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UCLA-Southern Cal Baseball Series Recap- Swept at Home

The UCLA Baseball season hit a new low this weekend, as an epic meltdown on Saturday resulted in the 3rd loss in a row to $C. The Bruins find themselves tied for 6th in the Pac-12, 4.5 games off the pace and falling fast.

Bruce Thorson-US PRESSWIRE

I went to UCLA Night at the SF Symphony last night. It was a nice evening out. The Mayor's Office joined in the festivities by bathing City Hall in blue and gold lights (turns out it was for the Warriors). And the final Symphony number seemed so appropriate after following the Saturday meltdown- Tchaikovsky's 6th Symphony, "Pathetique". This got me thinking about other musical selections which would fit the current state of UCLA Baseball. And the Stones came to mind with "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", "You Can't Always Get What You Want", and "Shattered".

If you want all the gory details, here is the official recap for Thursday. And here is the official recap for Friday. And if you really want to get in a bad mood, here is the official recap for yesterday.

I would like to instead focus on a couple of lowlights (these can't be highlights). This was the first time the Bruins have been swept at home since losing three straight to ASU at the end of April, 2010. That UCLA team went on to Omaha, but the vibe is clearly different this year. The 2010 series was a battle between #5 (UCLA) and #3 (ASU). This was a matchup of two middle-of-the-road conference opponents.

This was also the first time the Bruins have been swept by $C since April, 2005. That was Coach Savage's first season, and the Bruins were awful that year. And the last time the Bruins were swept by $C at home was in May, 2002, before Coach Savage arrived on the scene to put the program on a new trajectory.

Here, in my mind, is the most telling stat of the last three games-

UCLA starting pitchers-  20.2 IP, 8 ER, 20 H, 10 BB, 10 K,  3.56 ERA, 1.49 WHIP

UCLA bullpen-                6.1 IP, 12 ER, 10 H, 4 BB, 5 K, 17.71 ERA, 2.30 WHIP

Cody Poteet in particular stands out as one of the few bright spots. Here is his line from yesterday-

7 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 4 BB, 2 K, no decision thanks to the 9th inning meltdown.

David Berg continues to be absent with a biceps injury. But a 17.71 ERA from the bullpen, albeit without Berg, simply does not cut it. We are clearly throwing young pitchers in the deep end, but it makes you wonder what the post-Berg world will look like.

UCLA is now 22-19, 9-9 in conference play. The Bruins travel to Santa Barbara for a Tuesday night game. They then return home for a weekend series against 8th place Stanford. After the $C  series, nothing can be taken for granted.

The clock is ticking.  Please provide other suitable musical selections in the comment section, to match the current state of affairs. Misery loves company.

Go Bruins !!