UCLA Baseball Roundup Omaha: Bruins With No Shot Against ESPN’s Darlings

Let's get the time set for everyone on BN. First pitch for this afternoon's contest against TCU is scheduled for 1:30 pm PST. As everyone knows by now TCU is coming in with this game with their lefty ace - freshman Matt Purke - who has not lost a game this entire season( 15-0, 3.03 ERA). Bruins are going to counter with our own lefty Rob Rasmussen (11-2, 2.73 ERA), who knows a thing or two about closing out big series.

After watching the coverage from Omaha last two days and listening to Mike Patrick and Orel Hershiser, I am convinced this morning that the Bruins don't have a shot against the incredible Horned Frogs and their passionate fans, their amazing pitcher, and of course the greatest catcher ever to play this game (at any level). I really don't know why anyone here should get their hopes up about Bruins closing out the Frogs, because it is not going to happen. Bruins are not going to win today or get into the championship game, because doing so will ruin tWWL's perfect plot of the greatest catcher ever to play college ball, helping the most amazing pitcher in today's game, leading to a storybook ending for Mike Patrick in Omaha.

I doubt Rob Rasumssen and co. have enough in them to stop the awesome momentum generated by that scary crowd decked out in TCU purple in Omaha. The LA Times is already calling the Bruins "underdogs" going up against Purke:

Purke, a 2009 first-round draft pick who turned down a $4-million signing offer from the Texas Rangers, struck out seven and allowed four hits in TCU's 8-1 victory against Florida State in his first CWS outing.

He's the reason the dominant UCLA pitching staff is, for the first time this postseason, pegged by some observers as the underdog on Friday.

The Bruins are throwing Rob Rasmussen, whose 11-2 record and 2.73 earned-run average is best among UCLA's starters, even though he is No. 3 in the rotation.

UCLA coach John Savage is confident about the matchup.

"We're throwing a second-round pick," Savage said of Rasmussen, who was taken by the Florida Marlins earlier this month. "This guy is pretty good. He was the 73rd player picked in the country. Purke has had a tremendous year, but Rasmussen has also had a good year."

Yeah, BUT can Ras wear his hat and glassless like "Harry Potter" (apparently that is nickname for Purke)? There is not just competing against the AWESOMEness of Matt Purke and TCU Horned Frogs on ESPN.

Give Jon Gold in the Daily News some much deserved credit. The guy is trying to make us feel good and confident about Ras:

[T]he lefty was a second-round pick for a reason.

After a remarkable high school career - a 38-2 record with a 1.04 ERA and 492 strikeouts in 248 2/3 innings - Rasmussen was below-average in his first two seasons at UCLA, a 6.21 ERA ballooned by 77 hits in 62.1 innings.

This year, though, Rasmussen sports a 2.73 ERA to go along with that 11-2 record, with 117 strikeouts in 99 innings.

He was at his best in the Bruins' 8-1 win over Cal State Fullerton on June 13, with the win sending the UCLA to Omaha.

On that night at Jackie Robinson Stadium he was just about untouchable, allowing just two hits while fanning nine.

Yeah, BUT BUT we weren't taking on against a team led by the best catcher in the history of this game. Oh and apparently there is some kind of rally turtle in the mix:

The Los Angeles Angels have the rally monkey. TCU introduced the nation to the rally turtle.

When Florida State had a 7-3 lead in the eighth inning of a College World Series elimination game, the Horned Frogs turned to the only thing they knew to get them back in the game.

They called on the rally turtle. Not an actual living turtle, but a turtle drawn into the dirt in front of their dugout at Rosenblatt Stadium.  [...]

[I]f Purke and the Frogs happen to get down late against the Bruins, they know of a certain reptile that has a history of pulling them through.

"I have a feeling you'll see him again," Curry quipped.

All hail to the rally turtle.

In other words, we don't have a shot tonight.

GO BRUINS.