UCLA beats Arizona to sweep series

By Nick Taylor

Daily Bruin Contributor

UCLA first baseman Garrett Atkins told pitcher Jon Brandt that
if he got the chance, he’d win the game for him. Well, Atkins
got his chance, while Arizona probably wishes he hadn’t.

On a full-count pitch, Atkins hit a game-winning, three-run
homer in the bottom of the ninth to give UCLA (43-22 16-5 Pac-10)
an 8-5 win over Arizona (25-28, 7-14) Monday night at Jackie
Robinson Stadium.

“I knew (Atkins) would do it,” designated hitter
Adam Berry said. He was having a rough game, so it was good to see
him do it. He was due.”

Up until the ninth, Atkins did not play well. His throwing error
in the first inning helped Arizona score their first run. In the
bottom of the first, Atkins couldn’t get a runner home from
third with less than two outs. In a similar situation in the
seventh with the score tied, Atkins struck out on a pitch far out
of the strike zone. But he would have his chance for
redemption.

With the score tied and two outs in the bottom of the ninth,
rightfielder Matt Pearl doubled. Arizona right-hander Mike Meyer
then had a decision: pitch to the lefthanded Chase Utley or walk
Utley and take his chances with the righthanded Atkins. After a
conference on the pitching mound, Arizona chose to walk Utley and
pitch to Atkins.

“We made the decision to pitch to Atkins. He was a
righty,” Arizona head coach Jerry Stitt said.

With the winning run on second, Atkins worked the count to three
and two. With Pearl on third and Utley on second, courtesy of a
wild pitch, Meyer could have walked Atkins. But that would have
brought Bill Scott, hitting .435, to the plate. Instead, Meyer came
after Atkins, and Atkins knocked his pitch over the wall for the
victory.

“We needed it from Garrett, and we got it,” said
UCLA pitcher Rob Henkel, who threw seven innings of one-hit,
shutout ball against Arizona on Sunday.

Said Brandt, “(Atkins) said he’d win it for me. I
said, you’d better do it, and he did it.”

UCLA and Atkins were fortunate to have the chance to win. After
taking a 5-3 lead after three innings, the Bruin offense went into
hibernation. Arizona lefthander Tony Milo struck out 12 Bruins
overall, including six in a row and nine of 11 between the fifth
and eighth innings.

“Milo had all three pitches ““ fastball, curve, and
his change-up ““ working for him,” Stitt said.
“He’s done everything for us this year.”

Rather than discuss how well Milo threw, UCLA instead was more
disappointed with what they didn’t do against Milo.

“Our approach against Milo wasn’t good,” UCLA
head coach Gary Adams said. “Our hitters didn’t make
the adjustments.”

The hitters agreed.

“Against Milo, we didn’t make adjustments. Luckily,
he made 150 pitches and had to come out,” Berry said.

Meanwhile, starter Bobby Roe pitched well but couldn’t
hold the lead, giving up solo homers to Rafell Jones and Keoni
DeRenne in the fourth and fifth innings.

While Arizona relied on Milo to throw as long as he could, UCLA
turned ““ as they have all year ““ to Brandt for
relief.

Behind third baseman Randall Shelley, who gave his best Craig
Nettles impersonation with three strong defensive plays, Brandt
threw four scoreless inning s to finish the game. Brandt walked
none and allowed only two hits for his sixth victory of the
year.

With the victory and series sweep, UCLA remained in first place
in the Pac-10 standings, a game ahead of Stanford and Arizona
State.

“We knew we had to sweep, to keep a chance at the
title,” Brandt said. “Now we’ve got the chance.
We’ve just got to go do it.”

UCLA plays at Stanford for the Pac-10 title this weekend.

***

On Monday, Henkel was named the Louisville Slugger National
Co-Player of the Week and Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week ““ the
third time he has won the latter award this season.