Bruins sweep weekend games
By Daily Bruin Staff
April 15, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 MARY CIECEK/Daily Bruin Senior Staff First baseman
Eric Reese catches a pop-up in a 4-2 win over
Washington Friday. The Bruins beat the Huskies 11-3 Saturday.
UCLA 4, Washington 2 UCLA 11,
Washington 3
By Scott Bair
Daily Bruin Contributor
Eight down, one to go.
Eight was the number of Pac-10 teams that UCLA starting pitcher
Josh Karp had defeated in his college career going into
Friday’s home matchup with Washington (19-13, 3-9 Pac-10).
The Huskies were the lone team he had yet to defeat.
Growing up in a suburb of Seattle near the Washington campus,
his family and friends back home jokingly refused to let him forget
that the one team he hadn’t beaten was the one he wanted to
beat the most.
After the Bruins (24-12, 6-6) sealed Friday’s victory by
the score of 4-2 and took Saturday’s game 11-3, it is safe to
say that there is no Pac-10 team that has not felt the wrath of
Karp’s 92 mph heat.
It wasn’t just Karp’s fastball that quieted the
Husky bark over seven innings of one-run ball, his secondary
pitches also kept the Washington hitters guessing.
“My curveball was giving me big strikes when I needed them
and my change-up had good movement. I felt that I could throw them
in any count,” Karp said.
While Karp was hurling fire, the UCLA offense caught a spark
that allowed them to score four runs after being shut out the night
before. That spark came in the form of second baseman Josh Canales,
who led off for the first time all season, scoring two runs,
stealing a base, and getting runners into scoring position.
Canales struck out in the first, but a passed ball allowed him
to reach base. Once there, he got himself in position to score and
crossed home on a sacrifice fly by Brian Baron, notching a Bruin
run without a single hit in the inning.
After the first, Washington starter Jeff Carlsen settled into a
groove and matched Karp’s performance stride for stride,
allowing only two hits over the next four innings.
In the sixth, the Bruin bats came alive and took the lead for
good. Canales again started the rally, scoring on a double by Matt
Pearl. Baron would not be left out of the rally, driving Pearl home
on a single down the right field line.
The Bruin bullpen allowed a run in the eighth, which was
immediately countered by a Bruin score in the bottom half of the
inning on a chop single from Christian Lewis. That finalized the
score at 4-2.
When asked what he expected from his team after Friday’s
game for Saturday’s grudge match, UCLA Head Coach Gary Adams
answered, “I expect the same performance, only better
hitting.”
Adams got exactly what he was looking for in Saturday’s
effort with an 11-3 UCLA victory that had eight Bruins get at least
one hit.
Another stellar performance came from the pitching staff. The
leader of the hurlers was senior Paul Diaz, who allowed just two
runs in his last nine innings of work.
Diaz bettered his ERA again Saturday, giving up just one
extra-base hit and two runs in 5 and 2/3 innings.
The better, smarter hitting that Adams was looking for came with
an 11-run outburst that excited the slumping Bruin hitters.
First baseman Eric Reece led the Bruin charge and emerged out of
his own self-proclaimed slump with three hits, three runs and two
RBIs.
With the score tied at two in the bottom of the fourth, Reece
came through with a clutch RBI double to give the Bruins a lead
they would not give up.
The offense continued to score in the fifth, ringing up five
runs on six straight hits, including a three-run home run by
catcher Josh Arhart.
What was most impressive about the offense was how they scored
those 11 runs. They were taking extra bases and challenging the
arms of the Washington outfielders. The Bruins manufactured five
runs because of smart base-running that moved men into scoring
position.
“We’re not afraid to run. We went with the hit and
run twice today and that really seemed to ignite our
offense,” UCLA Hitting Coach Vince Beringhele.
While the victory was sweet, Reece was also interested in the
big picture.
“Our pitching and defense have been solid lately, and now
if our offense can come around, we can make a last winning push
toward the end of the season,” Reece said.
