Bumped. GO BRUINS.-N

Needing a series win on the road at Husky Ballpark, UCLA came through by winning two of three in Seattle. The Bruins dropped the series opener 5-2, but rebounded to win the second game 8-1 and Sunday's finale 4-3. The series win improved the Bruins' record to 22-17 overall and 6-6 in conference play, good enough for sole possession of 4th place in the Pac 10.

The UCLA offense was impotent as ever Friday night as they managed only four hits in their 5-2 victory. No Bruin has multiple hits in the game against Washington RHP Jordan Merry, who struck out nine in his eight innings of work. UCLA took the lead in the first when 2B Alden Carrithers doubled and scored on a wild pitch later in the inning, but Washington got two runs in the second to take a 2-1 lead. The Bruins would even it up in the third when Carrithers walked, advanced to the third on a double by 3B Jermaine Curtis and scored on a groundout by SS Brandon Crawford. The game would not stay even long though as the Huskies got a run in the third to go ahead 3-2 and proceeded to ride Merry to their 5-2 win. UCLA starting pitcher LHP Tim Murphy didn't pitch poorly, going seven innings and allowing only three runs, but the run support was not there for the Bruin ace.

Having dropped the series opener in a series the Bruins needed to win, UCLA needed a great pitching performance Saturday and got it from RHP Charles Brewer. The sophomore from Arizona came out firing, striking out six and allowing only five hits and one run in 6.1 innings. Despite Brewer's fantastic performance, the Bruins struggled to put away the Huskies in the first half of the game. Both teams were scoreless heading to the sixth, but the Bruins broke the game open in the top half of the inning when they struck for four runs, all with two out. After the first two batters of the inning were retired, Curtis walked and Crawford singled. 1B Casey Haerther then stroked his seventh homer of the season, a three run blast to put the Bruins ahead 3-0. RF Mickey Weisser kept the inning going when he doubled and scored on a Husky error to put the Bruins ahead 4-0. The Bruins would add three runs in the eighth and one more in the ninth, but they weren't needed as Brewer continued to roll before handing the ball to LHP Matt Drummond who threw 2.2 scoreless innings for the save. Haerther finished the game 3-4 with a home run, two runs and three RBI.

Sunday's series finale was a hotly contested, tight game that the Bruins pulled out 4-3 with some timely hitting, solid pitching and a bit of luck. The Bruins took an early lead when Curtis singled in the first, stole second and scored on a single by Haerther. Neither team would threaten again until the fourth inning when the Huskies struck for two runs when two walks, a base hit and an error gave Washington a 2-1 lead. Washington would add the lead in the fifth as they got an RBI single to put them ahead 3-1, a score that would last until the eighth. In the eighth, Carrithers got a lead off single and advanced to third on a single by Curtis. With runners on the corners, Crawford hit a tailor made grounder to short that seemed destined for a double play, but the Washington shortstop bobbled the ball and allowed Curtis to reach second, Crawford to reach first and Carrithers to score. Trailing 3-2 now, UCLA had Haerther coming to the plate and the sophomore came through again, singling to plate Curtis and tie the score at 3-3. Pinch hitter Eddie Murry struck out, but Crawford stole third during the at-bat and Weisser came to the plate with runners on the corners, one out and a game tied at three. Then, Coach Savage called for a squeeze from the dugout and it was perfectly executed by Weisser as he was thrown out at first for the second out, but only after Crawford scored easily from third to put UCLA ahead 4-3. LHP Brendan Lafferty earned the save for the save after taking over for LHP Gavin Brooks who gave up two earned runs in seven innings, while striking out eight to earn his fourth consecutive win.

The Bruins next take to the field on Tuesday when they head up PCH to take on Pepperdine at 3 pm PST. Tickets at Pepperdine are $8 for adults and $5 for children. The Bruins will then host Loyola Marymount at 6 pm PST on Wednesday. Come on out to Jackie Robinson Stadium and check out the Bruins before they host Arizona St. next weekend in a gargantuan conference series. Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for children and free for Wooden card holders. If you can't make it out to the game, you can listen to it or follow it on GameTracker via the official site.

Pac 10 Standings:

1)Stanford-          10-5  (----)
   Arizona St.-      10-5  (----)
3)Oregon St.-       8-7  (2 GB)
4)UCLA-               6-6  (2.5 GB)
5)Arizona-            7-8  (3 GB)
   Cal-                  7-8  (3 GB)
   Southern Cal-    7-8  (3 GB)
8)Washington-      5-7  (3.5 GB)
9)Washington St.- 3-9  (5.5 GB)