EDWARD LIN/Daily Bruin Senior Paul Diaz
pitches during a game earlier this season. The Bruins will face
Oregon State on Saturday.
By Adam Karon
Daily Bruin Staff
No one needs to tell the Bruins how important this
weekend’s home series at Jackie Robinson Stadium against
Oregon State really is.
The team already knows its playoff chances are slim after
dropping 11 of its last 13 games. But the Bruins are clearly not
ready to give in, as demonstrated by Wednesday’s 9-3
throttling of No. 1 Fullerton.
“We know that we have to win out basically in order to
have a shot at the playoffs,” Wednesday’s starting
pitcher Jon Brandt said. “This (Fullerton) game shows that if
we play well, play our game, we can compete with
anybody.”
Brandt will have to play a large role if the team is going to
make it to the postseason. His start Wednesday showed that he was
over his back injury, and will get the start Sunday afternoon
against the Beavers.
Brandt and the rest of the pitching staff will have to contend
with a potent Beaver offense featuring third baseman Brian Barden,
who recently tied a school record for hits in a season with 75.
Barden leads the team in batting average (.371) and has a team-high
53 RBI.
As a team, the Beavers are first in the Pac-10 in home runs
(51), second in batting average (.322) and third in runs scored
(371).
“We know that OSU can really swing the bat,” UCLA
Hitting Coach Vince Beringhele said. “We know that it’s
a tall task, but we’re going to come ready to
play.”
Defensively, the Beavers tied for first in double plays and lead
the league in runners caught stealing.
On the mound, OSU is led by Thad Johnson and Scott Nicholson,
each of whom as turned in more than 100 innings pitched in
2001.
The name of the game for UCLA is momentum, and they will turn to
senior Bobby Roe on Friday to get them started. Junior Josh Karp
will pitch Saturday, and Brandt will close it out on Sunday.
Last year, the Bruins swept the Beavers convincingly in
Corvallis. They’ll need another sweep if they want to
continue playing come June.
“We know that every game counts now,” outfielder Ben
Francisco said. “We need to win out to get into the
playoffs.”
With both Brandt and Karp coming off injuries, UCLA should be
firing on all cylinders. The third victory this season over a No. 1
team provides momentum, something coaches and players know is
invaluable when the playoffs role around.
“We’re going to make a run at it, there’s no
doubt about it,” Brandt said of the last few weeks of the
season. “We need to take three from OSU this weekend, and
hopefully we can do that.”