Shortly after declaring its intent to play baseball for UCLA the following season, Bruins coach John Savage's first recruiting class spent the spring of 2005 watching the team endure the longest losing streak in program history. If there was any second-guessing about what they'd gotten themselves into, they won't admit it. The talent among that recruiting class was great enough to make its members believe they could turn around the program.
Two years later, the Bruins are exactly where they envisioned they'd be. UCLA, ranked as high as No. 18 in the nation, enters this weekend's series against visiting Arizona in first place in the Pacific-10 Conference and coming off the program's best stretch in 10 years.
"It might be a little different for the guys who have been around longer, but we all came in here last year expecting to win," Bruins sophomore catcher Ryan Babineau said. "We have a lot of sophomores and freshmen, but we really don't think of ourselves as a young team. Nobody ever mentions that.
That's never been an excuse." UCLA has won 14 of its past 17 games, and is 8-1 in Pac-10 play, the Bruins' best conference start in the modern era. They've swept back-to-back, three-game Pac-10 series on the road for
"This year, we're starting a tradition," sophomore third baseman Jermaine Curtis said. "We just want to win. We pick each other up and push each other.
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I felt like we'd be one of the top teams last year. We had a great recruiting class. With a year under our belts, we should be doing this.
Really, we should be doing even better. We're right where we want to be, but we aren't satisfied." Despite five freshmen starters, UCLA went 33-25 last season, earning a postseason berth after finishing third in the conference in which it had been a preseason pick to finish eighth.
However, continued progress would have to come with a revamped pitching staff after starters David Huff and Hector Ambriz were among the most coveted of the NCAA-record 12 Bruins drafted last year. Senior Tyson Brummett (7-4, 2.83 ERA) took over as this year's ace.
UCLA scarcely resembled a team that would be contending for a conference title when it began the season 8-14. A March 25 nonconference victory over Pacific in which the Bruins overcame an 8-0 deficit by scoring a school-record 14 runs in the eighth inning ended a six-game losing skid and ignited the current hot streak. "After that, we just turned it on," sophomore outfielder Cody Decker said.
"Everyone's confidence was real high after that." Curtis provided another boost a week later as he returned from academic ineligibility. He is hitting .
325 with 14 RBIs in his first 15 games back. "He brought a ton of energy back to the lineup," coach JohnSavage said. "He's anchored down the defense at third base and given life to the offense.
He brings a whole new approach. It's been contagious." Decker hit .
373 with eight home runs in the past eight games, giving him a team-high 10 homers. Babineau is hitting .455 in conference play.
Sophomore shortstop Brandon Crawford has been consistent throughout, leading the Bruins with a .364 average and 39 RBIs. "We're hitting a lot better now," Crawford said.
"We're getting the big two-out hits. The pitching's been solid most of the season, and the defense, too. We're putting it all together now.
This is what we thought we were capable of. I think it caught most of by surprise when we were losing." Two of the Bruins' four series after this also are against nationally ranked opponents, including the regular-season finale against defending national champion Oregon State.
"There's no let up," Savage said. "We still have a long ways to go. You can't start thinking this and that.
It's a marathon. You've got to play game to game. We're staying in the moment and so far that's working for us.
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