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Baseball seals best conference start since 2007 with series win against Washington State

Cody Regis and the No. 24 Bruins took two out of three in Pullman, Wash., against the Cougars.

Baseball

Washington State 3
UCLA 2

UCLA 10
Washington State 3

UCLA 3
Washington State 1

By Daily Bruin Staff

April 11, 2011 12:13 a.m.

All season long, the UCLA baseball team has been hampered by its failure to live up to the 2010 team, which made the school’s first trip to the College World Series in more than 10 years.

But this weekend, the Bruins pulled off a feat that hasn’t happened in the program for quite some time. By beating Washington State 10-3 on Saturday, UCLA got off to its best start in the conference since 2007.

Coupled with a 3-1 win Friday and a 3-2 loss Sunday, the Bruins won their second consecutive Pac-10 road series to improve to 16-11 overall and 7-2 in the Pac-10.

“We’re excited,” coach John Savage said. “We were one inning away from sweeping the series, but in the big picture, we’re at the top of the conference, and we feel like we’re getting better.”

Bailey-Brayton Field in Pullman, Wash., is notorious for being an unfriendly environment for visiting teams. In fact, No. 24 UCLA became the first team to win a three-game series there since 2009.

“We handled it really well,” Savage said. “I was proud of our guys. It’s a very difficult place to play, and (Washington State) is much better than (its 2-7 record). They’re a very capable team and a very experienced team.”

Once again, juniors Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer came to Pullman prepared to go the distance. Both Cole and Bauer tossed complete games, and they each improved to 3-0 in Pac-10 play.

“Early in the year, I struggled a little bit with my command, but I’ve tried to work some of the mechanics out, and the confidence is still building. Obviously, with the results we’re getting, it’s easier to have confidence,” Bauer said.

Freshman Adam Plutko was less fortunate, surrendering a run in the ninth inning of Sunday’s game with the Bruins leading 2-0 to let the Cougars (13-14, 2-7) sneak back into the game. Freshman closer Nick Vander Tuig and redshirt junior reliever Mitchell Beacom combined to give up the other two with Beacom absorbing the loss.

“It hurts because we were up 2-0 and Plutko was fantastic,” Savage said. “He just had some tough luck, so I feel bad for him, but that’s baseball. We have to be able to bounce back, but overall it was a good weekend ““ could have been a great weekend.”

The bullpen’s failure to hold on to the lead was reminiscent of the Bruins’ April 5 loss to UC Riverside. Nonetheless, it’s hard to imagine the Bruins falling out of the conference race if Cole and Bauer keep with their dominating efforts.

At the plate, UCLA’s total of 33 hits marks its highest hit total of the season in a weekend series.

Sophomore third baseman Cody Regis, who had five hits over the weekend, set a new team record for a hitting streak with eight games. The streak extends back to UCLA’s March 29 loss to Cal State Fullerton.

“Our whole team can hit,” sophomore left fielder Cody Keefer said. “When one guy has a bad game, the other guys on the team will pick him up, so it’s helpful when you have such a balanced team.”

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