Go ahead. Call this the best Saturday of the entire 2012 season. I won’t argue. I spent my Saturday at Jackie Robinson Stadium and had a bitchin’ time watching two very different teams from different regions of the country battle it out in a pair of well-played games.

White men CAN jump: The UCLA Bruins have a lot to celebrate on this Cinco de Mayo.

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WHAT I SAW AT JACKIE ROBINSON STADIUM TODAY

Both teams really needed this weekend series to amp up their chances for hosting a Regional and maybe even becoming a national seed, and, well… the Bruins got the drop on the Boilermakers with a pair of wins, 5-1 and 3-2. So does that mean the Bruins earn a national seed now? Hmmm… maybe. And do we now put the Boilermakers dangerously close to No. 2 seed territory? Well, considering they’ll play Michigan and Iowa the final two weekends of the regular season, maybe so. But let’s not jump off the cliff on either proposal just yet.

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GAME ONE

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LINESCORE:

Purdue – 000 000 001 – 1  2  1

U.C.L.A – 000 120 02x – 5  10  0

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PITCHING

WP: Adam Plutko, 6-3

LP: Joe Haase, 7-1

Save: None

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TOP HITTERS.

PU:

- David Miller, 1-for-2, HBP

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UCLA:

-  Beau Amaral, 2-for-4, RBI, HBP

- Cody Keefer, 1-for-4, 2RBI double, BB

- Trevor Brown, 1-for-4, HR

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RECORDS.

- Purdue, 34-8

- UCLA, 30-12

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IN A NUTSHELL.

In a showdown of top shelf aces, UCLA eventually broke through first with a Trevor Brown home run in the 4th inning, followed an inning later by a pair of runs off of Cody Keeder’s 2RBI double, and that was about all UCLA needed to put down the Boilermakers. Bruin stud Adam Plutko was sound to say the least, taking a no-hitter into the 6th inning and a one-hitter into the 9th. Eventually, he was pulled after a hit batsman and a single in the final frame. David Berg came in to get the final two outs of the game.

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IT WAS OVER WHEN….

- the Bruins finally figured out Joe Haase.

Although UCLA coach John Savage was unsure the phrase “figured out” was appropriate, his Bruins had some trouble stringing much together for the first three innings. But in the 4th inning, almost out of nowhere, Trevor Brown slapped a solo bomb just out of the reach of Purdue left fielder Andrew Dixon. An inning later the Bruins put the game out of reach (at least for these two pitchers) by getting a bunt single from Kevin Williams, a plunking of Beau Amaral and that previously mentioned two-run salvo from Cody Keefer to put the Blue & Gold up 3-0.

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KEY STAT.

- Seven three-and-outs

That was the number of perfect frames that UCLA starter Adam Plutko nailed down in his 8.1 innings of work. The crafty righty destroyed their will to compete all game long, never really giving the Boilers a ray of hope unto the 9th inning, but by then the Bruins had built up a five-run lead.

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GAME BALL GOES TO:

- Adam Plutko.

Obviously, this one is a no-brainer. Plutko gathered seven Ks without issuing a single walk in his 8.1 innings of work to get his 6th win of the season. The odd thing was that he only gave up four groundouts in his 25 outs he recorded. He turned the Boilermakers into the Kings of Pop with 14 pop-ups, nearly all of them of the can-of-corn variety. There never was an “oh-crap” moment where it looked like Purdue was going to get a blast to the wall or anything.

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COACH SPEAK.

I caught up with both head coaches in the hour and a half between the two games. I talked with UCLA head coach John Savage immediately after the first game today. Here’s a few things he talked about.

- On Purdue ace Joe Haase.

“The kid can really pitch. He just has a presence about him that you don’t see too often. He can throw any pitch in any count and he’s a very veteran-like guy. That pitcher-catcher combination they have is really good and you can see why they’ve been so successful in Friday games.”

- On his team figuring him out eventually.

“Well… we sort of figured him out. That Keefer two-run double was a big blow in the 5th. But we really only did just enough against him.

- On the performance of Adam Plutko.

“It was really all about Plutko today. He kept us in there because these were two good pitchers go at each other in a game one type of contest. He was in command of all of his pitches and really battled well. I was really proud of his effort.”

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Purdue head coach Doug Schreiber.

- On his offense.

“I’ve been really happy with how we’ve swung the bats this year, but we ran into a really good pitcher today. But I think we can come back, especially since we won’t be facing Plutko again.”

- On playing the Bruins this weekend.

“Well we could’ve easily stayed at home and played three easy wins against a local team on campus, but we like the thought of challenging our team and playing the best schedule possible, so we knew UCLA would be a huge test, but one that will pay dividends for our team.

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GAME TWO.

