Baseball intends to reignite offensive surge

There are flat-seamed baseballs, then there’s flat baseball.

The former may or may not have been related to UCLA’s offensive surge through the first seven games of the season. But the latter most definitely contributed to the Bruins’ lowest offensive output of the season in game eight Tuesday night, said Kort Peterson.

“We got back from (Orlando), had a day off, and sometimes that happens – you come out flat,” the sophomore outfielder said.

UCLA’s offense recorded only two hits Tuesday against Long Beach State, but those two hits were enough to produce a 1-0 victory.

“We didn’t get very many good swings off,” said coach John Savage. “That part was a little disappointing coming off what we did in Orlando, (looking) like a team that could really hit.”

What wasn’t flat in that game was the Bruins’ pitching, which had enough movement to make Dirtbag hitters miss left and right. UCLA’s pitching staff struck out 12 batters en route to attaining its first shutout of the year.

This weekend, flat pitches may once again be a rarity in Jackie Robinson Stadium, as No. 8 UCLA (7-1) hosts Michigan State (3-3) in a three-game series between two of the top starting pitching staffs in the country.

Peterson said there shouldn’t be much flat play either, at least on UCLA’s side.

“I think we learned from (Tuesday) and I think we’re gonna come out this weekend and with energy and I believe we’ll be ready to play because of that,” Peterson said. “We need to … be ready to take them head-on for sure.”

Peterson and the Bruin offense will be clashing head-on with a Spartan pitching staff that ranks No. 25 in the nation in team ERA. Spearheading that Spartan staff are two standout lefties – junior Anthony Misiewicz and redshirt sophomore Cam Vieaux – both of whom hold sub-1.70 ERAs. Misiewicz is, thus far, the better of the two, bolstering a 0.82 ERA and a .132 batting average against in 11 innings pitched.

“(Michigan State) can really pitch. That’s clear,” Savage said. “We’ve seen a lot of right-handed starters so this will be good for us, we need to see left-handed starters.”

The Bruins counter the Spartans’ lefties with one of the nation’s best right-handed starters – junior James Kaprielian – and two other weekend starters – senior Grant Watson and junior Cody Poteet – who both have sub-2.30 ERAs.

While the pitching staffs appear to be comparable, the offenses are not. The Spartans rank No. 182 in runs per game, and only have two players hitting over .300. Meanwhile, the Bruins are No. 6 in runs per game and No. 12 in hits, even after their slip up against the Dirtbags Tuesday.

Junior left fielder Ty Moore has been the leader of the Bruins’ standout offense so far. He’s hitting .529 – with at least a hit in every game – and is tied for fourth in the nation with 18 hits.

“It’s just a big confidence boost to have a team that has a good offense this year,” Moore said. “We came out hot that first series, and not just myself, but I think everyone kinda thought it was contagious. … You get off to a hot start like that, it’s definitely bound to keep going for a little bit.”

Ultimately, this weekend could serve as a test to see if UCLA can reignite that offensive surge, or if Tuesday’s flat play was the start of the Bruin offense falling back down to earth.

With contributing reports by Conor Cusack, Bruin Sports contributor.