NICOLE MILLER/Daily Bruin Senior Eric
Reece waits for the throw to first base to tag out the
Oregon State runner in Saturday’s 11-inning win.
UCLA 5, OSU 3 UCLA 7, OSU 6
OSU 11, UCLA 8
By Adam Karon
Daily Bruin Staff
Someone forgot to tell the Bruins to quit. After a three week
tailspin left the UCLA baseball team’s playoff hopes in
doubt, many believed the Bruins should pack it up.
“They had every reason in the world to count us
out,” senior shortstop Josh Canales said. “As a
team we know what we’re about and we weren’t about
giving up.”
UCLA took this attitude into a three game set against Oregon
State, winning the first two games in dramatic fashion before
succumbing to the Beavers on Sunday.
Friday’s game came down to the last at bat. Down 3-1 in
the bottom of the ninth, the Bruins scratched out a pair of runs to
tie the game and set the stage for a dramatic finish. Senior first
baseman Eric Reece slammed a two-run home run over the right-center
field wall to give the Bruins the walk-off victory 5-3.
Reece also set the stage for UCLA’s ninth-inning comeback
that sent the game to extra innings. He led off with a single and
was later chased home for the Bruins’ second run of the game.
A Canales RBI infield single tied it up, and Reece finished the
Beavers off in the tenth.
“We have to play every game like it’s our last
because we have to win pretty much all of our games,” senior
centerfielder Matt Pearl said.
Senior Bobby Roe started Friday’s game and pitched six and
one third innings, giving up three runs and five hits.
Pearl was a major contributor to Sunday’s victory over the
Beavers. He went 3 of 6 with a home run and eventually scored
the winning run in the 11th inning.
The Bruins were down to their last out in the ninth, but Pearl
saved the day with a game-tying RBI single up the middle scoring
Canales, who played a prominent role in both comebacks.
“I seemed to be up there during the pressure
situations,” Canales said. Â “The only thing I
could see was our playoff hopes.”
After drawing even in the ninth, the Bruins once again found
themselves behind, this time 6-4 in the tenth. Â
Junior second baseman Randall Shelley led off the inning with a
home run, and sophomore leftfielder Christian Lewis followed with a
double to dead center field that nearly left the yard. Lewis scored
to tie the game, salvaging the Bruins playoff hopes.
“Every game is important,” said Lewis, who went 2 of
5 on the day. Â “We’re showing our true colors
right now, and we’re getting the job done.”
Unfortunately UCLA was unable to get the job done in
Sunday’s game. Â The first inning set the tone as the
Beavers scored four runs on just two hits off of senior starter Jon
Brandt. Â
Errors, which plagued the Bruins earlier this season cost the
Bruins an important victory. UCLA committed six mistakes on the
day, including two crucial miscues in the ninth which allowed the
Beavers to score a pair of insurance runs.
“I hate it when we beat ourselves,” Head Coach Gary
Adams said. “We made mistakes on the mound, and we made
mistakes in the field.”
The Bruins seemed destined for another comeback as they loaded
the bases with one out in the ninth, but Shelley struck out and
sophomore rightfielder Ben Francisco flied to center to end the
threat.