Ty Moore takes 11-game hit streak into CSUN game

Prior to the season, it was almost as if UCLA’s starting left fielder knew what was coming.

“I would say naturally just expect there to be a little more offense – there’s gonna be more doubles, there’s gonna be more home runs, harder hit balls,” he said on Feb. 11.

Since then, junior Ty Moore has more than followed through on his word. He’s established himself as one of the top hitters in the country, and his teammates have followed suit, collectively clubbing the ball around the diamond with more consistency and power than UCLA baseball (10-1) has displayed in years.

Moore enters UCLA’s 12th game of the season on Tuesday night against Cal State Northridge (11-3) with an 11-game hitting streak, which dates back to opening night on Feb. 13. The junior slugger ranks in the top 10 in the nation with his 23 hits, and holds a .548 batting average.

To coach John Savage, Moore’s start to the season is almost unprecedented. In Savage’s 11 years coaching UCLA, he said he doesn’t remember seeing a start like Moore’s, at least “not in quite a while.”

“Well first off, he’s just using the whole field,” said Savage of his leading hitter. “I think it’s a lesson for all our guys of really a guy that’s using the entire field and getting rewarded.”

So far this season, it’s almost as if Moore’s hot start has spread like wildfire throughout the Bruin lineup. Last year, he was one of only three players to bat more than .290 in UCLA’s lineup. But so far this year, Moore is surrounded by four other players who are batting at least .360 as well.

Moore said he mentors his younger teammates, as he is now an upperclassman who has experienced the growing pains of college baseball. For as polished a college hitter as he is now, it wasn’t too long ago that Moore was fighting for playing time.

“I definitely went through my struggles,” Moore said. “I’ve gone through the good, the bad and the ugly.”

Moore, who batted .219 as a freshman in 2013, shares the experience he gained with younger Bruin batters, reminding them to not get too high or too low. He lets them know that a hot start to a season does not always maintain its fuse until the end.

“My freshman year, I started off hot and then I struggled. I didn’t see as much playing time as I would have liked to,” Moore said. “You’ve just gotta have a level head, and you’re gonna get 200 ABs.”

With Moore’s guidance, No. 6 UCLA has maintained a pretty stable level of offensive consistency this year. Outside of a one-run performance against Long Beach State last Tuesday, UCLA has plated at least five runs in all of its other complete games.

“I think every week we’ve definitely improved. We’re learning from our mistakes, which is good,” said senior first/third baseman Chris Keck.

Tuesday will provide the Bruins with a prime opportunity to see how they’ve learned, as they face a Matadors team that they couldn’t pull away from until the late innings two weeks ago. UCLA was tied with CSUN 3-3 until the top of the eighth, when the Bruins’ emergent offense broke through for four runs that would seal the win.