Hi folks. Trying to catch up with all the action after being out for last day and half.
Looks like for the first time in couple of weeks we had a mixed bag of results from the Bruin action on Friday night. As Tim Murphy said during the ESPN interview, the baseball Gods were smiling on our Bruins last night as they pulled off a dramatic 3-2 win in the first round of the NCAA action. From the official site :
Bruin left-hander Tim Murphy limited Virginia to two runs (one earned) and eight hits in 7.2 innings to lead the UCLA baseball team past Virginia, 3-2, Friday evening in an NCAA Regional opener at Cal State Fullerton's Goodwin Field.
UCLA (32-25) scored the game-winning run on an error in the bottom of the ninth inning. With runners aboard and first and second, pinch-hitter Cody Decker grounded a ball to Virginia third baseman Tyler Cannon, whose throw to first base sailed past Cavalier first baseman Jeremy Farrell, allowing Bruin pinch-runner Chris Giovinazzo to score.
The Bruins led off the inning with consecutive singles before a force-out at third base on an attempted sacrifice bunt by right fielder Brady Dolan left runners at first and second base.
UCLA left-hander Brendan Lafferty (4-3) earned the victory, tossing one scoreless inning of relief. Virginia's Matt Packer (6-3) was tagged the loss, allowing one unearned run on three hits in 2.1 innings of relief.
The Bruins were led at the plate by left fielder Mickey Weisser, who went 3-for-4 with one of UCLA's two RBI. Jermaine Curtis was 2-for-4 with one double and one run.
The victory moves UCLA into the winners' bracket, where the Bruins will face the winner of Friday evening's game between Cal State Fullerton and Rider at Goodwin Field. UCLA will play at 8 p.m. on Saturday.
I believe the game will be broadcast live on ESPNU.
Meanwhile, it looks like the softball team had a disheartening and dispiriting the loss yesterday in Oklahoma City. Class of 66 is calling out some of Perez's move as Dorrellian . I didn't get to watch the game last. So I will stay away from adding anything to that. I do hope they find a way to battle back tonight as they take on the winner of Florida/VA Tech game at 4 pm PST. It will be interesting to see how they react to last night's disappointment. I am hoping they come out with aggression, showing no fear and is inspired by the coaching staff to play to win.
Lastly, the golf team is now in first place by three strokes heading into the final day of the NCAA championships at West Lafayette, IN. From WWL:
Kevin Chappell shot a 4-under par 68 Friday to help UCLA take a three-stroke lead over Clemson and Southern California after the third round of the NCAA men's Division I golf championship.
The tournament ends Saturday with the top 15 teams playing for the title.
Chappell also took the individual lead by four strokes over Clemson's Kyle Stanley and Washington's Nick Taylor.
UCLA put itself in contention for the championship with a three-round total of 888 on Purdue's 7,450-yard, par-72 Kampen Course. Defending champion Stanford was five strokes back, and 10-time NCAA champion Oklahoma State was in fifth at 895 -- just four strokes ahead of Florida.
We will keep our fingers crossed. You can keep track of the golf team here. We will put up an open thread later this afternoon.
GO BRUINS.