By Nick Taylor
Daily Bruin Contributor
There’s good news and bad news for the UCLA baseball
team.
The good news is that the team won two of three games against
California last weekend and remained one half-game behind Stanford
in the Pac-10 conference.
The bad news is, the Bruins (30-22) have to play a midweek game
against Long Beach State (29-20) today.
“It’s hard … getting pumped for non-conference
games. But if we’re going to be an elite team, we need to win
games like these,” UCLA outfielder Matt Pearl said.
If you haven’t followed UCLA baseball this year, you would
be surprised to see that the Bruins’ record in Tuesday games
is 3-7. The important thing to remember is that these games are
always non-conference matchups, which don’t matter for the
conference standings.
“Our goal is to win the Pac-10,” pitcher Mike Kunes
said. “During weekday games, we’re trying to get people
some work.”
As a result, look for UCLA head coach Gary Adams to use much of
his bullpen tonight. Kunes probably will start the game, but Scott
Arrasmith, Paul Diaz and Kevin Jerkens should see action tonight.
Depending on how the game goes, perhaps even struggling
right-hander Chad Cislak will get to pitch.
“(Cislak) probably won’t pitch, but he might get in.
More likely, he’ll work in a simulated game,” Adams
said.
That, in a nutshell, is how Adams uses midweek games. Instead of
using his best pitchers in games that really don’t count,
Adams would rather concentrate on preparing pitchers for the
conference games. To do that, he’ll let everyone get in some
work in midweek contests and keep his bullpen sharp.
Long Beach State head coach Dave Snow is no different. His team,
affectionately known as the “Dirtbags,” is only 13-12
in non-conference games. Most likely, the 49ers will start either
lefty Bob Cramer or righty Russel Rohlicek. Both pitchers have an
ERA above six.
But the 49ers have a superb bullpen. Their team ERA is 4.27, a
run and a half lower than UCLA’s. They also have a bona fide
closer in 6-foot-4 sophomore right-hander Josh Alliston. Alliston
has nine saves and a 2.55 ERA, striking out 21 in 24 innings of
work. If it comes to a battle of bullpens, Long Beach has a
distinct advantage.
The Bruins would rather the game be decided by the long ball.
UCLA has four players with at least 15 home runs Garrett Atkins,
Chase Utley, Forrest Johnson and Bill Scott and have 97 as a team.
Long Beach State, surprisingly enough, has only 26.
But Long Beach relies much more on the fundamentals ““ the
hit-and-run, sacrifice bunts and stolen bases ““ to
manufacture runs. Four 49ers have at least 11 eleven stolen bases,
led by Bobby Crosby and Chuck Lopez who have 16 apiece. In
contrast, their leading home-run hitter is Crosby, with 8.
Long Beach State also excels at getting its hitters on base to
produce runs. Jeff Jones, their leading hitter at .391, has been
hit 20 times this season.
For both teams, the outcome today is important but not
imperative, as it isn’t a Pac-10 game. But if the Bruins act
like it doesn’t matter at all and play carelessly, Adams will
definitely notice.
“I expect them to play with good fundamentals,” he
said. “It shocks me when they don’t do something right,
because they work so hard at it. You have to be responsible for
playing up to your capabilities.”
So maybe, on one level, the midweek games do matter, and
there’s no reason to expect anything less than a full effort
from UCLA today against Long Beach State.