By Dylan Hernandez
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
In the six-day stretch between last Friday and this Wednesday,
the UCLA baseball team played five games, the last of which was a
torturous 14-inning 11-10 loss to Cal State Fullerton.
But instead of resting this weekend, the Bruins (25-13) will
face Kansas State (17-21) halfway across the country in a
three-game nonconference set that begins today.
“We had a bye on our schedule, and it’s not good to
go a week without playing games,” UCLA Head Coach Gary Adams
said. “We’ve got to stay in a groove.”
UCLA, led by senior designated hitter Brian Baron and his
nation-leading .487 batting average, will go against a struggling
Wildcat squad that is hitting a mere .268 as a team. Kansas State,
however, has five players hitting over .300, including senior
designated hitter Josh Cavender (.336) and sophomore right fielder
Pat Maloney (.333), last week’s Big 12 Player of the
Week.
Sitting in the middle of the Pac-10 with a 6-6 conference
record, the Bruins are aware that they are no shoe-in for the NCAA
tournament and that they need to pick up nonconference wins to
raise their RPI rating.
“We should be thinking nothing less than a sweep,”
Bruin center fielder Matt Pearl said. “We’re tired, but
we’re not going to let that affect us.”
Contrary to what Pearl says, fatigue may indeed be a factor in
the series, as the Bruins have used a considerable number of their
pitchers in recent contests. A back injury to one of their
starters, Jon Brandt, has magnified that problem. UCLA will send
preseason All-American Josh Karp (4-0, 2.61 ERA, 73 strikeouts in
58 2/3 innings) to the hill today. Senior Paul Diaz (3-0, 2.88)
will throw tomorrow. Sunday’s starter has not yet been
determined.
“Hopefully Karp and I can go deep into the game,”
Diaz said. “But regardless, we’ll have enough arms. In
my four years here, this staff is the deepest.”
It will help UCLA that Kansas State will counter with pitchers
who do not exactly resemble Juan Marichal. Its three starters
““ Luke Robertson (5-5, 5.87), Kevin Melcher (2-2, 4.66) and
Brock Smith (1-3, 7.32) ““ have all been roughed up this
season.