NICOLE MILLER/ Daily Bruin Staff
UCLA second baseman Chris Jensen takes a cut at
USC on Saturday. The Trojans swept the three-game series, capturing
the Pac-10 championship.
By Dylan Hernandez
DAILY BRUIN SENIOR STAFF
To the end, the Bruins fought valiantly, pushing back the
bullies that had come to casually brush them aside and move onto
bigger and better opponents.
The UCLA baseball team battled USC last weekend the same way it
had combatted all of its adversaries up until then ““
relentlessly, gallantly, and without a hint of intimidation. As had
been the case much of the year, the Bruins came out on the losing
end of the war ““ battered and tattered, defeated on the
scoreboard ““ but not in spirit.
Any shortcomings the Bruins displayed ““ whether in speed,
power or decision-making – had to be forgiven by even the most
demanding of fans who watched UCLA (26-35, 9-15 Pacific 10) drop
all three of its games to No. 21 USC (34-22, 17-7) at Jackie
Robinson Stadium. The Bruins lost all six of their duels against
the Trojans this year.
As expected, the contests proved that the players on the
Trojans’ roster were more genetically inclined to play
baseball. They were, without a doubt, the superior team.
But what the Bruins showed – their willingness to continue
scrapping even in the most dire of conditions ““ had to be
more touching to the majority of the fans in attendance, many of
whose own athletic careers were probably mired in mediocrity.
UCLA’s technical frailty put the squad in dreadful
positions throughout the weekend, which in turn, allowed it to
exhibit the one of the most heartrending traits of feeble men
““ optimism.
“It was the same old story out there,” UCLA head
coach Gary Adams said. “We played with heart and
determination, but we didn’t play well enough to
win.”
“That’s the story of our season,” said Bruin
senior right fielder Adam Berry, who hit a grand slam in
Saturday’s game and ended the year as the Pac-10
conference’s co-leader in home runs with 18. “Our guys
always play hard. We always seemed to be one key play away from the
win.”
The Bruins were defeated 5-4 in 12 innings on Friday, but that
didn’t prevent them from arriving at the ballpark with their
heads up and their cups tight on Saturday.
Saturday’s loss, this one by a 16-10 margin, was more
resounding than the last. However, with the way UCLA took the field
the following day, no one could tell it had just had its tires
blown off.
Yet, no amount of enthusiasm could help the Bruins prevail on
Sunday’s season finale. The Trojans used three home runs and
a flawless relief effort from Cory Campos to take the game 13-3.
The win allowed USC to claim its second consecutive Pacific 10
conference title and gave the school a victory over UCLA in the
inaugural Lexus Gauntlet competition, a contest between the two
universities’ athletic programs. To claim the unheralded and
little-cared-for Gauntlet, the Trojans had to sweep UCLA.
Each of the last two contests was closer than the final score
indicated. UCLA trailed only by three, 13-10, heading into the
eighth inning of Saturday”˜s game. On Sunday, the Bruins were
behind just by two, 5-3, with a pair of frames to play.
“We caught a break here and there that a couple of our
guys exploited,” USC head coach Mike Gillespie said.
“If that doesn’t happen, we don’t win.”
Freshman first baseman Wes Whisler, UCLA’s starting
pitcher on Saturday, homered in each of the series’ last two
games to earn a share of the Pac-10 home run title with Berry.
Whisler, who was invited to the U.S. national team’s tryouts
in June, was six-of-12 hitting for the weekend.
Bruin freshman left fielder Billy Susdorf collected seven hits
in 14 at-bats during the series, while senior center fielder Rashad
Parker hit two home runs.
“It was a tough weekend,” Whisler said. “We
came in with all of the emotions of going against ‘SC and it
didn’t turn out the way we wanted.”