Woochifer
Joined: 12/15/11 Posts: 9,123
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Posted Sat, Feb 18 9:58 am
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In response to Baseball: #12/#16 UCLA starts season vs Omaha on Fri 5pm (Woochifer)
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The baseball season got off to a great start as the Bruins routed Omaha 15-1 in the season opener. Jake Brooks was the opening night starting pitcher for the 2nd year in a row (pushed into that role last season when the Bruins began the season with the top 3 starters injured). Brooks allowed 1 run in 5 innings. Coach Savage went the next 4 innings with a different reliever in each inning. The bullpen shutout Omaha for the remainder of the game.
The Bruin lineup scored 5 runs when Brooks was in the game. They exploded for 10 runs in the 8th to turn the game into a rout. The Bruins got at least one RBI from every spot in the lineup, and had 12 walks.
Last season's closer, Alonzo Tredwell, will make his first start in today's game at 2pm PT. Senior Kelly Austin will start the Sunday game. I will guess that Ethan Flanagan will remain the midweek starter. |
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Woochifer
Joined: 12/15/11 Posts: 9,123
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Posted Sat, Feb 18 4:00 pm
(Edited Sat, Feb 18 4:15 pm)
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In response to Baseball: #12/#16 UCLA starts season vs Omaha on Fri 5pm (Woochifer)
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I thought the Bruins had an impressive debut last night, but that was just a warmup for today's ongoing onslaught. The Bruins just got a 3-run homer from Gourson in the 7th and now lead Omaha 21-0. This was the Bruins' 4th roundtripper of the day. But, for much of the game, the Bruins have been getting things done like they normally do with a lot of small ball. The lineup looks great so far with a lot of experience.
With Alonzo Tredwell now the Saturday starter, he went 6 shutout innings, striking out 10 and walking nobody. Great start. He looked dominant out there. I wasn't looking too carefully at his pitches, since I tuned in after the softball game concluded. But, I'm curious as what he's mixing into his pitches. As a closer, he was mostly throwing heat. But, as a starter he'll need a more complete tool kit.
Freshman Finn McElroy struck out the side in the 7th. Bruin pitchers now have a total of 13 Ks going into the 8th. Chris Aldrich is now pitching. I'll be curious to see if Luke Jewitt remains in the bullpen, or if he got elevated into the rotation.
And it's not like Omaha is an overmatched pushover. They regularly make the field in the NCAA tournament, and recall that they beat UCLA last season 9-4 during the first week in a midweek game that saw the Bruin bullpen meltdown and cough up 7 runs in the 7th and 8th innings. But, so far the Bruins look really good in the early going. This season is not supposedly to be a rebuild and it looks that way.
Switching over to volleyball ...
https://pac-12.com/live/ucla-2 |
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Woochifer
Joined: 12/15/11 Posts: 9,123
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Posted Sun, Feb 19 12:56 pm
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In response to Baseball: #12/#16 UCLA starts season vs Omaha on Fri 5pm (Woochifer)
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UCLA has outscored Omaha 39-1 in the first two games of the season. They're now looking for the sweep with Kelly Austin taking the mound. This will be a good indicator of the Bruin pitching depth, as Austin had to step up last season when the starting rotation was decimated.
The only Bruin starter not hitting at least .300 is Carson Yates. He led the team in slugging last season, and was a great hitter in clutch situation. I doubt he will stay in a hitting slump for long. And I doubt that every Bruin batter will stay this hot for long. But, for now it's a nice problem to have.
The game is now in the 4th inning, with the Bruins up 2-0. Jack Holman with the 2-run homer in the 2nd. |
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Woochifer
Joined: 12/15/11 Posts: 9,123
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Posted Wed, Feb 22 7:51 am
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In response to Baseball: #12/#16 UCLA starts season vs Omaha on Fri 5pm (Woochifer)
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Another game, another offensive eruption and stellar pitching for the Bruins.
UCLA batted around and scored 7 runs in the 1st inning, capped by JonJon Vaughns hitting a home run for the 3rd straight game.
https://uclabruins.com/news/2023/2/21/baseball-ucla-takes-care-of-pepperdine-in-midweek-tilt-11-2.aspx
The pitching was indeed a bullpen committee. Starter Michael Barnett allowed 1 ER and 3 hits in 2 inning pitched. Coach Savage used a total of 7 pitchers, with 5 of them pitching an inning apiece to close out the game after Chris Aldrich threw two perfect innings. The last 3 pitchers used were once again Delvecchio, Harrison, and Jewitt. That appears to be the regular bullpen order, and they each allowed a hit and struck out two. Bruin pitchers allowed a total of 2 ERs and 9 hits while striking out 14.
