Bruins quiet ‘Eaters

LOS ANGELES — Two days removed from a weekend of virtual batting practice at UC Davis, the UC Irvine baseball team ran into some elite pitching Tuesday at UCLA.

The Bruins, guided by former UCI Coach John Savage, entered the nonconference game ranked No. 2 in the nation in team earned-run average (2.80), 202 spots better than UC Davis (6.53).

Even the Bruins’ midweek starter, Garrett Claypool, gave the Anteaters more than they could handle in a 4-1 UCLA victory.

Claypool, a senior right-hander, pitched a career-high 7 2/3 innings to earn the victory. He allowed six hits and one earned run, lowering his ERA from 2.27 to 2.11.

The Bruins’ team ERA dipped to 2.75, which trails only Texas. The performance, and the year-long mound mastery for the No. 5-ranked Bruins (30-7), added to the reputation for cultivating quality arms that Savage first became famous for as the pitching coach to UCI head man Mike Gillespie during Gillespie’s tenure at USC.

Gillespie wasn’t worried so much about UCLA pitching as he was the umpires’ impact on his own hurlers, the first four of which were freshmen.

Gillespie argued a balk call against reliever Ruben Orosco in the fourth inning and kept right on chirping, mostly about the strike-zone judgment of home-plate ump Ramon Armendariz.

Gillespie’s protests about ball and strike calls eventually earned him an ejection with no outs in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Gillespie’s early exit meant he missed the Anteaters’ lone scoring rally.

Senior second baseman Casey Stevenson singled with two outs in the eighth and came around to score on junior third baseman Brian Hernandez’s booming double to right-center field.

Hernandez’s RBI chased Claypool, who might be one of the best midweek starters in college baseball.

“He’s pretty good,” Savage said of Claypool, who improved to 6-1 and has limited opposing hitters to a .179 average in 55 1/3 innings this season.

“I’m not used to having a senior midweek starter,” Savage said. “Really, it’s usually always a younger guy, kind of like what Irvine did [Tuesday]. It’s just that we have four legitimate starters, so you’ve got to make room. Claypool has really taken on that role and we have to give him a lot of credit for that. He could have sour grapes and said ‘Hey I want to be a weekend starter,’ which I know he does. But it’s a perfect example of a guy taking on his role and pitching up to his ability.”

Hernandez, who along with his teammates produced 37 hits, 31 runs, 16 extra-base hits and a .325 average at UC Davis, was among those impressed by Claypool.

“Their pitcher was really good,” Hernandez said. “He was throwing strikes, getting ahead early and wasn’t really giving us much to hit He had us off-balance all night.”

UCLA relievers Erik Goeddel and Dan Klein, who earned his eighth save, added 1 1/3 innings of hitless relief.

Hernandez and Stevenson had two hits apiece to pace UCI (24-14), which saw its four-game win streak snapped.

Savage, who was the pitching coach for Gillespie’s 1998 national championship team at USC, a roster that included future major leaguer Mark Prior, said his UCLA staff is among the best he’s ever led.

“Depth-wise, it’s as good as I’ve been around,” Savage said of the Bruins’ pitching staff. “The 1998 staff at USC was pretty special and I really thought the 2004 staff at UCI was really, really good. It’s too hard [to compare]. You like to compare things at the end of the season, around July 1. But right now, they’re doing what they need to do.”

UCI freshmen Orosco, Andy Lines, and fellow reliever Nick Hoover, a sophomore, did what they needed to do Tuesday, combining for 4 2/3 scoreless innings and helping UCLA leave 13 runners on base.

The Anteaters play host to Cal State Bakersfield in a three-game nonconference series beginning Friday at 6 p.m.

Nonconference

UCLA 4, UC Irvine 1

SCORE BY INNINGS

Brock, Orosco (2), Hooper (4), Lines (6), Hoover (7) and Larson; Claypool. Goeddel (8), Klein (9) and Brown. W – Claypool, 6-1. L – Brock, 3-3. Sv – Klein (8). 2B – Gallego (UCLA), Keifer (UCLA), Hernandez (UCI). HR – C. Giovanazzo (UCLA).