June 11, 2007

Brooks impresses, but Bruins still fall
Cal State Fullerton outlasts UCLA freshman pitcher in the super regional finale.

By Heather Gripp

Gavin Brooks can shed the ace-in-training label. The UCLA baseball team's freshman left-hander will have to wait at least another year, though, to be known as a player bound for the College World Series.
Brooks continued his late-season run of impressive outings by striking out a career-high 12 on Sunday against Cal State Fullerton, but it wasn't enough to stave off elimination in the NCAA super regionals.

The Titans (38-23) had tied the score in the sixth on a home run by Clark Hardman.

Hardman, who was 3-for-4, was also the first Titan to reach base when he led off the fourth with an infield single, the game's first hit. Hardman later tried to score on a single to left by Nick Mahin, but was out at the plate on a relay thrown by shortstop Brandon Crawford.

UCLA ended Kaplan's no-hit bid and the shutout an inning later. A bases-loaded single to left by Ryan Babineau drove in Gabe Cohen for an unearned run. Cohen and Uribe both finished with a team-high two hits.

Cal State Fullerton had a runner on third on the fifth, but Brooks ended the rally with his seventh strikeout of the game. Brooks struck out the side in order in the second, giving him five strikeouts in the first two innings.

The Titans completed the sweep of the best-of-3 series with a 2-1 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 3,442 at Goodwin Field, sending Cal State Fullerton to the College World Series for the fourth time in five years.
Brooks, attempting to earn the Bruins' first super regional victory, dueled with Titans junior right-hander Jeff Kaplan. Neither team had a hit until the fourth inning.

"It was as good of a performance as I've ever seen from a freshman in this environment," UCLA coach John Savage said. "If there's a better freshman in the country, I'd like to see him."

UCLA (33-28) had the potential tying run on third in the ninth, but Justin Uribe was thrown out at home for the second out of the inning.

The game ended with a runner on second as UCLA went 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position.

Cal State Fullerton's Matt Wallach drove in what proved to be the deciding run on a single up the middle in the seventh to score John Curtis from second.