By Nick Taylor
Daily Bruin Contributor
At times this season, the breaks haven’t gone the way of
the UCLA baseball team. But good teams find a way to create their
own breaks.
The Bruins advanced to the NCAA Super Regional Sunday, beating
Oklahoma 11-3 and securing a three-game series this weekend with
Louisiana State, with the winner advancing to the College World
Series.
UCLA took the minimum three games to advance out of its regional
last weekend in Oklahoma.
Leftfielder Bill Scott’s towering flyball dropped for an
RBI double as the Bruins beat first-game opponent Delaware, 13-12,
with a three run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning on
Friday.
The win catapulted UCLA to two straight wins over regional host
Oklahoma and a trip to the Super Regionals against LSU this Friday
in Baton Rouge at 7 p.m. CST.
“Two sun balls were (Delaware’s) undoing,”
UCLA head coach Gary Adams said of the Bruins’ fortune.
“They say good teams take advantage of mistakes and
opportunities.”
After spotting Delaware a 12-7 lead after five and half innings,
the Bruins came back by scoring two in the sixth and one in the
seventh. But they still trailed by two going into their last
at-bat.
Then UCLA made things happen. Chase Utley, named the Oklahoma
Regional most outstanding player, led off with a double to bring
the tying run to the plate. After Garrett Atkins lined out came the
biggest play of the regional.
Scott hit a flyball high into the sun. The Delaware outfield
couldn’t track the ball and it dropped for a double, scoring
Utley and cutting the lead to one.
“We’ve had really good outfield play all year, but
we obviously didn’t today,” Delaware head coach Bob
Hannah said.
Forrest Johnson then ripped a double down the left field line to
tie the game. Adam Berry was walked intentionally, bringing Charles
Merricks to the plate. Merricks promptly singled, putting the
winning run on third. Randall Shelley then blooped a single into
left-center for the victory.
“Our team has really been on a roller-coaster lately, but
one through nine, we all did a good job hitting,” Scott
said.
UCLA starter Rob Henkel struck out nine batters through
five-plus innings, but left after facing two batters in the sixth.
Trailing 11-6, Adams brought usual starter Bobby Roe in to relieve.
That move saved the game for the Bruins.
Roe allowed only one unearned run over four innings to earn his
seventh victory, holding Delaware down long enough for UCLA to come
back.
Had UCLA lost in the opening contest, the Bruins would have
dropped into the loser’s bracket in the double-elimination
format. To survive, they would have had to win two games on
Saturday and two games on Sunday to win the regional. But by
staying in the winner’s bracket, all UCLA needed to do was
win one game each day.
They did exactly that.
Against Oklahoma on Saturday, UCLA used two big innings to beat
the Sooners. The Bruins scored five in the first, staking starter
Josh Karp to a big lead. Karp cruised for seven innings, allowing
only one run. But with a 6-1 lead in the eighth, things began to
get interesting.
Karp ran into trouble, allowing three runs to score. Ryan Carter
was then brought in to relieve the Bruins’ ace, but gave up a
hit and a walk.
Leading by two and desperate, UCLA head coach Gary Adams brought
in closer Jon Brandt.
With the bases loaded, Brandt struck out Josh Witcher on a wild
pitch for the second out, but one run scored on the play. But with
the go-ahead runs on second and third, Jerome Godsey grounded out,
preserving UCLA’s one-run lead.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, UCLA struck back with four
runs, extending the lead to a more comfortable five. Brandt got
through the ninth to earn the save as the Bruins won, 10-5, moving
one win from the Super Regionals.
“We know we have a good team right now. We (the 15
third-year teammates) have been preparing for this for three
years,” Brandt said.
The squad faced Oklahoma again on Sunday with the Sooners
needing two wins to advance.
But UCLA starter Ryan Carter didn’t give Oklahoma any
chance to come back. Carter pitched eight innings, allowing only
four hits and two earned runs. Meanwhile, the Bruin offense picked
up, as five players collected multiple hits. Scott led the way with
four, giving him 110 on the year and breaking Troy Glaus’s
single-season school record. The team scored six runs in the third,
giving Carter all the support he needed.
“I was thinking I would pitch five innings. That was my
goal. I just went one batter at a time and the next thing I knew it
was the eighth inning,” Carter said.
The victory was especially sweet for Carter, given that he
started the opening game of the year, then got hurt. When he
returned his role changed and he never regained his starting
spot.
“Ryan Carter really stepped it up,” Adams said.
“He’s an experienced pitcher. Today, we did it with
everything; pitching, hitting and defense.”
Eight Bruins were named to the all-regional team: Johnson,
Atkins, Utley, Shelley, Scott, Merricks, Karp and Carter. Scott
went eight for 15 on the weekend while Utley was seven for 15 with
seven runs scored. Atkins had seven hits and eight RBIs, and
Johnson and Merricks each had six hits for the Bruins in
Oklahoma.
In addition, four Bruins ““Scott, Johnson, Atkins and Utley
““ were named to Collegiate Baseball’s All-American
team. Scott made the first team, Johnson was named to the second,
and Atkins and Utley made the third team.