By Jeff Agase
Daily Bruin Staff
Tony Robbins beware: your gig as one of the world’s most
popular motivational speakers might be up.
As it skids into Pac-10 play with a five-game losing streak, the
UCLA baseball team (13-17) sounds more like a kid talking about his
upcoming birthday than a still nascent team picked to finish eighth
out of nine and the victim of six one-run losses.
When speaking of this weekend’s series at California
(20-14, 3-3 Pac-10), they say things like, “we’re
approaching it as a fresh start” (junior Ben Francisco) and,
“I’m pumped up and confident we’ll do well in
conference play” (senior Josh Arhart).
All this after the Bruin bullpen has been unable to hold even
some of the most imposing leads and the pitching staff is still
desperately seeking two solid performances in a series of three
games.
Thus far, Sunday starter Casey Janssen has been the only starter
to routinely pitch well. The sophomore is 5-1 with a league-leading
1.80 ERA in six starts.
True to the form of this eternally optimistic team that even the
most objective of observers can’t help but root for, pitching
coach Gary Adcock remains patient.
“If their confidence is built only on results, then
we’ve got problems,” he said. “They need
confidence based on every single pitch they throw.”
Then again, maybe the Bruins are on to something with all this
unbridled positivity. They have the Pac-10’s leading home run
hitter (senior Adam Berry with 13) and front-runner in stolen bases
and runs (Francisco with 14 and 34, respectively).
And although the ball has yet to consistently bounce their
proverbial way, the Bruins know the NCAA considers conference play
the most important criterion for selecting playoff teams.
“We look at it as a second season,” Francisco said.
“If we finish high in the Pac-10, we can make the
playoffs.”