NICOLE MILLER/ Daily Bruin Adam Berry
gets a hit in a game against Arizona last month.
By Jeff Agase
Daily Bruin Reporter
After nearly six hours of baseball Wednesday night at Cal State
Fullerton’s Goodwin Field, the UCLA baseball team felt as if
it had just finished a marathon.
Unfortunately for the Bruins (25-13), they finished in second
place.
Shane Costa’s single to left field in the bottom of the
14th inning gave the No. 11 Titans (28-10) an 11-10 triumph in one
of the longest games in UCLA baseball history.
The loss extended the Bruin losing streak against Fullerton to
seven games, dating back to March 1997.
“We’re disappointed that we lost, obviously, and
very tired,” centerfielder Matt Pearl said. “We fought
the whole 14 innings against a very tough team.”
The Bruins did not lose because of a lack of chances. UCLA
stranded 22 runners on base and failed to hold a 9-1 lead after the
fifth inning, a 9-8 edge after the eighth and a 10-9 advantage in
the 11th.
Reliever Doug Silva came in at the bottom of the ninth with a
one-run lead and gave up a game-tying home run with one away to
Mike Rouse. Silva retired the next batter, but loaded up the bases
with two outs.
Bruin senior Josh Canales stepped up with a stellar defensive
putout to give the 1,044 fans on hand some free baseball.
Eric Reece stepped up in the top of the 11th with what could
have been a game-winning solo home run. But the Titans responded in
the bottom half of the inning with a run of their own.
At the top of the 14th, the Bruins loaded the bases with only
one out, but Canales was unable to get a hit through the Titan
infield and the next Bruin batter, Matt Pearl, made the third
out.
Sophomore Mike Kunes got the starting nod for the Bruins, who
had senior Jon Brandt scheduled to start but decided otherwise when
Brandt’s back pains rendered him unable to throw.
“It was a little unexpected coming into the game,”
Kunes said. “I thought I might get a bullpen appearance. I
went in and did my thing and mainly focused on throwing strikes and
giving my team a chance.”
Kunes gave the Bruins a productive 5 1/3 innings, surrendering
seven hits and only one run before exiting in the sixth inning in
favor of Wade Clark.
Two pitches later, two Titan home runs brought Fullerton within
two and set the stage for its game-tying and game-extending
comeback.
By game’s end, there were more fans present to see a
scheduled 7 p.m. high school game between Esperanza and Cypress
High Schools than Bruin or Titan faithful.
The coaches combined to send 25 different batters up to face a
total of 13 pitchers in a game that was longer than any UCLA Head
Coach Gary Adams had experienced in over 26 years of coaching the
Bruins.
After the game, Adams was noticeably upset but chose to shed
light on a gutsy performance by his squad.
“I never feel great after a loss, but I was very proud of
our guys,” he said. “We lost a commanding lead, but you
had to be here to appreciate how hard we played.”
 Original by ADAM BROWN/Daily Bruin Web adaptation by
MONICA KWONG/Daily Bruin Senior Staff