The UCLA softball team recently won the Women’s College World Sereis, locking up the school’s 106th NCAA Championship. That’s a staggering number, tops in the country ahead of Pac-10 counterparts Stanford and USC.
But for all that athletic success, 2010 will mark only the third time the Bruins have qualified for the College World Series, and they have gone home empty-handed after their previous two. Sure, UCLA’s not exactly a “Super Underdog,” what with that triple-digit championship number and No. 6 national seed — that title surely goes to TCU — but the Bruins are certainly an exciting fresh face in this last CWS at Rosenblatt Stadium. Am I telling you to cheer for them? No. But Blair Angulo is!
UCLA will begin its first College World Series since 1997 on Saturday at 6 p.m. against Florida. To help us prepare, Angulo, a UCLA beat writer, was kind enough to answer some questions about the Bruins.
Angulo has covered the UCLA baseball team the last four years for the Daily Bruin. This year, he has served as the UCLA blogger for ESPNLosAngeles.com, and he has also interned at the LA Daily News. Everyone wish him luck in the real world (he just graduated) and stay up to date on the Bruins here.
Scott Dee/Daily Bruin
White & Blue Review: For the casual college baseball fan, can you sum up UCLA’s season to this point?
Blair Angulo: UCLA won its first 22 games, so there was a good feeling around Westwood early on. The Bruins received the No. 6 national seed and arguably the toughest regional field, but swept through the Los Angeles Regional, knocking off Kent State, defending national champion Louisiana State and UC Irvine. In Game 2 of the Super Regionals against Cal State Fullerton, UCLA needed a dramatic two-out, two-run home run from Tyler Rahmatulla in the ninth to fend off elimination. Besides that, there wasn’t much adversity during the season. The team’s three straight home losses to No. 1 seed Arizona State comes to mind, but the Bruins bounced back nicely to win 14 of their last 17 games before postseason play.
WBR: If you were a rabid UCLA fan, and I came up to you and asked, “So, what is this UCLA team about, what defines it?” what would your answer be?
BA: This UCLA team is about taking it one pitch at a time. No, really. As cliche as it may sound, second-year hitting coach Rick Vanderhook has really emphasized this point. The Bruins take pitches, fight to get in favorable counts, take more pitches, draw walks and try to get to the opponents’ bullpen as quickly as possible. Mix that offensive approach with one of the nation’s best pitching staff and well… you’ve got Omaha waiting to happen.
WBR: Who is the player we will hear the most about during the Bruins’ time in Omaha?
BA: There’s a number of candidates, but the one player is probably Gerrit Cole — a former first-round draft pick who turned down big money from the New York Yankees to attend college. His 98-mph fastball and dirty slider should make him a top-10 selection next June.
WBR: Offensively, what does the team look like?
BA: The Bruins don’t have a masher who swings for the fences. One through nine, UCLA’s lineup is disciplined and strives to hit line drives, as well as move baserunners with bunting, hit-and-runs, steals, etc. This is your prototypical small-ball squad that, when hot, can give some opposing pitchers headaches.
WBR: What about on the mound?
BA: Where to start? UCLA has three aces — Cole, Team USA teammate Trevor Bauer and Cape Cod League All-Star Rob Rasmussen — to go along with the nation’s top midweek starter (Garett Claypool) and a shutdown bullpen (Matt Grace, Erik Goeddel and Dan Klein). If the Bruins keep winning in Omaha, it will be due to their pitching.
WBR: Every year ESPN finds a story or two about each team that it pretty much beats to death. What will that story be for UCLA?
BA: Well, this was unclear until Tuesday, but then it became known that starting second baseman and No. 3 hitter Tyler Rahmatulla — who saved UCLA’s season with the two-run homer against Fullerton — broke his wrist during the team’s postgame dog-pile on Sunday. Expect that celebration to be shown over and over and over again when the Bruins take the field Saturday night.
WBR: What is something that everyone NEEDS to know about this team, whether it be about a specific person or a story that sums up the season to this point very nicely?
BA: Everyone needs to know that any of UCLA’s starting pitchers could be a No. 1 guy for many teams in the country. This team will be hard to beat if the pitchers get any sort of run support and the starters can get the ball to closer Dan Klein, a third-round pick in this year’s MLB Draft.
WBR: Does this trip mean anything extra for the team knowing that it will be Rosenblatt’s last Series?
BA: It does. UCLA last made the pilgrimage to Omaha in 1997, so you can bet the school will savor Rosenblatt’s last Series. Aside from that, head coach John Savage and his players have really come together to honor legendary basketball coach John Wooden, who passed away at the age of 99 earlier this month. This is a tight-knit group that hopes to make this journey a memorable one.
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Also: Florida Is Back in Omaha. Expect Pitching, Defense and the Gator Chomp … Omaha’s Diamond on the Hill: Q&A with Steve Pivovar … WBR’s complete CWS coverage