John Savage wasted no time in collecting his first victory as UCLA’s new baseball coach.
The first-year coach had little time to enjoy the season-opening win, though, as the Bruins dropped the next two games in the weekend series against Cal Poly.
“It was great to get that first win,” Savage said. “I felt that second game could have gone either way, but (Sunday) wasn’t a very positive day for us.”
Rain forced UCLA (1-2) to delay its season opener to the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday.
However, the weather didn’t stop the Bruins from beginning the season on a positive note. They took Saturday’s opener 7-4 behind a stellar day at the plate by sophomore pitcher Hector Ambriz, who also started and received a no-decision after going five innings, allowing only two hits and one earned run. Ambriz went 4-for-4 and had three doubles, three runs, and two RBI.
Junior Daniel Miltenberger picked up the win with 2-1/3 innings in relief without an earned run, and junior Adam Simon blanketed the Mustangs for 1-1/3 innings for the save.
“It felt great to go out there,” said Ambriz, who missed most of last season with a shoulder injury. “The coaches have done a great job, and we wanted them to get that first win.”
Saturday’s nightcap turned into a pitcher’s duel with Cal Poly coming out on top 2-1. Mustang starter Garrett Olson held the Bruins to one run over eight innings as UCLA wasted a strong effort by senior starter Bryan Beck who struck out six in as many innings and gave up a lone run. Junior second baseman Sean Smith led the Bruins at the plate, going 3-for-3.
Sunday, fatigue from the previous day appeared as the Bruins only managed three hits in an 8-3 loss. Junior right fielder Josh Roenicke had two of the hits including a double, UCLA’s only extra-base hit.
“We did well (Saturday) and battled that second game hard, but today we came out kind of flat,” Ambriz said.
UCLA didn’t fare any better from the mound as five pitchers combined for nine walks and allowed twelve hits. “There were a lot of deep counts and too many baserunners,” Savage said. “We messed with fire and got burned.”
It’s a long, five-month season and Savage, who also serves as pitching coach, will have plenty of time to work out the kinks.
For now, it will be a five-day wait before he can go for win No. 2 on Friday at Fresno State.
“Teams that rebound after losses are the teams that are progressing,” Savage said. “We saw a lot of things this weekend, good and bad.”