Tight, strong pitching doesn’t quite make the play

Long Beach St. 4 UCLA 3

By Scott Bair
Daily Bruin Reporter

UCLA pitching coach Gary Adcock had a short leash on his Bruin
Bulldogs during Tuesday night’s contest against Long Beach
State, but he can’t really be blamed for having a short hook.
The Bruin bullpen has blown so many leads that Adcock has every
right to distrust his bullpen.

“We hadn’t played in seven days, so I had everyone
available,” Adcock said. “With all of the relievers at
my disposal, I wanted to put them in a situation where they could
succeed.”

Until the end, Adcock’s strategy looked like it was
working.

Bruin starter Mike Kunes had a predetermined pitch count of 60,
but Adcock pulled him after 51. Kunes pitched well in those 51,
allowing two runs on three hits, but wasn’t allowed to
continue past the first batter in the fourth.

Although the Bruins’ hitters had not played a game in
seven days, they had no problem remembering how to hit. Catcher
Josh Arhart and first baseman Wes Whisler provided the pop in the
first inning. They hit back-to-back two-out RBI doubles, scoring
the first two runs of the game.

With the game locked at two, Adcock gave his bullpen an even
smaller margin for error. No Bruin reliever exceeded 26 pitches
over the next six innings. Most of them pitched well, and the ones
who didn’t were pulled before too much damage could be
done.

However, sometimes a short leash isn’t short enough. With
Billy Sudsdorf, the seventh pitcher of the night, on the mound in
the bottom of the ninth, no length of leash could have saved
Adcock’s Bruins from defeat.

49er first baseman Paul McAnulty, who has nine RBI’s in
his last 15 at-bats, hit a walk-off moonshot over the center-field
wall to win the game for Long Beach State by a score of 4-3.

Sudsdorf had pitched well the inning before, working fastballs
away from the 49er hitters. On that fateful pitch, Sudsdorf missed
his location and the ball flew right over the middle of the
plate.

“I had actually planned on bunting, but the coaches said
no,” McAnulty said. “When he threw it, I just saw a
great big ball coming, so I just swung as hard as I could and it
went over the fence. Boy, am I glad that I didn’t
bunt.”

The 925 fans in attendance erupted with exuberance as the 49ers
pulled out a last-minute victory. The Bruins however, were not too
distraught. With the promise of a second season that will start
Friday with the beginning of their conference schedule, the Bruins
held their heads high as they boarded the bus for the ride
home.

“You have to tip your cap to the other team in situations
like that,” Arhart said. “We just have to let that one
go. We have a new season coming up on Friday and it will do us
nothing but harm if we let this loss stick with us.”