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College World Series Gameday: TCU (53-13) vs. UCLA (50-14) …

Coming into the game between UCLA and TCU, a close inspection of the team stat page in each program’s media guide revealed some interesting data.

The number six and the sixth inning would be an important run total and a pivotal inning for both teams, in determining who was going to win the epic matchup involving two programs loaded with pitching depth.

Rob Rasmussen Wwent 4.1 innings giving up 3 Runs on 6 Hits. (Photo: Chase Titleman)

UCLA has piled up some impressive statistics, most impressive (other than the 50-14 record with a program-best 22-game win streak to start the season) is the PAC-10 season strikeout record in which the Bruins logged 665 punchouts in 582 innings (10.3 ’s per 9-inning game).

Equally impressive is limiting the opponent batting average to .217 and the fact that the offense has jumped into high gear, hitting .311 in eight postseason games this month.

At 50-14 overall, the Bruins sport a 21-4 record on the road, 8-3 in 1-run games and 4-0 in extra inning affairs. Overall, the quality pitching depth has limited opponents in 2010 to 0-2 runs in 30 ballgames (UCLA is 29-1 in those games).

With all these impressive stats running rampant in the media guide, it is rather hard to find a chink in the Bruin armor.

But a closer examination reveals that the Bruins are only 9-7 when the opponent scores in the first inning, which TCU did on Friday afternoon when Taylor Featherston drove in a run on a bases-loaded walk when UCLA starter Rob Rasmussen struggled with his command.

When UCLA scores in the first inning, they are 22-3 … but they drew a blank tonight in Omaha during the opening frame. Advantage TCU!

Furthermore, when trailing after six innings UCLA is 3-11, but when leading they are 43-1. So when the Bruins began the top of the 7th inning trailing 3-1, you can bet your bottom dollar the west-coasters were in a tight fix given the few statistical numbers that have not worked in their favor this season (although they did stage a memorable late-inning rally to beat Cal State Fullerton in the Super-Regional round).

Cody Regis started the 7th inning with a drag-bunt single on the first pitch, and a pitch later Joe Giovinnazo hit a high-chop grounder to third to advance Regis (iovinnazo was out on the play). Trevor Brown entered the game to pinch-hit for Uribe, a rather odd move considering Uribe is hitting .329 on the year while Brown is hitting .296, but Coach John Savage wanted a better right-left matcup versus the taltented LHP Matt Purke (Uribe swings lefthanded).

Working the count full at 3-2, Brown drew a walk, finally running the TCU All-American Purke from the game and setting up runners at 1st and 2nd with one out.

The pitching change called upon another decision by Savage and he chose lefthanded hitter Jeff Gelalich to hit for Krill, for the same reason as the Uribe-Brown scenario as the new TCU pitcher Tyler Lockwood is a veteran righthander.

When Gelalich grounded a ball to third base, only his foot speed prevented the Frogs from turning a double play ball to get out of the inning (his speed also would come in handy two batters later).

Steve Rodriguez then walked to load the bases, which brought up leadoff hitter Niko Gallego, who hit a high chopper to third base and once again the speed of Gelalich beat the race to the bag (prolonging the inning). The Bruins had cut the lead to 3-2, but Beau Amaral struckout in a key at-bat as the Bruins left three runners on base and swam upstream against the statistics all evening long.

UCLA’s chance to defy the statistical trend faded, as the Bruins now are 5-14 and 4-15 when trailing after the 8th and 9th innings, respectively. They will need to limit TCU from scoring in the 1st inning tomorrow and likely must hold TCU to 0-5 runs to enhance their oddes at victory.

Taylor Featherston, Jerome Pena & Bryan Holaday all homered for TCU

In the bottom of the inning, Matt Curry – who hit the thrilling gamewinning grand slam versus Florida State two nights ago –  singled to right and Jantzen Witte bunted Corry to second. Hot-hitting Taylor Featherston then hit a towering home run into the leftfield bleachers to extend the lead to 5-2. An inning later, Bryan Holaday hit his 16th home run of the season (TCU’s 99th long ball of the season) to slam the door on the Bruins at 6-2.

