TYSON EVANS Freshman pitcher David Johnson
winds up for the pitch against Loyola Marymount at Jackie Robinson
Stadium last night.
By Jeff Agase
Daily Bruin Staff
Two times the long ball gave the UCLA baseball team the lead
yesterday, but it was an insurance run off an error that gave it
the win.
Freshman Matt Thayer’s ground ball up the middle in the
bottom of the eighth got through the Loyola Marymount infield to
score Ryan McCarthy, and the Bruins held on in the top of the ninth
for a 10-9 win.
Four UCLA players hit home runs in the win, which put the Bruins
(11-10) above .500 for the first time since Feb. 22. Freshman Wes
Whisler hit his first collegiate home run to give the Bruins a 3-0
lead in the second.
Dubbed “Mr. Baseball” as a high school player in
Indiana, Whisler had struggled thus far, hitting only .211 in 38
at-bats.
“It felt great,” Whisler said. “I’ve
been working on a lot of things in practice lately, things like
timing and floating my hands, and it finally came
around.”
Although the Bruins never relinquished a lead that ballooned up
to 8-1 in the fifth inning, the Lions (5-12) tied it up in the
sixth.
Freshman David Johnson came in after starter Doug Silva loaded
the bases, but he was unable to find any control and walked in two
runs.
At 8-5, Johnson sat down in favor of Mike Kunes, who has been
one of the better Bruin relievers. Kunes threw the pitch he wanted
to Kris Zacuto, but the LMU left fielder hammered a 1-2 pitch for a
three RBI double to tie things at 8-8.
UCLA head coach Gary Adams has struggled all season to find a
modicum of consistency from his bullpen, but is still coming up
empty.
“I talk to them about being consistent every day,”
Adams said. “We need to be as consistent as the security
personnel at the Tel Aviv airport. We seem to watch the game go by
now and then.”
With the score still tied, senior Adam Berry hit his fifth home
run in as many games to give the Bruins a 9-8 lead. Two innings
later, McCarthy’s run extended the lead to two.
Freshman Billy Susdorf, yet another member of the UCLA bullpen
by committee, allowed one run in the top of the ninth but put the
game away with a ground ball out to third.