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In one of the most highly anticipated games of the College World Series, control of the bracket will be on the line as UCLA and TCU go for the advantageous 2-0 record.
Through six innings, UCLA starting pitcher Gerrit Cole had been nothing short of dominant. He had allowed just one hit and struck out nine to shut out the powerful TCU offense. Meanwhile, the UCLA offense did enough damage early to stake Cole to a 5-0 lead. Finally in the seventh inning, the Horned Frogs got to Cole.
Consecutive one-out singles put a pair of men on base and another single with two outs loaded up the bases for TCU. That brought Taylor Featherston to the plate and after falling behind in the count, 1-2, the shortstop battled his way to 3-2 before getting a pitch up and driving it to deep left center field. UCLA center fielder Beau Amaral gave chase and dove for it, but couldn’t get there and Featherston went sliding into third with a three-RBI triple. That brought the tying run to the plate, but Cole got him swinging with another high fastball.
A sacrifice fly by Niko Gallego scored Amaral in the bottom of the seventh to give UCLA a 6-3 lead, then Cole struck out two more in the eighth to give him 13 for the game. Now, TCU has just three outs left to get even with the Bruins or be forced to face elimination in the loser’s bracket.
UCLA came into the College World Series as a mediocre offensive team and lacking power. They turned the tables on the mediocre offensive team label by putting up 11 runs in their opener, but with just three extra base hits in their 18 hit total, they didn’t do much to change peoples’ opinion on power. Tonight’s third inning may have done it, though.
After Justin Uribe drew a one-out walk, Cody Regis got a high fastball and the left-hander sent it the other way to left center field for a two-run home run. That home run stretched the UCLA lead to 4-0 and then when Jeff Gelalich turned on one and hit it into the right center field stands for a solo home run later in the inning, the Bruins had a 5-0 lead.
The two home runs by the two Bruin freshmen have just complimented the dominating performance by their starting pitcher, Gerrit Cole. Through four innings, Cole has allowed just one hit and struck out six to keep the Horned Frogs off of the scoreboard.
Just as was the case on Saturday, UCLA scored first tonight. On Saturday, that first run ended up part of a Bruin win. Of course, TCU also saw their opponent score first on Saturday and went on to win that ballgame. This one is a little different than those games on Saturday though because UCLA scored second as well to take a 2-0 lead.
A lead off walk by Beau Amaral got the Bruins going in the first and he took second on a hit and run ground out. Then, Blair Dunlap hit a roller to the right side that barely got past the Horned Frogs’ second baseman, allowing Amaral to score.
More singles did it for UCLA in the second. Singles by Dean Espy and Chris GIovinazzo got a runner into scoring position, then Beau Amaral hit a ground ball right back up the middle for a RBI single, putting UCLA up, 2-0.
The game has already been marred by poor base running, though. In that UCLA first, Dunlap was picked off second to end the rally and then in the second inning, TCU had a man picked off.
With runs in the first and second, UCLA has now scored in 10 of their 11 innings at the College World Series. TCU did hit a few hard foul balls against UCLA starting pitcher Gerrit Cole in the second inning so it will be interesting to see if he can buckle down.
With Florida and Florida St. battling just to stay alive, UCLA and TCU are set to go to work in search of control of the bracket at the College World Series. Coming into Omaha, UCLA and TCU were looked at as two of the hottest teams in the country after they dispatched some high quality competition to qualify for the College World Series. After the two teams make quick work of their opponents in the openers, the hype for this game as gone to another level in what may be the best match-up Omaha will see all week long.
With the double elimination format, taking games one and two of the tournament is the key. If you win those first two games, you get a nice long rest until Friday and will play your third game versus a team playing their fourth, while also have one more game on Saturday to advance to the Championship Series if it's necessary. While you get two chance to win one, your opponent needs them both. UCLA and TCU each picked up opening game wins so when the two take to the field tonight, control of the bracket will be on the line as they go for the advantageous 2-0 record.
