Sunday, September 7th, 2008

Baseball: Shockers strike another blow to Bruin baseball

UCLA loses lead in 5th as Wichita St. scores over series of weary pitchers

For the second night in a row, clutch hitting by Wichita State slugger Drew Moffitt bested the UCLA baseball team.

The day after singling home the winning run, the Shocker senior gave fans an encore performance Wednesday evening at Eck Stadium.

With UCLA leading 2-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning and the bases full, Moffitt sent a two-out single into centerfield to plate two Shockers. The Shockers eventually extended their lead to 10-3 and handed the Bruins their second loss of the two-game road trip.

“We came here to win,” coach Gary Adams said. “We didn’t do our job, and that is disappointing.”

Before dipping six pitchers deep into the bullpen, UCLA got an impressive outing from Daniel Miltenberger. In his first start of the season, he worked four-and-one-third innings, striking out two.

“Daniel pitched well today,” Adams said. “The way he pitched today, we could have won this game.”

With one gone in the fifth inning and runners at the corners, Adams called for lefty Daniel Reid to face pinch hitter Derrick Shermerhorn.

It would not be the last time that Adams would take a trip to the mound. After giving up an RBI single to Shermerhorn and a walk, Reid was pulled in favor of Adam Simon. Simon struck out Brandon Green before losing the aforementioned battle against Moffitt.

“Our bullpen is weary. Some of these guys have pitched three or four times in our last five games,” Adams said.

The Bruin bullpen did not fare much better in the sixth inning. With the help of two hit batters and a walk, the Shockers tacked four runs onto their lead on only two hits.

UCLA needed three different pitchers – Simon, Garett White and Scott Botterman – to escape the inning.

UCLA gained ground in the seventh frame when center fielder Jarrad Page knocked in third baseman Brandon Averill with a two-out single to shallow right, making the score 7-3.

Wichita State’s offensive onslaught, however, was not finished. In the home half of the seventh, back-to-back round-trippers by Joe Muich and Shawn Smarsh finished off the Shocker scoring.

Averill was responsible for the majority of UCLA’s offensive output. The senior was 3-for-4 with two runs scored.

The Bruins come home to face Arizona this weekend.