Purdue – 011 000 000 – 2  10  0

U.C.L.A – 001 110 00x – 3   4  0

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PITCHING

WP: Nick Vander Tuig,

LP: Lance Breedlove, 6-4

Save: Scott Griggs, 11

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TOP HITTERS:

PU:

- David Miller, 3-for-4, RBI

- Barrett Serrato, 1-for-4, RBI

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UCLA:

- Jeff Gelalich, 2-for-4, double

- Beau Amaral, 1-for-3, RBI, BB

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RECORDS:

Purdue: 34-9

UCLA: 31-12

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IN A NUTSHELL:

The Boilers got out to a much better start in game two, taking a 2-0 lead after their first three at-bats, including dinking Bruin starter Nick Vander Tuig for six hits in the process. But the problem was they left too many runners stranded on the basepaths, because once UCLA was able to scratch a few runs across – putting up a picket fence with single runs in the 3rd, 4th and 5th, the Bruin arms went on lock-down mode. Helped by an error-less defense, the Bruins held the Black & Gold scoreless the remaining six innings, giving up just four more hits in the process, to take the second game of the DH at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

David Miller is a dead duck here, getting caught leaning on a throw to 1st base.

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GAME BALL GOES TO:

- the Bruin relievers.

Grant Watson, David Berg and Scott Griggs went the final 3.1 innings, giving up just two hits – one of which was erased with a pick-off at 1st – and struck out four. All four Bruin pitchers did well, combining to strike out nine and did not issue a walk all game.

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PICS

Some images from today’s two games.

Ace stud Adam Plutko was on top of his game today, giving up just two hits in the first 8.1 innings of today's game one.

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Purdue came into this series as a confident team, ready for the test ahead of them.

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Oh you KNEW I had to do a Joe Haase/palm tree shot today.

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... but even early on Haase had a few problems and had to be calmed down by catcher Kevin Plawecki and pitching coach Tristan McIntyre. UCLA coach John Savage called the Haase-Plawecki battery the "best he'd seen yet this year." Pretty heady stuff considering some of the talented staffs and backstops they've faced this year.

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Haase exits the game having taken his first loss in his 12 starts of the season.

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Purdue 3rd baseman Cameron Perkins (22) made a couple of spectacular plays on the day, but struggled at the dish.

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There was a lot of pressure on UCLA's Cody Keefer, having to play under the glare of all those attractive coeds in the stands with two men in scoring position in the 5th inning of game one.

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Keefer makes his way toward 2nd base having knocked in the two runs... "Did those girls in the stands see me? Did they see me?!"

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The Bruins stayed aggressive on the basepaths all day, including Beau Amaral stretching his way into 3rd base to beat a throw from the outfield.

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Purdue 3rd baseman Cameron Perkins gnashes his teeth in reaction to a key error in the 7th inning which allowed another Bruin run to score.

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The only trouble Adam Plutko got into was with two men on in the 9th inning of today's game one. Miller would eventually score the Boilermakers only run in game one's 5-1 loss.

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The Bruins hop the fence and storm the field after locking down today's first game... well, that is except for Matt Giovinazzo (#36) who got caught up on the fence as he tried to hop over it.

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OTHER STUFF.

Some extra things from around the country.

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THREE UP

The best of the day in college baseball.

1- CAL STATE FULLERTON AND SAN DIEGO.

These are the ONLY two teams in the entire Top 30 in the NCBWA top 30 poll who went on the road and did not lose. The Titans won 21-4 at Pacific, led by Carlos Lopez’s 2-for-7, 6RBI performance which included a grand slam. The Toreros won 12-6 at BYU, led by A.J. Robinson, who was 5-for-6 with 3RBI from his leadoff position.

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2- ARKANSAS.

The Razorbacks rebounded from that tough 8-6, 10-inning loss on Friday night with a back-and-forth 7-6 win over South Carolina. Leadoff hitter Tim Carver, clean-up hitter Matt Reynolds and 6-hole hitter Derrick Bleeker all had three hits in tonight’s win, to pace a Razorback bat-attack that featured 17 hits off of four South Carolina flingers, including nine runs and five runs off of starter Jordan Montgomery.

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3- KENTUCKY PITCHING.

Corey Littrell had a shutout against the top-rated Florida Gators through eight innings and Trevor Gott came on in the final inning to earn his school-record 9th save on the season for the Wildcats, who took down Florida 2-1. Littrel improved to a perfect 7-0 on the year as UK went into the final frame with a 2-0 lead, before relenting a leadoff home run from Daniel Pigott, before Gott entered the game and went 1-2-3 on the Gators to salvage a game three win in this huge SEC East series. By the way, this was UK’s 13th in in 17 games that came down to one-run.

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HONORABLE MENTIONS

- Kansas State’s Tanner Witt

Witt tied a Big 12 record with six walks in today’s 14-5 win over Nebraska-Omaha. In all, the Cats put 31 guys on base, 14 of them by way by base-on-balls from the generous Maverick arms.

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Oklahoma turns the Sooner State red.

