UCLA unable to deliver against Cougars

NICOLE MILLER/Daily Bruin Nick Lyon (left) is
greeted by teammate Brandon Averill (center) after Lyon hits a home
run in his first official at bat this season. WSU d. UCLA,
2-1 (3-5, 14-10, 9-6)

By Scott Bair
Daily Bruin Staff

The UCLA baseball team scheduled a post-game barbecue for
players, their parents and the “10th player” support
group after Sunday’s game at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The
barbecue was supposed to be a festive occasion to conclude a three
game series against the hapless Pac-10 doormats from Washington
State (16-25, 4-11 Pac-10).

The Bruin faithful began to line-up for the hamburgers and hot
dogs that were being served hot off the grill. About twenty minutes
after the game, the hamburgers reserved for the guests of honor
started to get cold. The Bruin players couldn’t enjoy the
post-game festivities because they were still on the field. They
were huddled in left field, trying to figure out how they had lost
two games against a team that they should have swept.

UCLA head coach Gary Adams was in the middle of the
congregation, telling his players about his days as a boxer. He
told his players about a match he had in the little town of
Hamilton, Ohio. Adams was on the losing end of a slugfest and his
strategy wasn’t working. While he was dancing in the ring
trying not to get hit, he came to a crossroads ““ he could
give up and admit defeat or he could change his strategy and keep
fighting. Adams chose the latter, and came back to win the
bout.

“I could have given up and stopped fighting, but in order
to win that day, I had to keep fighting through my mistakes and
make adjustments,” Adams said.

Adjustment was something that UCLA (19-25, 5-7) failed to do
during the last two games of the weekend series. The Bruins kept
throwing jabs, but couldn’t seem to deliver the knockout
punch. They were getting hits off the WSU pitchers, but they
weren’t driving runners in. Of the 21 runners UCLA left on
base during Saturday’s 14-10 defeat and Sunday’s 9-6
loss, 12 were in scoring position when the third out was made.

“I don’t think we’re doing a good job of
bearing down in those situations,” second baseman Ryan
Rasmussen said. “We’re getting hits and setting the
table, but with runners in scoring position and two outs, we need
to focus on hitting the ball hard, or keeping it on the ground. We
need to do something that puts pressure on the other team and
forces them to execute.”

Whenever the Bruins put pressure on the Cougars, they
illustrated a talent vastly superior to their Cougar
counterparts.

WSU had an eight-run outburst at the top of the fifth inning in
Saturday’s contest, but the Bruins had plenty of time to make
up for the big inning. After two missed opportunities, the Bruins
looked lackadaisical at the plate in the seventh and eighth
innings. Down nine runs going into the ninth inning, the Bruins
decided to turn it back on. They came close to performing a miracle
comeback, hitting three home runs and scoring five runs in the
ninth. The deficit proved to be too much for one innings work.

“It felt like we turned it off in the middle
innings,” catcher Josh Arhart said after Saturday’s
game. “We can’t do that no matter how far behind we get
because as the ninth inning showed, we have the ability to come
back late in games.”

The pitching staff incurred the same problems as the offense
““ not making adjustments. The pitchers did not learn from the
stellar pitching performance by Mike Kunes and Doug Silva in
Friday’s 5-3 win. Kunes and Silva remained ahead in the count
and kept the ball low during their domination of the WSU
hitters.

The Cougars hit better in the last two games because the
pitchers were getting behind in the count and leaving the ball
up.

“The pitchers left the ball up in the zone on almost all
of the Washington State hits and it cost us,” Arhart
said.

The Bruins’ failure to make adjustments and keep fighting
led to their loss against less-talented Washington State. They
couldn’t enjoy the barbecue that was in their honor
either.