TCU Plays Long-Ball With The Bruins …Wins it 6-2

With each team now beating the other in Bracket #1, the third and decisive game of the head-to-head series will be decided tomorrow afternoon at either 1 p.m. or 6 p.m (depending on the outcome of the Clemson – South Carolina ballgame this evening). If Clemson wins, they will clinch a championship series berth and if South Carolina wins, it forces a game-3 doubleheader tomorrow for both brackets (first game at 1:00 p.m. and the second to begin 50 minutes following the completion of TCU vs UCLA).

UCLA Postgame Comments:

Coach John Savage:

“It was one of those days. … You have to give Matt Purke and TCU a ton of credit. I thought he did a good job of pounding the zone … seemed like we were swimming upstream all day. Credit Lockwood as well. We just have to make sure there is no residue tomorrow. We will go with [Trevor] Bauer. We had a misstep today, but give a lot of credit to TCU.

“I thought Rob [Rasmussen] did fine. He had some tough luck defensively. It seemed like we couldn’t finish innings defensively.  e walked three guys in 4.1 [innings], which is uncharacteristic. They pecked away and then got some big swings late.”

On the decision to go with Clayton Claypool: “We could have gone in many directions. … Tomorrow, we have plenty of arms out of the bullpen. Bauer is one day short of a normal week. [Gerrit] Cole will be ready to go and then we have Klein, Grace and Goeddel.”

UCLA PLAYERS

Starter Rob Rasmussen: “I just tried to keep my team in the game as much as possible. I think you have to give Matt Purke a ton of credit. He did an excellent job all day.”

Shortstop Niko Gallego: “Wind was really brutal out there. … The wind was blowing pretty good, TCU had to deal the same wind, we should have handled it better, but no excuses, we should have played better defensively and handled the wind better.  [On Purke] … Not anything that he was doing,. He was pitching well, he threw a great game, he has his own rhythm and stuck to it.”

TCU Postgame Comments:

Head Coach Jim Schlossnagle: “Really good win for us, UCLA has a really great club. Matt [Purke] did a good job of making adjustments, especially with the sinker. I was nervous after the first inning, leaving the bases loaded with the catch in center field. … That was a tremendous play. [Lockwood] pitching on fumes did a great job. We survived another day.”

On the number of close calls: “On maybe the check-swing I could see arguing, but I thought he was safe at third. You can only control the things that you can control. At least for me it has to be something very grievous for us to lose our cool.

“The scary thing about UCLA is they know who they are, they are doing the same thing we talk about … maximizing their time at bat and minimizing their time on the mound. I think they are very well-coached. Bauer is a 3- or 4-pitch guy, he has a great routine, mentally strong. I’m sure he is a bulldog. My college coach coached those guys in Team USA and has always gone on and on and on about those guys. It’s not about the team that is the best, it’s about the team that plays the best.

“This is classic, this is what Omaha’s all about. [UCLA] still is in the driver’s seat because they have the extra day’s rest.We are both against the wall due to elimination. I don’t know who we are going to pitch tomorrow, but we have some options. Don’t let coach Savage fool you, they are pretty loaded over there.”

On Matt Purke’s Performance: “Sign of a good pitcher is winning when you don’t have your best stuff. He got groundball outs in hitters counts. Anyone can pitch when you have your best stuff … that’s a piece of cake. Jerome [Pena] has done a great job. He hasn’t even played infield in JC ball, it’s all about pitching and defense.“

Secon Baseman Jerome Pena: “On the home run, I was behind in the count again so I was guessing a bit and I got a good swing on it.”

Starter Matt Purke: “This place is an adventure on its own. We’ve been told to expect the unexpected here. Something on the boxscore that you were interested in: I came in looking at the ERA, hoping I could get down under the three, yes, it was today’s game was like the game I had versus Arizona in the regional. Guys took a long time to get to the plate … you can’t get rattled by that. Sooner or later, I was going to get them out and they could take their time on the bench.”

On UCLA’s patience: “Best I could compare them to is Texas in terms of patience, they really like getting the first guy on and doing some hit-and-runs or steals. You you have to focus on getting ahead and keeping them off base. [13 groundball outs]:  These guys play phenomenal behind me.  Jerome joked with me during the FSU game that he didn’t get a ground ball. So he wanted one today”

Shortstop Taylor Featherston: “I feel like every one of my at-bats have come with two strikes, so I am kind of getting used to it.”



