Cavs, Bruins share up-and-down year

By Jay Jenkins

Published: May 28, 2008

Playing a complete game seemed impossible for most of the season.

When the offense clicked, primetime pitching performances were unobtainable. Tossing gems on the mound turned into heartbreaking losses as poor offensive execution and defensive woes proved costly.

And just when it looked as though the baseball program was securely on the postseason bubble, the players appeared to jell.

Answering which team the summary fits with in the Fullerton Regional is a two-part answer.

It certainly applies to Virginia, which went 5-7 in the ACC in April, a staggering number when mid-week contests against sub-par opponents were never a given.

The Cavaliers (38-21) have company.

“It is the same thing with us,” said UCLA shortstop Brandon Crawford. “We have been hot and cold with our pitching, hot and cold with offense and I think lately we have finally been getting both of them working.”

Something must give Friday in the opening game of the Fullerton regional, a four-team, double-elimination tournament. UVa and UCLA meet at 7 p.m. (ESPNU).

The reasons for the woes baffled the coaches from both programs, and drew extra attention given the recent success of the two programs, but matter little with the NCAA tournament approaching.

“We didn’t play very well early, and then we kind of re-grouped and rebounded and played pretty well in the Pac-10 and finished pretty strong with a couple of series with Washington State and Cal,” said UCLA coach John Savage. “We feel good about our team right now and feel like we are playing pretty good.

“I know the expectations at Virginia are high, as they are at UCLA. The bottom line is that we are in the field and one of the 64 teams in the country that are still playing and have an opportunity to win a national championship. We are really excited to have the opportunity to play Virginia.”

The Bruins (31-25, 13-11 Pac-10) finished the regular season with a league-worst batting average (.275) and slugging percentage (.415), but ranked third in earned run average (4.43) and turned a league-best 61 double plays.

“We take pride on pitching and defense,” Savage said. “My background is on the pitching side of it … and we know that pitching and defense is how you get to Omaha.

“We do take great pride in it and we do have some good defenders and at this time of the year it is a play here or a pitch there and all the details really matter.”

While on the surface it would appear that Savage and Virginia coach Brian O’Connor were playing an early-week cat-and-mouse game with their delayed announcement of a starting pitcher for the opener, the two are friends and had reasons to ponder the decision.

Virginia ace Pat McAnaney struggled in a short outing against Miami in the ACC tournament’s title game as fellow left-hander Matt Packer turned in three solid performances out of the bullpen. Jacob Thompson and Andrew Carraway also remain options and started the Cavaliers’ two wins last week over Florida State and North Carolina.

UCLA ace Tim Murphy, a southpaw, ranked fifth in the Pac-10 in ERA and tied for the league-best strikeout total (107), but got little offensive support and stands just 5-6 overall. The Bruins other weekend starters have a far better winning percentage, but Gavin Brooks (6-2, 4.91 ERA) and Charles Brewer (8-4, 5.09) have combined for just 126 strikeouts and issued 79 walks.

“Usually we would come out and say it right away, but we have had some uncertainty in our rotation,” Savage said. “We have gone Murphy on Friday and Brewer on Saturday and Brooks on Sunday, but we are going to look at that and decide.

“More than likely it will be Murphy or Brewer.”

Having played in the balanced Pac-10, Savage said he did not have a preference of facing a right-handed pitcher or a left-handed pitcher in the opener.

“The numbers are the numbers. Just like Virginia, we play in a tough conference and we played a very tough non-conference schedule,” he added. “We see all kinds of good arms, both left and right. I think that it is all a matter of what goes on that day, which guy is really on and what type of lineup you have.

“We know they are going to be good and they have solid pitching and we know Brian will have his team prepared.”