• printer friendly
• mail this article
• iPod format
• digg

Photo

Catcher Sam Ray and the Bruins dropped all three games and were outscored 26-1 against the Trojan

There was no doubt that the effort was there from the beleaguered UCLA baseball team as it dove around USC’s Dedeaux Field, desperately trying to win a game. But effort alone cannot win games and a total lack of hitting along with spotty pitching condemned the hapless Bruins (7-21, 0-6 Pac-10) to a sweep by the Trojans.

USC (21-9, 6-3) outscored UCLA 26-1 over the three games this weekend, as the Bruin offense could not muster hits with runners in scoring position, and pitching was extremely inconsistent.

The three losses pushed UCLA’s losing streak to 17 games.

Though the school record losing streak is growing longer, UCLA coach John Savage is accentuating the few positives even more.

“When you get into something like this, you have to remain positive and you have to let (the players) know that there is over half the schedule left,” he said.

Savage does recognize the struggles his team is going through, but he feels that as coach it is his duty to be a positive light in a very dark season.

“We are having a tough time getting over the hump and we are just in a horrendous stretch,” Savage said. “As the head coach, I have to make sure these guys stay positive and keep on working. I can’t sit here and reel off the negatives. I think that’s a losing coach.”

Sunday’s starting pitcher Bryan Beck noted that the team’s spirit is much better than their record would show.

“For losing as many games as we have right now, our effort and morale is a lot better than most teams would take,” Beck said. “We’ve been taking it pretty (well).”

The one positive for the Bruins this weekend was flawless fielding by a squad that came into the series averaging over an error and a half per series.

But the rest of the series saw poor execution from the offense and not enough pitching in any game to even keep the scores close.

The only game that was close getting into the later innings was on Sunday. USC claimed an early 1-0 lead on a Blake Sharpe leadoff home run, but did not score again until the sixth inning. It gave the Bruins a chance to take the lead, but their best chance in the fourth inning unraveled quickly.

UCLA ace Hector Ambriz reached first on a leadoff walk and moved to second on a Matt Sharp single. But Ambriz, a slow-footed runner, was picked off of second base by Trojan catcher Matt Clement as Sean Carpenter was trying to sacrifice the runners over.

Carpenter walked, but Anthony Norman hit into a double play that ended the Bruins’ only threat of the day. USC scored three runs in the sixth and two in the eighth to put the game away.