OMAHA, Neb. – The disparity was striking.
UCLA’s lineup entering Monday’s College World Series matchup with TCU had 268 RBIs.
The Horned Frogs had 418. The Bruins had 43 home runs; TCU had 84. Batting average? UCLA .312, Frogs .347.
Yes, the disparity was striking.
Only on Monday, the disparity was striking out.
UCLA pitcher Gerrit Cole – or is it Kole? – toasted TCU over eight innings, striking out 13 while allowing five hits, as the Bruins won 6-3 in front of 23,345 at Omaha’s Rosenblatt Stadium.
The UCLA sophomore was weathered early – throwing 30 pitches through two innings and 42 through three – but he was dealing.
Cole had four strikeouts through three, but took it to another level in the middle innings, striking out five in the fourth, fifth and sixth.
“He’s one of the best in the country,” TCU shortstop Taylor Featherston said. “He showed that tonight. He threw all pitches for strikes and kept us off-balance all night. We didn’t barrel up as many balls as we could.”
Cole was near-untouchable until the seventh – allowing one hit to that point – until a furious rally, when TCU managed two straight singles by Jason Coats and Matt Curry and a third by Jantzen Witte two batters later.
Then Featherston came up and smashed his seventh triple of the season, clearing the bases and pulling the Frogs to 5-3, before Cole fanned Aaron Schultz to end the inning.
It was perfect timing for “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” because there finally was one.
But Cole came back in the eighth, struck out two more and avoided a calamity after a two-out walk, inducing a groundout.
“You know it’s coming,” Cole said. “TCU is a good offense. You look at their numbers, you’re pretty impressed. It was just a matter of time before they put a few good hacks.”
His performance bested even the performance of UCLA’s other sensational sophomore, Trevor Bauer, who struck out 11 and gave up six hits and three runs in seven innings in an 11-3 win over Florida on Saturday.
Off to a 2-0 start in Omaha – the program’s first two wins in the College World Series – UCLA could cruise into the championship series behind the top 1-2 punch in the country.
“They compete against each other, and that’s what our pitching staff has done all year,” head coach John Savage said. “It’s not about, ‘Hey, I’m the best guy, you’re the second best guy.’ Gerrit has been our Friday night guy since day one. He threw on February 19 for us, and he really has done an unbelievable job for us.”
UCLA’s No. 3 ain’t so bad himself.
Junior Rob Rasmussen, who dominated Cal State Fullerton, 8-1, in the Bruins’ 8-1 win in the deciding game of the Los Angeles Super Regional, is still waiting in the wings.
“I’ve coached some good staffs at USC and Irvine, and certainly at UCLA,” Savage said. “But these three guys – and Garett Claypool had a remarkable year as well for us as our fourth guy – it’s just a credit to them. They came in very talented guys, no doubt about.”