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One of the reasons I love the game of baseball has to do with all the diffferent quirks that you find in baseball that you just don’t find in other sports.
This afternoon, Bruin fans have a chance to witness one of those quirks — a suspended game.
On March 14th, a day after the game was originally scheduled, but postponed due to rain, the Bruins and CSUN Matadors played 71⁄2 innings at Matador Field in Northridge.
That day, CSUN took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on an RBI single by Kyle Barret.
In the top of the fourth, Chase Strumpf gave UCLA the lead when he hit a two-run home run to left.
Albee Weiss tied the game back up 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth when he hit the first pitch from Bruin reliever Brian Gadsby and put it over the left field wall.
Not to be outdone, Strumpf doubled with two outs in the top of the eighth and Jack Stronach followed with another double and the Bruins took a 3-2 lead.
As the game continued into the bottom of the eighth, Alvaro Rubalcaba and Joey Cooper both singled to give the Matadors runners on first and second with nobody out. And, then, the umpires stopped the game because the field conditions had deteriorated.
So, before tonight’s regularly scheduled game, the teams will resume the March 14th game. Cal State Northridge will be the home team for the suspended game, even though it is being resumed at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
It should be interesting to see how the remainder of this one plays out. Will UCLA head coach John Savage opt to put a Bruin starter on the mound as the game resumes? Or, will he stick with Holden Powell, who was on the mound at the time the game suspended?
If he sends someone else out to pitch, Powell cannot be brought back in (unless Savage sends him to play another position when play resumes) because the usual substitution rules all still apply and, while the game was suspended, it is treated as though the game had been played immediately before the resumption point.
Like I said, a suspended game is a baseball quirk.
As far as the regularly scheduled game goes, it might be just what the doctor ordered for the Bruins who have struggled of late. UCLA has lost six of their last seven. So, hopefully, UCLA can use today’s games to get back on track.
This is your UCLA Bruins vs. Cal State Northridge Matadors baseball open thread.
Go Bruins!!!