The level of competition now steps up for UCLA's weekend series against #5 Vanderbilt. |
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Woochifer
Joined: 12/15/11 Posts: 9,123
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Posted Thu, Feb 23 10:23 am
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In response to Baseball: #12/#16 UCLA starts season vs Omaha on Fri 5pm (Woochifer)
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The official release for the Vandy series posted UCLA's team ranking in several stats. Bruins are killing it right now. Yes, things will return to earth at some point, but this is about as good a start to a season as I can recall from any team. The strikeout to walk ratio is off the charts.
https://uclabruins.com/news/2023/2/23/baseball-ucla-heads-east-for-top-15-series-at-vanderbilt.aspx
K-BB Ratio — 1st (14.25)
BB/9 — 2nd (1.00)
K/9 — 2nd (14.2)
ERA — 3rd (1.00)
Scoring — 4th (14.5 runs per game)
Runs — 5th (58)
HBP — 5th (14)
OBP — 8th (.497)
WHIP — 8th (0.92)
Walks — 14th (32)
Batting — 14th (.349)
Hits — 15th (52)
For the Vandy series, it looks like pitcher Ethan Flanagan is still not ready to go. Kelly Austin is penciled in as the Sunday starter. Interestingly, it looks like Vanderbilt will counter with three left handed starting pitchers. This will be a good test to see how the Bruin batters handle lefties, and whether this is a potential weakness to watch out for moving forward. |
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Woochifer
Joined: 12/15/11 Posts: 9,123
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Posted Sat, Mar 04 2:24 pm
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In response to Baseball: #12/#16 UCLA starts season vs Omaha on Fri 5pm (Woochifer)
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With Tuesday's scheduled midweek game against LMU rained out, the Bruin pitching depth didn't get the anticipated test. The game against Michigan began with midweek starter Michael Barnett, and Savage proceeded to use 8 more pitchers throughout the game. The Bruins methodically got out to a 9-0 lead before Michigan scored 4 runs in the 8th inning against Nate Leibold and Jake Saum.
In Friday's opener for the California Collegiate Baseball Classic, the Bruins broke open a tie game in the 5th, with a 3-run blast from Cody Schrier, who's doing it all in the early going. The Bruins would cruise to a 10-3 win, with starter Jake Brooks going 6 innings and Delvecchio, Harrison, and Cottinger closing things out.
Closer Luke Jewitt has not pitched since last Saturday's win at Vanderbilt, and UCLA has not announced the starting pitcher for Sunday's game against Southern Cal. So, we don't know yet if Ethan Flanagan will make his season debut this week. |
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Woochifer
Joined: 12/15/11 Posts: 9,123
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Posted Sun, Mar 05 12:05 pm
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In response to Baseball: #12/#16 UCLA starts season vs Omaha on Fri 5pm (Woochifer)
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The Bruins started with another tight pitching duel in the early going against Sac State. The Bruins fell behind 2-0 in the 4th inning, but got a run back in the bottom of the inning with a solo HR from Duce Gourson. In the bottom of the 5th, Gourson got another RBI and Karros drove in the go-ahead run.
Tredwell was once again lights out. Aside from the 2-run homer in the 4th, Tredwell only allowed 4 hits through 6 innings pitched while striking out 9. Midweek starter Michael Barnett came in to pitch the 7th and he also pitched 2/3 of the 8th inning as well. After Barnett gave up a two-out single, Savage brought in Jewitt to shut things down, and he did. Four up, four down, with 3 strikeouts. On the day, the Bruin pitchers tossed 13 strikeouts.
Ben Royer of the Daily Bruin posted that Ethan Flanagan tossed a bullpen session on Thursday, but he still has "forearm discomfort." So, the Bruins plan on bringing him back slowly. Royer also posted that scouts have clocked freshman Cody Delvecchio's fastball at 93. For now, Delvecchio is the 7th inning reliever. Even without Flanagan, the Bruins have shown impressive pitching depth so far.
UCLA now has an afternoon non-conference game against Southern Cal, who hired yet another new head coach in the off season. Andy Stankiewicz comes to Southern Cal from Grand Canyon. He played college ball at Pepperdine and was an assistant coach at ASU and in the Mariners' farm system. He inherits a veritable dumpster fire across town. I didn't hear anything about any push to making another attempt at poaching Coach Savage. |
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Woochifer
Joined: 12/15/11 Posts: 9,123
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Posted Wed, Mar 08 5:41 pm
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In response to Baseball: #12/#16 UCLA starts season vs Omaha on Fri 5pm (Woochifer)
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UCLA got another good midweek start from Michael Barnett. He went 3 full innings, allowing 1 run on 2 hits. The Bruins got off to a quick start, with 4 runs in the 1st inning capped by a 3-run homer from Jack Holman.
https://uclabruins.com/news/2023/3/7/baseball-holman-helps-ucla-down-long-beach-state-7-6.aspx
UCLA was cruising along with a 5-1 lead when disaster struck in the 6th. Chris Aldrich allowed 2 hits in the inning before he was relieved by Cody Delvecchio. Delvecchio got an out, but also loaded the bases with HBP. Then disaster struck, a come backer to the mound should have retired the side. But, instead a throwing error cleared the bases and tightened up the game. Long Beach State tied the game in the 8th, but the Bruins answered right away with the game-winning hit from Holman, who had 5 RBIs for the game.
Jewitt closed out the 9th, but made things interesting by allowing a pair of doubles before getting the final out without allowing the runners on 2nd and 3rd to score.
This was the first game of the season in which the bullpen nearly coughed up the lead. But, the Bruins also allowed 4 runs to score on fielding errors. Easily their shakiest outing of the season, outside of the two losses at Vanderbilt.
The Bruins now travel to Oregon for a weekend series against the Ducks. No word on whether we will see Ethan Flanagan this weekend. |
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