A national headliner thanks to his tremendous start, Trevor Bauer earned the majority of the praise following UCLA's first ever College World Series win. As a result, the offensive output went largely unnoticed and unfortunately so because it was one of the finer offensive performance the Bruins put on all season. Every position player picked up a hit and the Bruins totaled 18 in the game en route to 11 runs. Most impressively, UCLA managed to put up run after run despite just three of the hits going for extra bases and none clearing the fence for a home run. Versus an excellent pitcher and red hot Florida team, UCLA pounded out base hit after base hit, stole bases and used the middle of the field exactly as their offensive game plan lays out.
Earlier in the day on Saturday, TCU made their very first appearance in the College World Series and were as impressive as the Bruins. After first inning jitters led to a single unearned run, TCU rode a brilliant pitching performance by freshman Matt Purke to a comfortable 8-1 win over Florida St. Just as UCLA's offensive performance went overlooked because of Bauer's terrific start, TCU's offense went unnoticed because of Purke's dominance. The Horned Frogs knocked out 11 hits, including a long ball to take down the Seminoles. Now, they will see if they can replicate it against the Bruins.
With Bauer having gone on Saturday, Gerrit Cole will get his chance tonight for UCLA. The Yankees' first-round pick out of high school, Cole is armed with his blazing fastball, deadly slider and quickly improving change up. He carries a 10-3 record and 3.25 ERA into the contest, whilepponents are hitting just .195 against Cole and he's striking out 11.5 batters per nine innings.
Opposite Cole will be a fellow right-handed sophomore, Kyle Winkler. A strong sophomore season in the books, Winkler turned in his best performance when the Horned Frogs needed him most. In the Super Regionals versus number two national seed Texas and in a deciding third game, Winkler shut the Longhorns out on Texas' home field over 7.2 innings to clinch the Horned Frogs' College World Series spot. Now, at 12-1 with a 2.84 ERA, he will face a UCLA offense that is clicking at the right time.
Winkler has gotten it done against the Mountain West for most of the season, while Cole has done his work against the better Pac-10. Conference affiliations don't matter now though. Cole definitely has the better stuff, but can get erratic. When on, there's no pitcher in the country who can match his pure talent and UCLA has a major advantage if he's on tonight. Meanwhile, TCU has a near sure thing in Winkler and no matter what Cole does, Winkler is likely to do enough to give the Horned Frogs a chance. This one could be decided by who cracks first in the Omaha pressure.
2010 College World Series: UCLA Grabs Controls Of Bracket One With 6-3 Win Over TCU
The heavyweight match-up in bracket one of the 2010 College World Series wasn’t as tight as some expected, but it was still filled with entertainment. The guy who came in with all the hype lived up to it as UCLA starting pitcher Gerrit Cole put on a show for the Omaha crowd in the Bruins’ 6-3 win.
A first-round pick of the New York Yankees out of high school, Cole showed why he makes scouts drool. He worked three different fastballs, a four-seam, two-seam and cut fastball, anywhere from 92-98 mph all game. Then, he worked in a mid-80’s hard breaking slider and occasional slider to give the Horned Frogs little chance. They touched him up a bit in one inning, but Cole managed eight innings of five hit, three run ball with 13 strike outs to pick up his 11th win of the year.
At the plate, Beau Amaral set the table by going 3-3 with two runs, a RBI and a walk at the top of the UCLA lineup, while Cody Regis and Jeff Gelalich hit home runs. All three freshmen showed no fear of the moment in front of 23,000+ at Rosenblatt Stadium as the Bruins put up five runs in the first three innings to grab control of the game.
Taylor Featherton was the lone TCU batter to make a major impact, connecting on a three-RBI triple in the seventh inning to make a game of it, but with that exception, Cole was too good for the Horned Frogs. As a result, TCU gets bounced to the loser’s bracket where they will have to play an elimination game versus Florida St. on Wednesday. Meanwhile, UCLA will be able to relax and wait for the winner of that game for a Friday contest.
Jun 22 12:36a by Ryan Rosenblatt - 0 comments