ namely, clutch hitting and production from their young position players. The UCLA offense managed just five total runs in the three losses to the Sun Devils.

“I think it’s young players in the middle of a long season,” coach John Savage said. “You got a lot of good arms, a lot of experience (that they’re going up against), and they’re getting an education. It’s a concern area; we have to regroup as a team and get back after Pepperdine.”

Uncertainty won’t be an issue for the Bruin hitters, as it is likely that they will face Pepperdine starter Aaron Gates for the second time this season. In the first meeting between the two teams ““ a 2-1 UCLA win back on March 30 ““ the sophomore left-hander gave up just the two runs on five hits, striking out eight and walking just one in seven and two-thirds innings.

The only reason Gates failed to leave Westwood with a victory was the performance of his counterpart, UCLA starter Garett Claypool. The senior right-hander upstaged Gates, yielding just an unearned run on two hits in six and two-thirds innings. He struck out nine and walked just one. Suffice to say, the senior has earned the confidence of his defense.

“We’ve got Claypool, so you can count on a quality start from him,” Uribe said.

UCLA has lost just twice on the road all season, both against conference opponents, and the Bruins recently took two out of three from Arizona in Tucson, and won 10-0 over UC Riverside in their most recent Tuesday trip.

The Bruin bats have proven that they can collectively put up runs away from Jackie Robinson Stadium, but the question remains as to what order they will be hitting in. Savage used three different lineups against Arizona State, and there is a pretty high likelihood that he will draw up another to face the Waves.

Part of the reason for shuffling is that a number of position players are battling minor injuries, not that UCLA has considered its depth to be much of an issue thus far.

“We have some nicks; guys are banged up a little bit,” Savage said. “Having said that, our strength this season has been our depth. When things were going right, we were playing a lot of guys.”

No matter how bad the Arizona State sweep looked on paper, there is still plenty of time left in the season. For a team that has had as much success as UCLA has had this year, it is all about the bigger picture.

After traversing the Pacific Coast Highway to face Pepperdine, the Bruins will have to gear up for what will likely be one of their toughest trips of the year, up to Seattle to face a formidable Washington team.

“We’re going to right the ship, we’re going to regroup. We won’t be going in the other direction, we’ll be going in the positive direction,” Savage said. “You don’t play 40 games and win 30 of them, lose three games, and all of a sudden think you’re going south.”