The Sooners evened the series with their sworn rivals with an 8-4 win over Oklahoma State. Matt Oberste went 4-for-4 with 2RBI to pace the Sooners in their drubbing of the Cowboys in front of 7,408 fans at Bricktown Ballpark in OKC. The Bedlam Series now sits tied at one apiece with the payoff game coming on Sunday afternoon. Somebody PLEASE feel free to get me a Lear Jet service to the game. I beg you.

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- Army nears 40.

The Black Knights took a double-header from Bloomfield today, 11-5 and 7-1 to improve to 37-12 on the campaign. They’ll host Lafayette in the first round of Patriot League playoffs. If they win both rounds, the Knights will do something no other Patriot program has ever done, win 40+ games.

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- Arizona gets revenge.

The Wildcats overcame their woeful offensive performance in Friday night’s 6-1 loss to Oregon to rebound with 15 hits in a 12-6 win over visiting Oregon. The win helps the Desert Cats pull back within a half-game of the Ducks in the Pac 12 standings with Sunday’s huge showdown becoming even more important.. Reliever Tyler Crawford was the big key, going 4.1 innings, giving up just two hits and no runs to improve to 1-1 overall.

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- New Jersey Tech.

The Highlanders won the longest game in program history with an 18-inning, 4-3 win over Pan American on Saturday night, to help NJTech split a DH. Ed Charlton got the game-winning hit with an RBI double in the bottom of the 18th frame to pull out the marathon win. Unfortunately for UT-PA, starter Dusten Knight and Guadalupe Barerra combined for 19 Ks in their 17 innings of work for the Broncos.

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- The nerves in the Southern Conference.

Talk about a league-wide memorandum of white knucklers… all five games in the SoCon today ended up in one-run affairs. Appalachian State took down UNC-G by a 5-4 count on the strength of Daniel Kassouf’s school-record tying 16th dinger of the season in the bottom of the 9th inning. In extra inning panic-time, Wofford won at Furman 11-10 in 12 innings, which means this is the Bulldogs’ first win at the Paladins’ Palace since 2004.

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THREE DOWN

The worst of the day in college baseball.

1- ALL THOSE ROAD WARRIORS.

Teams like South Carolina, LSU, Florida, Stanford and Oregon all went on the road in high-profile series and won on Friday. Impressive. They couldn’t keep the magic going today as all five took it on the chin. SoCar, LSU, Stanford and Oregon will play game three rubber matches at Arkansas, Ole Miss, Oregon State and Arizona respectively tomorrow in what should be the biggest Sunday of the season.

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2- TEXAS.

Lost 5-4 to Missouri to fall to 27-17. Even though they are still a very positive 13-7 in the Big 12, the Longhorns entered the day with an RPI of No. 44, which is not a comfortable position to be in. A few more losses like today and the UT Orange could get Burnt by the selection committee.

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3- NEW MEXICO STATE.

The Aggies dropped their third straight game at Hawaii, by a 1-0 count. This means that the Aggies dropped all three games in Manoa by scores of 5-2, 14-2 and 1-0, meaning they’re now 7-5 in the WAC, in a three-way tie for 2nd place behind the UofH, the new WAC leader at 8-4.

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DISHONORABLE MENTIONS.

- UConn’s Anthony Marzi.

The poor bloke picked the wrong day to throw a complete-game one-hitter in UC’s 1-0 loss to Cincinnati. It’s almost as if something was weird with the moon and the cosmos tonight because the Husky hurler tossed a complete-game one-hitter with just two walks and 10 freakin’ Ks, but his offensive mates gave him NO help whatsoever. The Bearcats got a complete-game from Zach Morris, including just five hits given up and 7Ks, as the ‘Cats downed the Dogs 1-0 at Norwich, Connecticut’s Dodd Stadium. Oh, and worse yet, Cincy’s win improves their record to just 3-17 in Big East play.

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- LMU.

The Lions have been making hay of late, going 13-6 since late March and getting into the at-large discussion with a 21-18 record and a 9-6 mark in WCC play, good for second place in the nation’s 4th-best conference according to Boyd Nation. But tonight, the Lions lost a game they shouldn’t have, allowing Long Beach State to score two runs in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game, then allowing the Dirtbags to score the game-winning run in the 10th inning on a bases-loaded walk.

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- Maine

The Black Bears dropped from 2nd place all the way down to 4th place in America East play with today’s pair of double-header losses at Albany by scores of 9-5 and 12-2, pushing the Bears down 4.0 games behind Stony Brook. Aye-yaye-yaye.

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- College of Charleston.

After battling big-brother Clemson for 10 innings, the Cougars lost tonight’s 4-3 decision on a bases-loaded, two-out wild pitch, which scored Steve Wilkerson from 3rd base, allowing CU to pull out an 11-inning win to improve to 27-19 overall and an helped improve the Tigers to 22-0 all-time vs. the Cougars. Poor CofC.

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That’s it for now. Too bad tomorrow is the last day of this weekend. I for one would like to see how more of these series would turn out with another game or two to go.

No worries. In the mean…

G’night