UCLA loses match late in ninth

Pepperdine 4 UCLA 3

By Dylan Hernandez
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Again, there was reason to celebrate.

But again, the UCLA baseball team had to cancel its celebration
because of a final-inning collapse.

True freshman David Johnson, in only the second start of his
collegiate career, threw six innings of scoreless ball Tuesday
afternoon at Pepperdine, only to see the Bruin lead disappear with
a single swing of the bat.

Johnson sat on the Bruin bench as Duke Sardinha hit a
base-clearing, bases-loaded single off reliever Wade Clark in the
bottom of the ninth in the Waves’ 4-3 win at Eddy D. Field
Stadium in front of 117 fans.

It was the second time in as many games that UCLA (14-20) lost
in the final inning. The Bruins dropped a game to Cal on Sunday on
a bases-loaded home run in the bottom of the ninth.

“It seems like it,” said Johnson when asked if he
felt the team was jinxed. “We have to come out and do it
ourselves. We can’t expect it to just happen. We
shouldn’t have to factor in luck.”

“That might be a good way to put it,” second baseman
Ryan Rasmussen added in response to the same question. “In
baseball, stuff happens.”

Of course, it could have been worse for UCLA.

After all, for a team to choke, it has to put itself in a
position to do so.

And through eight-and-a-half innings, the Bruins did enough to
hold a 3-1 lead.

Johnson, who entered the contest with a 7.08 ERA, would have
given the Bruins plenty reason to celebrate had they not been
clipped at the end.

Johnson, working behind his fastball to effectively set up his
off-speed pitches, struck out three batters. He gave up four hits
and walked two.

He later said he felt much more comfortable starting than he did
coming out of the bullpen. In his one previous start ““ on
Feb. 13 against Hawaii-Hilo ““ Johnson held the opposition
scoreless for five frames.

“I’ve been a starting pitcher my whole life,”
Johnson said. “(As a reliever), I was having trouble with my
routine to get ready. I didn’t know how much to throw in the
“˜pen.

His superb outing, however, was a result of more than that. The
half-season behind him, he said, has done him some good.

“Facing college hitting, I’ve learned a lot,”
Johnson said. “I feel better locating my fastball. You could
get away with throwing the ball down the middle in high school. But
here, if you miss a spot you’re in trouble.”

UCLA opened the scoring in the third, when Sardinha threw away a
Rasmussen grounder, allowing shortstop Ryan McCarthy to cross
home.

The Bruins added a pair of runs the following inning. Casey
Grzeka doubled in Adam Berry and was later brought in himself on a
single by McCarthy.

But those two runs weren’t enough. The Waves retaliated
with one in the seventh and three in the ninth.

“We played good defense, we made key plays, but we
didn’t hit the ball well,” Rasmussen said. “We
should have more than six runs a game.”

Pepperdine, which dropped its first game against the Bruins 10-6
on March 12 at Jackie Robinson Stadium, improved to 18-18. Reliever
Robert Hobbs earned the win for Pepperdine.

Next up for UCLA is a three-game weekend homestand against
Arizona State.