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Day Two Super Regional Notes And Thoughts

Florida head coach Kevin O'Sullivan

Miami hasn’t won a postseason game in Gainesville since 2002.

The Big “E”s: Miami committed seven, that’s right seven errors in Saturday’s loss to Florida.  Only one of the four runs scored by the Gators was earned.  In fact, just two of Florida’s 11 runs in the two games was earned thanks to nine Hurricane miscues.  Miami hasn’t won a postseason game in Gainesville since 2002.

Mighty Mo: It didn’t take long for Texas to take back the momentum in it’s series with TCU.  After losing 3-1 in Friday’s opener the Longhorns drubbed the Horned Frogs 14-1 on Saturday to send the game to a deciding third game.  The rout was due in part to the dominant pitching of Taylor Jungmann, who struck out 9 in 8 1/3 IP, but also largely to three Horned Frog errors that led to six unearned runs scored by the Longhorns.  All five runs allowed in 3 2/3 IP by TCU starter Steven Maxwell (11-2) were unearned.

Crowded House: The first two games of the Texas-TCU Super Regional have drawn more than 7,300 fans each to Disch-Falk Field.  That makes 21 games this season in which the Longhorns have played in front of a crowd of more than 7,000.

Livin’ On The Edge: Vanderbilt downed Florida State 6-2 Saturday to force Sunday’s winner take all game.  The win makes the Commodores 4-0 in NCAA elimination games this year.  Saturday’s win halted Florida State’s seven game winning streak.

Not So Super: This is Florida State’s 10th Super Regional since 1999, but the Seminoles have won just one of their last seven Super Regional series since advancing to Omaha in the first two years of the format in 1999 and 2000.  Three of those Super Regional losses came on their home field.  Including their 1-1 mark this year, the Seminoles are 9-14 all-time in Super Regional games.

Great Garvin: Commodore reliever Grayson Garvin tossed three shutout innings to finish Saturday’s win.  Garvin has now given-up just two runs with 12 strikeouts in 13 1/3 innings in three postseason appearances this year.

Son Of A Yaz: Vanderbilt freshman Mike Yastrzemski is the grandson of Red Sox Hall of Famer Carl

Vanderbilt freshman Mike Yastrzemski

Yastrzemski, but he has a Seminole connection as well.  Mike’s dad, Michael, played at Florida State from 1980-’83.  Mike is 4-for-7 in the Super Regional with a double, a home run and two RBIs.

Is That A Girl, What’s She Know About College Baseball? Those were my wife’s words, not mine, when she heard Pam Ward doing the play-by-play of Virginia’s 3-2 win over Oklahoma in game one of their series.  I’ll admit I was skeptical of Ward doing the game, and I’m sure I wasn’t alone.  I have to say though that Ward did a solid job.  She’s got a lot of experience doing softball games, and she even used that to provide some baseball insight.  Ward talked about the current moratorium on composite bats in college baseball and how college softball may consider the same thing with all of the home runs hit at this year’s Women’s College World Series.

Hoos Boom: Virginia scored all three of its runs in that game on home runs.  Phil Gosselin led-off the bottom of the 1st inning with his 10th HR of the year and then Dan Grovatt hit the deciding two-run blast in the 6th.

Nice Lid: Did you see the hat UCLA pitcher Trevor Bauer wore during the Fullerton game at Jackie Robinson Stadium?  It’s so faded and worn looking that it looks like Jackie Robinson could have worn it during his playing days with the Bruins.

That’s A Bold Statement: “Of all the guys I’ve seen hit Harold Martinez is my favorite hitter.  Manny Ramirez is my guy in Major League baseball.  When I walk into a room and a Manny Ramirez at-bat is on I’m not walking out.   That’s how I felt about Harold Martinez.”  That’s what Eric Byrnes said about injured Miami third baseman Harold Martinez, who was hospitalized in Gainesville with an infected shin.  Byrnes got to see first hand last week just how explosive Martinez’s bat is when the sophomore had 9 RBIs and two HR in the Coral Cables Regional.

