MICHAEL MANTEL Chris Cordeiro pitched
seven and two-thirds of shutout ball against Florida Atlantic. The
Bruins came away with an 11-5 victory, Saturday.
By Scott Bair
Daily Bruin Reporter
Maybe 13 isn’t an unlucky number after all.
The man who has been wearing No. 13 for over the last 28 years,
UCLA head coach Gary Adams, led his Bruin squad to victory for the
900th time on Sunday when UCLA beat the Florida Atlantic Blue Wave
11-5.
Adams went into the three-game series just two wins away from
900, but after Friday’s 23-13 loss there was a feeling that
milestone win would never come.
Six UCLA pitchers gave up 16 walks and three hit batsmen in the
four hour pitching disaster. Starting pitcher Mike Davern walked
five of the nine batters that he faced.
The Bruin bullpen could not reverse the team’s fortunes.
When they weren’t handing out walks like flyers on Bruin
walk, they were testing how fast the scoreboard operator could
increase the Florida Atlantic total.
“Just like hitting is contagious, losing a feel for the
strike zone happens in much the same way,” UCLA pitching
coach Gary Adcock said.
An example of how bad it was going for the UCLA bullpen was
senior Nick Lyon, who entered his first game of the year on Friday.
He came in during the third and left the game without retiring a
batter, giving up two walks, one hit batter, and a hit. All four of
those hitters scored, giving Lyon an ERA of infinity for the 2002
season.
The Bruins (4-3) walked back to the clubhouse in expectation of
a tongue lashing that was sure to come from Adams and the UCLA
coaching staff in their normal postgame meeting.
It would have been fitting, maybe even comforting, to be yelled
at after a performance like that.
Instead, the Bruin players heard nothing from No. 13. He
cancelled the postgame meeting and walked into his office without a
word.
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“The team knew how I felt after Friday’s
game,” Adams said. “I didn’t need to say
anything. At that point, I think that silence was the best
thing.”
The strategy worked.
The Bruins were left to their own thoughts on Friday night and
on Saturday, they emerged from the clubhouse a different team.
Saturday’s starter Chris Cordeiro set the tone for the new
Bruin squad by shutting out the Blue Wave (2-4) over 7.2
innings.
In a word, Cordeiro was dominant.
Cordeiro took a no-hitter into the fifth and only allowed two
runners to get into scoring position. He struck out seven and
walked only one batter in his 104 pitch outing.
“I took it as a personal challenge to come out on Saturday
and change the attitude of this pitching staff,” Cordeiro
said. “I just wanted to throw strikes and let my defense do
the work.”
The Bruin defense, led by the textbook middle infield play of
shortstop Preston Griffin and second baseman Ryan Rasmussen, did
the job for Cordeiro while the offense quietly manufactured enough
runs to ensure a 4-1 victory.
Cordeiro passed the torch of pitching dominance to Sunday
starter Mike Kunes, who was responsible for bringing home
Adam’s 900th win.
His left arm secured the 11-5 victory by holding FAU to two runs
over seven innings of work. Kunes worked out of every jam he got
into and allowed the bullpen to make Friday night’s
embarrassment a distant memory.
Casey Grzecka’s four RBIs and another solid defensive
performance solidified the win.
Those wins never may have come without the silence from No. 13,
who gave the Bruins the luck and motivation to win the weekend
series.
Ңbull;Ӣbull;Ӣbull;
The Bruins will try to continue the winning trend during
Monday’s 2 p.m. contest against Loyola Marymount University
at LMU’s George Page Stadium.