Original graphic by CONNIE WU/Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Kansas State d. UCLA 8-5, 13-12, 11-7
By Dylan Hernandez
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The UCLA baseball team, already doubled over by the fusillade of
body blows it received in conference play, was dealt a devastating
uppercut over the weekend by Kansas State.
The Bruins (25-16) were dropped in every contest of their
three-game set against the Wildcats (20-21), losing 8-5, 13-12 and
11-7.
“We had no pitching and no hitting,” senior
designated hitter Brian Baron said. “You can have all the
offense in the world but if you don’t have pitching and
defense, you don’t win.”
UCLA flew to Kansas well aware that it could use a sweep. With
their conference record at 6-6, the Bruins have to rely heavily on
their computer ranking to get into the NCAA Tournament and a few
wins against Kansas State would have improved their Ratings
Percentage Index.
In Friday’s season opener, UCLA sent junior ace Josh Karp
to the mound. Karp threw well, striking out six in 6 1/3 innings
while holding the Wildcats to five hits and three earned runs. The
Bruins’ porous defense, however, allowed five unearned runs
to score, aiding Kansas State in handing Karp (4-1) his first loss
of the season.
UCLA out-hit its opposition 12 to 6, but committed four errors
and stranded eight runners on base.
The Bruins were slightly more careful with the ball and were
able to retaliate the following day. Or so it seemed.
Originally scheduled to start at 2 p.m., Saturday’s game
was pushed back to 4 p.m. to accommodate the Kansas State football
team’s spring practice. Since Frank Myers Field was still
under construction and had no lights, the game had to be suspended
in the top of the ninth inning when darkness set in. At the time,
UCLA was leading 12-9.
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Baron and right fielder Ben Francisco each had four hits on the
day. Wade Clark, who relieved Diaz on the mound in the fourth
inning, had a decent outing, allowing one run in three innings of
work.
The game resumed on Sunday preceding the series finale and the
soft Bruin gloves once again turned into steel. A pair of UCLA
errors in the infield helped load the bases for Kansas State
shortstop Omar Castillo, who drove home all three runners with a
double to give his team a 13-12 victory.
“I wish we could’ve finished that game (on
Saturday),” UCLA Head Coach Gary Adams said. “We had
momentum but we lost it. But even then I liked our chances. Shoot,
we had a three-run lead.”
The Bruins cut down their number of errors to two in the last
game, but it didn’t matter. With the exception of freshman
Mike Davern, who made a 3 1/3-inning appearance and gave up only
one run, UCLA’s pitchers were largely ineffective.
Kansas State’s starter, Brock Smith, didn’t look
like a future Cy Young Award-winner either, but his seven-inning,
seven-runs-allowed performance was more than enough, as the
Wildcats scored 11 runs on 13 hits.
Home runs by Christian Lewis, and Josh Arhart went to waste in
the Bruins’ 11-7 loss.
“This wasn’t a Pac-10 weekend,” said senior
pitcher Paul Diaz, who started on Saturday. “You can’t
take it easy, but there’s not as much pressure. Maybe there
was a bit of a let-up.”
It’s quite possible that the downslide will continue with
contests at No. 27 Long Beach State and No. 6 USC coming up.
The Bruins face Long Beach State today at 7 p.m. UCLA beat the
49ers last Tuesday at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
Following the bout with the 49ers, the Bruins will go to USC to
clash with the Trojans in a three-game conference series.
Diaz, however, sees the strong opposition as a plus.
“We need to let people know we’re still
alive,” he said. “What better way to do that than to
play Long Beach State and USC.”