Jake Smith hit a home run and earned a save in Alabama's win.

Tide Rolling: Alabama beat Clemson 5-4 in Saturday’s series opener.  The Crimson Tide, which barely made the SEC Tournament field,  has won 13 of its last 15 games to move to within one win from Omaha.  One more win would make Mitch Gaspard just the second rookie coach in the last 30 years to take a team to the College World Series.  Dan McDonnell did it at Louisville in 2007.

The Two Jakes: How about Alabama’s Jake Smith?  The senior started at third base and hit his 14th home run of the season to help the Tide win Saturday’s game.  He then gave-up just a hit over the final two scoreless innings of the game to earn his sixth save.

It’s On Where? With all eight Super Regionals in action on Saturday it was a little hard to actually find where some of them were (or weren’t) being televised.  I was never actually able to watch the Alabama-Clemson game on TV.  I did watch parts of it on ESPN3.com.  That’s where I found most of the UCLA-Fullerton game, and then the video froze.  Turned out they moved it to ESPN2 after the Florida-Miami game was over. It’s just a shame that unless you were on the west coast most of the UCLA-Fullerton series was either on TV after 11pm ET Friday night (it ended after 2am) or was not on TV at all.

Bopping Bruins: UCLA hit four home runs in Saturday’s 11-7 10-inning win over the Titans.  Tyler Rahmatulla had the biggest of the blasts.  With UCLA down to its last two strikes of the season the sophomore’s 2-run shot gave the Bruins a 7-6 lead in the top of the 9th.  Fullerton tied the score 7-7 in the bottom of the inning, and then UCLA plated four in the 10th for the win.

Golden Gallego: Bruin shortstop Niko Gallego made two great plays in the bottom of the 10th to help force Sunday’s deciding game.  Niko is the son of 13-year MLB vetern Mike Gallego.

White Between The Eyes: When Arizona State reliever Mitchell Lambson went to the mound in the top of the 8th inning umpires apparently told him he had too much rosin on his hat.  The reasoning would be that the white from the rosin could be deceptive to Arkansas batters.  Sounds fairly reasonable, and the rationale would be in line with the fact that pitchers cannot have white on their gloves.  What I’ve never understood is how a few white stitches on a pitcher’s glove (or in this case rosin on a hat that’s also covered in white salt stains) aids in hiding the ball than a full home white uniform (like ASU was wearing Saturday night)…or even white lettering on a dark uniform (like Arkansas had).

Lights Out Lambson: Rosin or no rosin, Lambson had 2 Ks in a 1-2-3 inning, and he wasn’t done there.  In a game ASU eventually won 7-6 in 12 innings, Lambson (8-2) fired five shutout innings of relief with six strikeouts to earn the win.

Uggghh: I really want to watch the Arkansas-Arizona State series, just not with Justin “I continually second guess head coaches who have been to the College World Series four times” Kutcher calling the action.  Ok, so Dave Van Horn didn’t bring in Brett Eibner to pitch leading 6-5 in the 9th inning…we get it.  Now go back to criticizing umpires.

Tough Night: Eibner was called out not once, but twice for batter’s interference.  The second one ended the top of the 12th inning.  The two-way star (21 HR, 69 RBIs) then gave-up the game-winning hit to Deven Marrero in the bottom of the 12th.

OSU’s Peavey Wins Duel With UCLA’s Cole

#24 Greg Peavey is congratulated after OSU's win (Chase Titleman photo)

Many of the baseball experts around the country have voiced their opinion that the Beavers, with a struggling hitting line-up and a pitching staff frantically trying to stay healthy, would stand very little chance against the hot-hitting bats and powerful arms of the Bruins.

Think again folks, the experts were wrong.

RHP Greg Peavey pitched a complete game 2 hitter, with 7 strike-outs as Oregon State once again used its uncanny formula of outstanding pitching, phenomenal defense and timely hitting to shock the Bruins, 4-1 in the first game of a key PAC-10 series that could have regional and super-regional implications on the road to Omaha.

