UCLA baseball secures opening day win with shutout starting pitching performance
Sophomore Jake Brooks prepares to throw a pitch. The UCLA baseball right-hander earned the win against Cal State Northridge on Friday at Jackie Robinson Stadium, becoming the first Bruin sophomore to record an opening day win in over a decade. (Jenny Xu/Daily Bruin)
By Jared Tay
Feb. 19, 2022 1:25 p.m.
When Jake Brooks left the mound and walked toward the dugout, the home crowd was on its feet.
The sophomore right-hander’s teammates swarmed out to greet him, hands held out for high-fives all around him.
“It felt good,” Brooks said. “There were a lot of built-up emotions leading up to tonight.”
Brooks beamed as he went down the steps, his five innings of shutout pitching paving the way for UCLA baseball’s (1-0) 9-2 opening day win over Cal State Northridge (0-1) at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Brooks was the first Bruin sophomore starter on opening day to record a win in over a decade – the last sophomore Bruin to do so was current New York Yankees right-hander Gerrit Cole in 2010.
With his Friday night start, Brooks joined a list of sophomore opening day starters that includes alumni James Kaprielian and Adam Plutko, pitchers who have either pitched for, or currently pitch for, MLB teams.
“A lot of great people come through here,” Brooks said. “That’s why I came here – to be great.”
At the start of the new year, coach John Savage said Brooks’ name wasn’t the first to mind when it came to naming a Friday night starter. However, a back injury to junior right-hander Jared Karros – the Bruins’ opening day starter in 2021 – and an oblique injury to freshman left-hander Gage Jump had Savage searching for another starter.
“Jake wasn’t really penciled in to be a Friday night guy,” Savage said. “Two months ago, you didn’t know where he fitted. But he did what he needed to do.”
What Brooks needed to do was perform intrateam scrimmages leading up to opening night, according to Savage.
He did just that.
“His past few (scrimmages), he’s been basically untouchable,” said freshman outfielder Malakhi Knight.
Brooks said after a string of good practices earlier in the week, he found out Monday he was named the Bruins’ top arm to open the season.
From the first inning, Brooks induced ground balls early and often, getting the Matadors to roll over twice in the first frame. It was more ground balls from the next two batters to start the second inning, and the sophomore recorded his first strikeout in the top of the third.
Brooks faced traffic on the bases twice, with two runners reaching in each of the second and fourth innings, but he stranded runners on second base both times. In his final frame of work, the sophomore struck out two and forced another Matador to bounce out.
From the Bruin offense, Brooks was helped by crooked numbers in the second and fourth innings. The team’s 16 total knocks were the most hits in an opening day since 2010 when UCLA faced Southern University – the same game that was Cole’s first season-opening start. After a two spot in the second, the blue and gold came around four times in the bottom of the fourth to push the lead to six runs.
UCLA’s lineup featured three freshmen and two graduate transfers. They were the ones to fill the shoes for the NCAA-leading 10 Bruins that were selected in the 2021 MLB Draft. Despite the professional-level talent leaving the program, the blue and gold brought in the No.1 recruiting class in the nation.
One of those recruits was Knight, out of Marysville Getchell High School in Marysville, Washington, who led the Bruin freshmen with a 3-for-4 night. He logged two singles in the fourth and fifth innings, but his night was highlighted by a first-pitch home run that rang off his bat, flying over the wall in left-center field to bring the score to 8-2.
“It was an incredible feeling,” Knight said. “I’ve been dreaming of stuff like this since I was a little kid.”
Freshman right-hander Alonzo Tredwell made an appearance in relief after Brooks’ departure, allowing one earned run in an inning of work. Freshman right-hander Luke Jewett held CSUN hitless over two innings, and redshirt freshman right-hander Chris Aldrich slammed the door shut in the ninth.
With his team’s 1-0 to start the season, Savage said he was torn on how to assess the big-picture outlook for his squad of newcomers.
“There’s a lot of really, good young players, (but) it takes time,” Savage said. “Anything good takes time.”
Brooks had different words after the game.
“We proved we’re the real deal,” Brooks said.
