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Woochifer
Joined: 12/15/11 Posts: 9,123
Baseball: UCLA v UM Sunday 6pm ESPN2; 1 win to Omaha!
Posted Sun, Jun 09 4:32 pm (Edited Sun, Jun 09 4:39 pm)
The Bruins play their 5th (and hopefully final) elimination game tonight against the Wolverines.

Savage is apparently going to start freshman pitcher Nick Nastrini in yet another do or die matchup. Nastrini was masterful in his start against LMU. But, Michigan is a more formidable lineup that can also pressure the basepaths.

https://twitter.com/UCLABaseball/status/1137880235565699072


The Wolverines will start LHP Tommy Henry, who beat the Bruins back in March and was drafted in the 2nd Round of the MLB Draft (UM's Game 1 starter was also a 2nd Round pick -- 2 other UM pitchers who went last night were also taken in the draft). At the time that Henry beat UCLA, his ERA was 0.61 and he was 4-0. He is currently 9-5 with an ERA north of 3.60. So, he has cooled off considerably.

If this game becomes a battle of the bullpens like last night's game, the Bruins are in much better shape. Powell's 73-pitch relief outing last night save the Bruins' season, and it also saved the bullpen for tonight. Michigan went through several pitchers last night, and they looked more vulnerable than the Bruin relief corps.

So far, the only Bruin relievers that made an appearance in the Super Regional are Powell and Hadley. Hadley's still available tonight, as are Mora, Townsend, Filby, and Rubi. The Bruin bullpen is the best in the NCAA. As was the case last night, the key will be chasing Michigan's starter. Since the 9th inning of Game 1, the Bruin hitters have been making solid contact, except not in scoring situations.

I expect the Bruins to get back to playing their brand of baseball. Michigan is now in the same predicament. Winner to Omaha.
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JPBruin91
Joined: 1/30/14 Posts: 504
Link to live twitter game updates
Posted Sun, Jun 09 5:07 pm
In response to Baseball: UCLA v UM Sunday 6pm ESPN2; 1 win to Omaha! (Woochifer)
Go Bruins!!!

https://mobile.twitter.com/UCLABaseball?ref_src=twsrc%5Eappleios%7Ctwcamp%5Esafari%7Ctwgr%5Eprofile
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Alta Loma Bruin
Joined: 1/13/14 Posts: 2,622
Our hitters look timid
Posted Sun, Jun 09 7:13 pm
In response to Baseball: UCLA v UM Sunday 6pm ESPN2; 1 win to Omaha! (Woochifer)
How can you take strike three with runners at second and third and two outs? And the heart of our lineup! We can’t be so passive. The game isn’t going to come to us.
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BradleyBruin
Joined: 2/03/07 Posts: 2,991
Strike zone this series has been horrific
Posted Sun, Jun 09 7:15 pm
In response to Baseball: UCLA v UM Sunday 6pm ESPN2; 1 win to Omaha! (Woochifer)
Every pitch that is 6 inches outside has been given to UM this entire series. Then UM gets a dude picked off, Toglia messes up the rundown and the gift scores. Everything and every break had been going against us this entire series, Bruins are going to gut this one out as it should be.
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cnet
Joined: 8/07/14 Posts: 9,697
Majority of fans are Michigan fans
Posted Sun, Jun 09 8:23 pm
In response to Baseball: UCLA v UM Sunday 6pm ESPN2; 1 win to Omaha! (Woochifer)
At least it sounds that way on TV. Unless ESPN is pulling some shenanigans to make it sound more pro-Michigan this shows that even when UCLA has the #1 team in the nation it's hard to find fan support.

Go Bruins!
Arrive early. Wear Blue. Be loud.
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Woochifer
Joined: 12/15/11 Posts: 9,123
Season over: 0 for 8 RISP
Posted Sun, Jun 09 9:00 pm
In response to Baseball: UCLA v UM Sunday 6pm ESPN2; 1 win to Omaha! (Woochifer)
Didn't get it done with runners in scoring position. Pretty much the theme all weekend. UCLA had opportunities and didn't cash them in.

First series loss all season. Hitters didn't come through like they had all season long.

Following this team throughout the season, most of the lineup upped their game when runners were on base. Didn't happen in this series. The Michigan starting pitching had a lot to do with that, but the Bruin hitters didn't get it done in this series.

Michigan got their starter through the 7th inning, which meant they didn't need to go deep into their bullpen. The Wolverines have 3 top notch starters, and that's all you need in the Super Regional format.

Pac-12 had a horrendous tournament. Stanford got routed by Miss St again tonight, so they're gone and the Pac-12 is done.
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UclanDoIt
Joined: 1/13/14 Posts: 3,917

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Disappointing finish for Bruin baseball
Posted Sun, Jun 09 9:13 pm
In response to Baseball: UCLA v UM Sunday 6pm ESPN2; 1 win to Omaha! (Woochifer)
The Bruins simply failed to hit in the clutch and it cost them. In this game, they needed to establish superiority early as Vanderbilt did in their rout of Duke. They kept a confident underdog in the game too long and it came back to bite them. You could sense the growing confidence of the Wolverines as the game moved forward. I don't know if the Bruins were a bit overconfident going into tonight's game after yesterday's dramatic victory and knowing they hadn't lost a weekend series all season.

The Bruins failure to reach Omaha is a bummer and you have to wonder about the strength of the Pac12 based on their poor performance in the tournament. Still, I thought this was one of Savage's best balanced teams which makes this loss a very disappointing end to what was a tremendous regular season.
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