UCLA’s counter-part, RHP Gerrit Cole (2.49 ERA, 6-0) added to his league leading 61 strike-outs, garnering 9 more on the night, but after a 30 pitch first inning by Cole energized the Beaver dugout and the 2,500 rabid fans in attendance, the first inning momentum swing was an ominous sign of more misfortune to come for UCLA.

Cole started the game strong by striking out Oregon State lead off hitter Adalberto Santos on five pitches, but then proceeded to throw 9 straight balls out of the strike zone, culminating in three walks, sandwiched around a hit batter, and Gerrit forced in the first run of the game without a ball touching a Beaver bat.

Although Cole struggled in doing so, he proceeded to strike out the next two batters to end the threat, but he never really got control of his secondary pitches on the night, the slider in particular.

UCLA, the hot-hitting offensive team of the two entering the game, never had a chance to get started as Adalberto Santos ran down two deep fly balls hit by (SS) Niko Gallego and (3B) Cody Regis that were caught as he banged into the outfield wall in right-center field.

UCLA suffered its third loss of the season and the last week Friday.

Santos, together with middle infielders Carter Bell (SS) and Keith Jennette (2B) were busy on the night recording 12 of Peavey’s 27 outs.  Overall, including the 7 strikeouts, only 6 balls left the infield all night, a rather uncharacteristic effort by what has been a fantastic Bruin offense this season.

While Cole continued to struggle with his pitch count most of the evening (he threw 120 pitches in 6 complete innings) the Bruins ran themselves out of a potential game changing big-inning in the 4th as (2B) Tyler Rahmatulla walked after (CF) Beau Amaral lined out sharply to left to lead off the inning.

Left-handed hitting (1B) Justin Uribe hit a perfectly executed opposite field hit and run through the six hole as Oregon State (SS) Carter Bell was covering the bag, and with one out in the inning, the Bruins were in business.

Peavey dug himself a bigger hole when he walked the next batter, (LF) Cody Keefer to load the bases.

Then, disaster struck for UCLA, further cementing an ominous tone for the Bruins in the first game of the series.

(3B) Cody Regis hit a fairly deep fly-ball to left-center, which scored Rahmatulla from third base on the sacrifice fly, but for whatever reason, Justin Uribe failed to advance all the way to third base after initially starting out for the bag, and Keefer kept running with his head down from first, assuming Uribe was headed to third.

By the time the two realized they both occupied second base, the ball was already in the infield and Uribe was tagged out by OSU (3B) Stefen Romero.

Inning over and the wave of momentum the Beavers were steadily building through the middle part of the game would soon crest over.

From here on out, the wind went out of the Bruin’s sail as they had just one other runner on the base paths the rest of the evening as Peavey retired 15 of the next sixteen UCLA hitters, getting six of his 7 strike-outs during the span of five scoreless innings through the middle portion of the game.

Although the hard-throwing right-hander from Vancouver (WA) struggled with a 24-pitch first inning and a 20-pitch fourth inning, he never threw more than 11 pitches in innings number 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8.

This in itself was the story line of the game.

In talking with OSU Associate Head Coach Marty Lees before the game, he mentioned that UCLA’s strength this year was their ability to run the count deep and work a walk, where in years past they were largely an overly aggressive first ball hitting team that could be fished in to hitting pitchers pitches.

The ability to run the count deep has improved the team batting average and on-base percentage as it has forced Bruin opponents into using their bullpen sooner than anticipated, which has helped the Bruin batting averages in the process as they force the starters off the bump and get deep into the pen.

But on this night, the tables were turned.

Oddly enough, the statement by Lee’s proved prophetical, as the Bruins let Peavey off the hook in the middle innings by reverting back to old form, swinging at the first pitch and hitting a rather large number of balls into the “Field Turf,” which plays into Oregon State’s strength.

The Beavers stole the momentum and the game in the process.

The big blow for the Beavers occurred in the seventh as light hitting (RF) Michael Miller, who was hitting a meager .193 entering the game, hit a line drive opposite field double down the right-field line and OSU had a man in scoring position to lead off the inning.

