Woochifer
Joined: 12/15/11 Posts: 9,123
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Posted Sat, Feb 26 4:09 pm
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In response to Baseball: UCLA wins weekend opener vs UCR; Brooks 12 Ks (Woochifer)
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the Bruins' starting pitching has been outstanding. Max Rajcic pitched 5 shutout innings today, scattering 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5. Ethan Flanagan and Charles Harrison each pitched 2 shutout innings in relief. Good confidence booster for Harrison in particular, who has gotten lit up multiple times over the past week.
The lineup batted around today, with 7 of the 9 starters getting hits today.
The starting rotation, even without Karros and Jump, has been solid. The problem has been with the bullpen. The Bruins still don't have enough healthy arms for the kind of 1-2-3 relief pitching punch that Savage's best teams could deliver. Once Karros and Jump become available, then the Bruins can shore up the middle relief and come up with a pecking order to close out the games. With so many relievers getting pounded last week, they need to get resituated.
Bruins go for the series sweep tomorrow afternoon. |
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Woochifer
Joined: 12/15/11 Posts: 9,123
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Posted Tue, Mar 01 8:06 pm
(Edited Tue, Mar 01 8:14 pm)
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In response to Baseball: UCLA wins weekend opener vs UCR; Brooks 12 Ks (Woochifer)
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#23 UCLA is holding onto a 3-0 lead over #22 Long Beach State going into the bottom of the 7th. A 3-run homer by Cody Schirer in the 1st inning is all the scoring for the game so far. Bruins had 2 hits in the 1st, but have only managed 1 hit against the Long Beach State bullpen.
Another outstanding start from the Bruin rotation. UCLA's starting pitchers haven't allowed a run since Thatcher Hurd gave up 1 ER in 5 innings last week. Hurd pitched 5 shutout innings tonight and was mowing batters down yet again. In his two starts, he has now struck out 23 batters in 10 innings pitched, with only 1 earned run.
With the Bruins up 3-0, Ethan Flanagan (last week's Monday starter) has pitched 2 scoreless innings in relief. So, unless Savage decides to go another inning with Flanagan, I assume that we'll see Jewitt and Tredwell try to close out the midweek win. |
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Woochifer
Joined: 12/15/11 Posts: 9,123
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Posted Fri, Mar 04 5:09 pm
(Edited Fri, Mar 04 5:09 pm)
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In response to Baseball: UCLA wins weekend opener vs UCR; Brooks 12 Ks (Woochifer)
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This was a pitcher's duel. The Bruins went with Jake Brooks against Baylor to begin the Shriner's College Classic in Houston this morning. Brooks gave up his 1st earned runs of the season, with a 2-run HR in the 4th inning. Otherwise, he held Baylor to 3 hits over 8 innings pitched. Cody Schirer had 2 of the Bruins' 4 hits today, and was batting in the top of the 9th with the bases loaded when he grounded out on a full count to end the game.
The Bruins continue the tournament against Oklahoma on Saturday morning, with the game televised on MLB Network at 9am PT.
UCLA will conclude the tournament against #1 Texas on Sunday at 1pm PT. It will also be televised on MLB Network. |
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Woochifer
Joined: 12/15/11 Posts: 9,123
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Posted Sat, Mar 05 9:00 am
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In response to Baseball: UCLA wins weekend opener vs UCR; Brooks 12 Ks (Woochifer)
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The Bruins loaded the bases twice in the 1st inning, and were able to cash in with big hits twice. Freshman Ethan Gourson drove in 2 runs with a single. After loading the bases again, sophomore Carson Yates cleared the bases with a grand slam -- his 2nd HR in his last 2 at-bats.
Max Rajcic is the Bruin starting pitcher. |
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Woochifer
Joined: 12/15/11 Posts: 9,123
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Posted Sun, Mar 06 8:29 am
(Edited Sun, Mar 06 8:30 am)
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In response to Baseball: UCLA wins weekend opener vs UCR; Brooks 12 Ks (Woochifer)
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The Bruins crushed the Sooners 15-3 in a mercy rule shortened game yesterday morning (the run-rule is only being used for this tournament, since they're playing 3 games a day at Minute Maid Park. UCLA will take on #1 Texas today at 1pm PT. The Longhorns are 11-0 and beat #7 LSU last night 6-1. Their pitching has given up 2 runs or less in 10 out of 11 games played.
This will be UCLA's stiffest test of the early season. Looks like the starting pitcher will be JC transfer Kelly Austin. Not a lot of dependable options in the bullpen, and UCLA already used Ethan Flanagan for long relief yesterday when starter Max Rajcic gave up 3 runs in the 4th. So, if Austin gets into trouble early, it could be a long afternoon for the Bruins.
Game will be televised on MLB Network and stream on MLB.com.
