Bruins to play season opener

After months of intense workouts and numerous intrasquad scrimmages, the time has finally come.

The UCLA baseball team begins its road to Omaha this weekend in a three-game home series against Oklahoma. And the No. 1 Bruins couldn’t be more excited.

“We are all excited to get the season under way,” sophomore pitcher Gavin Brooks said. “We are sick of scrimmaging each other. We want to get out and face someone in a different uniform and get after it.”

That someone in another uniform is Oklahoma, a consistent contender in the Big 12 Conference that finished with a record of 34-24 last season, coming up just short of an NCAA Regional bid. In seven games against the Sooners, the Bruins hold a slight 4-3 advantage. Yet the last time these two teams met, Oklahoma handed UCLA a 7-2 loss in the Kia Baseball Bash in 2005.

“It’s great (to play Oklahoma),” junior catcher Ryan Babineau said. “We want to play the best, and we will play the best anywhere. It’s going to be a test to see where we stand. Obviously there are high expectations from us and there are high expectations from the media about us.

“We want to play tough opponents. We don’t want to play just rollover games.”

Tonight, there will be a different face on the mound for the Bruins. Gone will be the red hair and freckled face of Tyson Brummett, replaced by the brown-haired Brooks. Last season, Brummett was the unquestioned ace of the staff, compiling a record of 10-6 while striking out a team-leading 111 batters.

Brooks, who ended the 2007 season throwing three consecutive complete games, will look to step into the role of staff ace.

“It’s big shoes to fill,” coach John Savage said. “(Brummett) became our leader on Friday night in ’07. So we’ve had some very good number ones here with (Hector) Ambriz and Brummett, and now it’s Gavin’s turn.”

Following Brooks will be a rotation of junior Tim Murphy on Saturday and sophomore Charles Brewer in the finale on Sunday. Murphy will look to build off the impressive end to the season when he threw a complete game against Long Beach State to clinch the NCAA Regional title. Brewer, limited throughout the majority of the season by illness and injury, will look to fulfill the high expectations that followed him to UCLA.

“We feel, really, that our whole thing is that we want three No. 1s starting on the weekend,” Savage said. “That’s how you get to Omaha. We like our starting pitching. Murphy could be a No. 1 in a lot of places, and we think he is a No. 1; he just happens to be going on Saturday.”

Beginning tonight, the long wait will be over, and the true results of the hours of practice and hard work will finally be seen.

“You always think you have something, and then you go play, and then there are always things you need to work on and always flaws that come up or some strengths that may come up,” Savage said. “You don’t know what is going to happen until you go play a three-game series. ... We are kind of exhausted from our intrasquad and scrimmages, so it’s time to go play somebody else and see where we are at.”