On a 1-2 pitch, (3B) Stefen Romero (.326) was plunked by LHH relief pitcher Mitchell Beacom (3.75, 1-0) on an inside fastball, which prompted Oregon State head coach Pat Casey to pinch-hit bunt specialist Andy Quiring for Danny Hayes, an odd move since Hayes was hitting .353 entering the game, but Casey obviously felt the lefty-lefty match-up with the bunt in order was not in OSU’s best interest.

However, on the first pitch to Quiring, the Beavers caught another break as Beacom drilled the second batter of the inning, this time an inside breaking ball, to load the bases.

This prompted UCLA head coach John Savage to pull Beacom after just 12 pitches, bringing in RHP Eric Goedell (3.15, 2-0)

The Beavers had the right man in the right spot as the rally train sounded its horn coming through the campus area next to the ballpark in Corvallis, and (C) Parker Berberet launched a 2-1 fastball into left center for a double, driving in all three base runners on base.

This had been a tradition at Oregon State for years and it is uncanny how many times the Beavers start a game changing rally after the rally train rolls through town, tooting its horn.

The horn was right on cue for the Beavers tonight and with a win in game two tomorrow, the Beavers can begin to toot their horn around the country in their drive to get back to the Dog pile in Omaha.

Claypool’s Big Night Helps Bruins Go To 17-0

Garrett Claypool

Claypool notched his second win in his third start of the season as UCLA extended its win streak to a school-record 17 games. The senior from West Hills, Calif. limited the Gauchos (9-7) to one run (unearned) and three hits and walked just one batter.

UC Santa Barbara right-hander Jesse Meaux (3-1) was tagged with his first loss of the season. Meaux allowed five runs and 10 hits through five innings in his fourth start of the spring.

UCLA’s offense was as impressive as Claypool’s dominant start. The Bruins registered 16 hits, striking for five runs and seven hits to snap a scoreless tie in the top of the fourth. All nine starters in UCLA’s batting lineup connected for at least one hit, as six Bruins had two or more hits.

Designated hitter Blair Dunlap extended his team-leading hitting streak to 12 games, going 3-for-5 with two runs. Left fielder Cody Keefer was 2-for-4 with one double, and third baseman Cody Regis was 2-for-5 with one double. First baseman Justin Uribe and center fielder Beau Amaral each went 2-for-3 with one RBI.

The Bruins’ five-run fourth inning featured three doubles and four singles, as two of the Bruins’ runs were scored with two outs. Keefer led off the frame with a double deflected into foul territory down the line by a diving attempt from first baseman Trevor White. After a base-hit by right fielder Brett Krill, Keefer scored from third on a double by Regis. A groundout to second by shortstop Niko Gallego plated Krill and pushed Regis to third. Catcher Trevor Brown reached on an infield single to score Regis and was thrown out at home on an ensuing double to left by Dunlap, who took third on the throw. A single up the middle by Amaral scored Dunlap, and after moving to second on a fielding error, Amaral scored from second on a single to right field by Uribe.

UCLA added one run in the sixth inning on a run-scoring groundout by pinch-hitter Dean Espy.

UC Santa Barbara got on the board with one run in the bottom of the seventh. Baserunners at first and second each advanced 90 feet on a passed ball, before a groundout to first base by designated hitter Beck Wheeler sent home second baseman Sean Williams from third base.

The Bruins scored one run in the top of the eighth, pushing their lead to 7-1, on an RBI-single by Keefer.

UCLA plays its final non-conference series of the regular season against Cal Poly, beginning Thursday, March 25. Game time Thursday is 6 p.m. The Bruins and Mustangs continue the series Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m.

Game Notes: Garett Claypool improved his career record to 8-4 and has now recorded 135 strikeouts in 147.2 career innings … the Bruins have won three of their last four games against UC Santa Barbara … Blair Dunlap notched his seventh multiple-hit game of the season and his second three-hit game … Tyler Rahmatulla recorded his team-leading 11th multiple-hit game of the year – Rahmatulla has hit safely in 15 of the Bruins’ 17 games … Erik Goeddel made his ninth appearance out of the bullpen, pitching a 1-2-3 eighth inning … Dan Klein made his team-leading  11th appearance of the year, recording two strikeouts in the ninth inning.

(UCLA Release)

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