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Woochifer
Joined: 12/15/11 Posts: 9,123
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Posted Tue, Mar 08 9:26 pm
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In response to Baseball: UCLA wins weekend opener vs UCR; Brooks 12 Ks (Woochifer)
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The Bruins were cruising along with another good (though not great) start from midweek starter Thatcher Hurd, and a 3-1 lead in the 5th. Then, Coach Savage started managing his bullpen ... like REALLY managing the bullpen. Instead of splitting the start with Ethan Flanagan like he did last week, Savage brought in Jake Saum, who wound up loading the bases on a walk and two infield singles. But, he got the last two outs and pitched a clean 6th inning.
Both teams loaded the bases in the 5th, but neither of them could get the run across.
The Bruins scored again in the 6th and stretched the lead to 4-1, thanks to a RBI double by junior Michael Curialle, one of only 2 returning starters from last season in the lineup.
The 7th inning was where things got cursedly interesting, as the bullpen gave up its 5th late lead of the season. But, this time it wasn't all on the pitchers, as the Bruin 1B Jake Palmer inexplicably committed 2 errors on routine plays (a dropped infield fly and a dropped ball on grounder to short). This gave the Titans 5 outs to use in the inning. And they used all of them to score 3 runs and knot the game at 4-4.
The Bruins brought maligned former closer Charles Harrison to get the final 2 outs with the score 4-2. He was one strike away from escaping. But, a wild pitch, an error, and RBI double tied the score.
Pitching continued to look shaky in the 8th, when Savage finally brought in Ethan Flanagan as the 6th pitcher of the night. He promptly gave up a 4-pitch walk, and did not look good at all. I think this is the first time that Flanagan was brought into a game with a runner aboard. He's normally the 5th starter, and pitches long relief. The Bruins took the lead in the 8th when someone finally came through with runners in scoring position, as Curialle hit another RBI double to give the Bruins a 5-4 lead.
Flanagan stayed on to pitch the 9th, where he quickly retired the Titans in order. When he pitches to start an inning, he's deadly.
The Bruins now await the start of Pac-12 play with a series against Southern Cal. |
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Woochifer
Joined: 12/15/11 Posts: 9,123
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Posted Fri, Mar 18 12:21 pm
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In response to Baseball: UCLA wins weekend opener vs UCR; Brooks 12 Ks (Woochifer)
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After the Bruins went 2-2 last week, including a series loss against Southern Cal, UCLA will try to regain some momentum when Harvard visits this weekend. Looks like Coach Savage made a change to the starting rotation and moved midweek starter Thatcher Hurd to the Sunday starter spot. Because the Bruins did not play a midweek game this week, Hurd did not get his normal workload last week. Hurd has probably been the best Bruin starter so far this season, so moving him into the weekend spot is an expected move.
https://uclabruins.com/news/2022/3/17/baseball-bruins-close-homestand-with-three-against-harvard.aspx
Still no word on when Jared Karros or Gage Jump might make their season debut. Last weekend, Southern Cal jumped on the Bruin starting pitching, with former Sunday starter and junior transfer Kelly Austin giving up 5 runs in the 1st inning. Jake Brooks also had his first bad outing of the season on Friday, coughing up 4 runs in the 2nd inning when he was one strike away from pitching out of a jam. |
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Woochifer
Joined: 12/15/11 Posts: 9,123
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Posted Fri, Mar 25 10:17 am
(Edited Fri, Mar 25 10:31 am)
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In response to Baseball: UCLA wins weekend opener vs UCR; Brooks 12 Ks (Woochifer)
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After their series loss to Southern Cal to open Pac-12 play last weekend, UCLA travels to Tucson this weekend for a series against one of the preseason favorites and last season's conference champ -- #9 Arizona. The Bruins will go with the same starting rotation as last weekend, with Jake Brooks, Max Rajcic, and Thatcher Hurd.
https://uclabruins.com/news/2022/3/24/baseball-ucla-set-to-face-no-9-arizona-in-pac-12-road-series.aspx
The Bruins won their midweek game over LMU on Tuesday. That game featured graduate transfer Kenny Oyama hitting his first-ever collegiate home run against his former team that broke a 4-4 tie in the 7th inning. Coach Savage also moved Oyama to the #2 spot in the lineup, and moved Cody Schirer to leadoff. Curious move because Schirer has more power and Oyama has more speed. But, if Oyama hits a homer from the #2 spot, what do I know?
Highly touted freshman Gage Jump also made his Bruin debut in that game, tossing a scoreless inning for the win. I would expect Jump to see his workload gradually ramp up, and maybe see him elevated to the midweek starter spot. JC transfer Kelly Austin had a great run as the Sunday starter, but allowed 4 runs in less than 4 innings. He might be headed to the bullpen, where he would be a welcome addition. |
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