UCLA baseball to compete against TCU for a place in the College World Series
Junior outfielder Jeff Gelalich (center) and the second-ranked Bruins will host Texas Christian University this weekend in a best-of-three Super Regional series.
By Emma Coghlan
June 7, 2012 1:14 a.m.
College baseball has an awful lot of threes.
Three strikes, three outs, three years until players are draft-eligible and this weekend ““ three games.
Starting Friday, UCLA will compete in a best-of-three series against Texas Christian University to determine who wins the Super Regionals and makes it to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
TCU is not an unfamiliar postseason opponent for the Bruins ““ they faced the Horned Frogs in Omaha in 2010 on their previous run at a National Championship.
The members of the Bruin junior class, several of whom were picked in this week’s MLB First-Year Player Draft, will get their last chance to come back together and try to take the title they missed out on as freshmen.
These juniors ““ the 2009 recruiting class ““ are the most successful in Bruin history, and coach John Savage did not hold back in noting what they’ve done for the UCLA program.
“They’re good players who really just play the game the right way. … It’s the winningest class in UCLA history, and not only do they want to win ““ they expect to win.”
The variation in the junior class’ stories, from center fielder Beau Amaral, who has played regularly from his first days in Westwood, to catcher Tyler Heineman, who didn’t see regularity behind the plate until his final year, makes for a colorful class that will play its last games at Jackie Robinson Stadium this weekend.
“Attitude, talent and experience ““ it’s really a lethal combination,” Savage said.
Sophomore shortstop Pat Valaika joined the Bruins the year after their last trip to Omaha, and he said that more experienced players are valuable sources of advice.
“They told us just to play the same way, not to do anything more or anything less,” Valaika said.
TCU was the No. 2 seed at the College Station regional, as national seed Texas A&M did not even make it to the final elimination game.
This weekend will be played as a best of three series. Although the team is moving into the high-pressure Super Regionals, the best-of-three format is anything but foreign to UCLA.
“We’ve played 15 regular season series this year. … We just need to go out there and play the same Bruin baseball,” said sophomore pitcher Adam Plutko, the Bruins’ Friday starter
Even down to the way the Bruins break down their game ““ it’s all about the threes.
“We feel balanced; we pitch well, we play good defense and we have the bats,” Valaika said. “It’s a three-way attack.”
