UCLA no-namers play roles to perfection in win at UCR

By Scott Bair

Daily Bruin Reporter

Ryan McCarthy. Billy Susdorf. Nick Lyon.

If these names don’t ring a bell, don’t be
surprised.

If they repeat their efforts in UCLA’s 4-2 victory at UC
Riverside, maybe their names will become a little more common
place.

McCarthy accounted for half of the Bruin offense, driving in
Susdorf on both occasions. He had an RBI single in the fourth and a
run-scoring double in the fifth.

“I struck out early in the game on change-ups low and
away,” McCarthy said. “I knew that he would come back
with another change-up, so I waited for it and drove the first one
into the gap.”

UCLA designated hitter Adam Berry and right fielder Ben
Francisco have provided most of the firepower for the Bruins
(16-22) so far this season, but in this game the Bruin stars
quietly manufactured the other two runs.

Francisco got himself in position to score the game’s
first run with a first inning double. But he didn’t stay on
second base for very long. He stole third during the next at bat
and catcher Josh Arhart did his job by getting the ball in the air
for a sacrifice fly.

UCLA pitching coach Gary Adcock, in an effort to save his best
pitchers for weekend conference play, threw a long list of lesser
known hurlers against UCR (22-17).

Brandon Averill, who normally starts at third base, took the
mound for the Bruins Tuesday night. He had a shutout with one out
to go in the third. Adcock then pulled his starter in favor of
seldom-used reliever Nick Lyon.

Lyon (1-0) hadn’t pitched much in the last month and a
half because on some early season troubles. Lyon spent his time off
working on his arm strength and on his change-up, which helped him
get his first victory of the season.

“I was trying to keep my fastball down and use the slider
as my out pitch,” Lyon said. “My slider wasn’t
working tonight, so I went to the change-up that I’ve been
working on and it got me through.”

For as well as the Bruin no-namers pitched, the bullpen could
not let the game go by without turning a couple more of
Adcock’s hairs from brown to gray.

UCLA reliever Mike Kunes allowed two singles in the bottom of
the eighth and issued a one-out walk to load the bases for UCR. The
Bruin coaches started to pace the dugout in anticipation of another
blown save.

But instead, Kunes got himself back together, striking out the
next hitter and getting the final out on a fielder’s
choice.

With the late-inning crisis averted, the Bruin bullpen
solidified the strong efforts of the role players instead of
erasing it as they have in the past.