Team struggles for two vs. WSU

  NICOLE MILLER/Daily Bruin Senior Matt
Pearl rushes back to first base during a game vs. the
Arizona Wildcats earlier this season. The Bruins took two of three
games in Washington over the weekend. WSU 12 UCLA
11 UCLA 13 WSU 10 UCLA 10 WSU
9

By Jeff Agase
Daily Bruin Reporter

After a tumultuous weekend in Pullman, Washington where leads
vanished in the blink of an eye and runs came in bunches, the UCLA
baseball team left with two wins in a doubleheader that may have
fanned the flames of their flickering Pac-10 title hopes.

The unranked Bruins (19-9, 3-3) blew a 10-run lead to Washington
State (11-19, 3-3) on Friday night en route to a disheartening
12-11 defeat.

Bruin starter Josh Karp went 5 2/3 innings, surrendering six
earned runs on nine hits, while designated hitter Brian Baron and
catcher Casey Grzecka each tallied four hits in the losing effort.
Freshman Casey Janssen took the loss, dropping to 0-1 on the
season

The loss was UCLA’s third straight in conference play and
magnified the importance of the two remaining games in the
series.

Those infamous Washington rains came on Saturday and forced the
teams to play a twin-bill Sunday afternoon. The Bruins wasted no
time jumping out to another lead. They batted around the order to
light up starter Justin Cayetano for five runs in the top half of
the first inning. But the Cougars rebutted with four runs of their
own in the bottom of the first to pull within one.

The teams exchanged runs in the second inning and the Bruins
added another of their own in the third, but Washington State
grabbed a 9-7 lead with four scores in the sixth, ousting Bruin
starter Jon Brandt after 5 1/3 innings and 11 hits. Once again, the
Bruins squandered a lead and faced a potential fourth consecutive
Pac-10 loss.

BASEBALL PREVIEW vs. Pepperdine University
Today 6 p.m. Jackie Robinson Stadium

Junior catcher Josh Arhart tied things up at nine when he belted
a two-run double to center sending home Eric Reece and Adam Berry.
Four more runs in the ninth clinched a 13-10 win that may have
resuscitated the slumping Bruins.

Mike Kunes notched his third win of the season, finishing out
the final three innings with only one run allowed. Shortstop
Preston Griffin went four for five and Arhart led the way with 4
RBIs. Cayetano was shelled for 15 hits, but reliever Lanakila Niles
was saddled with the Cougar loss.

Game three of the series provided an apropos conclusion to a
wild weekend of baseball. This time it was the Cougars that pounced
right out of the gate and nabbed a 9-0 lead after six innings.

UCLA retorted with seven runs of its own in the top of the
seventh. Ben Francisco reached base on an error to start the
inning. Consecutive singles by Baron, Berry and Reece scored
Francisco and loaded the bases for John Campanella, who walked to
score Baron. Shane Miranda came in to pinch hit and connect on a
two-run single that brought the Bruin run total to four. Griffin
was hit by a pitch and Josh Canales singled in another run. Two
groundout RBI gave the Bruins seven runs in the seventh inning.

Finally, their luck was turning around. In the eighth Janssen,
Canales and Pearl all knocked in runs to give the Bruins their
first lead of the game. Reliever Wade Clark got out of the final
two stanzas, both times with two runners on base. He picked up the
win to move to 2-0 on the season.

The weekend went from heartbreak to near disaster to relief as
the Bruins evened their Pac-10 record at 3-3.

“¢bull; “¢bull; “¢bull;

Tonight the Bruins play host to local rival Pepperdine (18-10)
when the Waves roll into Jackie Robinson Stadium at 6 p.m.

The last time the two clubs met the Bruins squeaked out a 6-5
win in Malibu behind an evenly distributed pitching effort and the
hot bats of Ben Francisco (3 for 5) and Brian Baron (4 for 5). UCLA
scored two runs in the top of the ninth to overcome a one-run
deficit to win their ninth game of the season.

Pepperdine comes off of a weekend series with Gonzaga that saw
the Waves win the first two games of the series, but lose the third
in an attempt to sweep. Senior Jared Pitney leads the team in
batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, home
runs, runs batted in and hits. The Waves pitchers hold opponents to
a .253 batting average and have an impressive team ERA of 3.84.