UCLA baseball regains momentum and rankings during five-game winning streak
Members of No. 15 UCLA baseball cheer from the dugout during a game April 3. The Bruins returned to the rankings Monday after sweeping then-No. 21 Oregon at home. (Jenny Xu/Daily Bruin)
By Jay Fenn
April 5, 2022 2:46 p.m.
Just over a month ago, the Bruins dropped back-to-back midweek contests to Pepperdine and Omaha.
“We have a lot of work ahead of us,” said coach John Savage after the loss to the Mavericks.
Forty days later, the Bruins have climbed their way back into the national conversation, making their highest appearance of the season at No. 15 in the national rankings.
No. 15 UCLA baseball (19-8, 6-3 Pac-12) is riding a five-game winning streak – its longest of the season – after a sweep of then-No. 21 Oregon and a series win in Tucson over then-No. 11 Arizona the weekend prior. The five straight wins has earned the blue and gold its first appearance in the regular-season rankings.
Freshman outfielder Malakhi Knight – who delivered the game-tying two-run double Sunday against the Ducks – said the weekend was a turning point for the Bruins.
“It (was) a huge weekend,” Knight said. “We’ve had some momentum lately but just as a group, we’ve been playing better baseball lately and have had more confidence.”
Prior to the weekend slate against Oregon, UCLA took on UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday, a game that marked the return of infielder Kyle Karros after the sophomore missed 23 games because of a wrist injury. The Karros finished the weekend 6-of-15 and capped it off with the game-winning home run Sunday to clinch the series sweep.
Karros said it was difficult to watch the team on the sidelines for so long, but he is excited to be back in the lineup contributing.
“I obviously have been watching, and I saw what we did in Arizona, and my thing was when I come back, I just got to add to it,” Karros said. “Playing Oregon, they’re another really good team. I was just going to make sure the team was ready to go mentally and stay tough no matter what happened.”
The Bruins faced several challenges throughout the series, whether that be coming from behind to win in all three games, or watching freshman right-hander Thatcher Hurd – the Pac-12 leader in ERA – leave the field six pitches into his start Sunday.
Knight said it was difficult to watch the team’s starter leave the mound the way he did, but the team knew there was still work to be done.
“Thatcher going down was really scary, but we all came together and regrouped,” Knight said. “We knew we had to fight even more if we wanted to win the game.”
In its final game of the series against Arizona on March 27, Savage implemented a lineup change that he has stuck with since. The 18-year coach decided to start three freshmen – Knight and freshmen infielders Cody Schrier and Ethan Gourson.
Over the five-game winning streak, the trio has combined for eight runs, 12 hits, 11 walks and three HBPs.
Knight said the freshmen have learned and improved as the season has progressed, gaining valuable experience in the progress.
“We’re just staying the course,” Knight said. “There’s going to be ups and downs. We’ve all kind of struggled, so just knowing that we’re all good and well enough to play with these other guys, it’s just having confidence.”
The Bruins currently sit in second place in the Pac-12, with the newly-installed conference championship tournament looming in May. Savage said while it is easy to look ahead, his focus is simply on making the most of each day.
“My main focus is practice tomorrow,” Savage said Sunday. “Handling success and handling failure is so important. We want to face adversity in some regard, and I thought in the beginning of the year we did that.”
UCLA will next face off against Loyola Marymount at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
