No. 19 UCLA Prepares to Host UC Davis

Friday, April 14

Los Angeles, CA

6:00 PM

UCLA

UC Davis

Knox Loposer (photo: Ross Turteltaub)

Photo by: Ross Turteltaub

No. 19 UCLA Prepares to Host UC Davis

April 13, 2023 | Baseball

Game Notes (PDF)Watch Listen Live Stats

IMPORTANT: UPDATED PARKING PROCEDURES

No. 19 UCLA (19-9-1) vs. UC Davis (11-17)
Friday, Apr. 14, 2023 - 6:00 p.m. PT
Saturday, Apr. 15, 2023 - 2:00 p.m. PT
Sunday, Apr. 16, 2023 - 1:00 p.m. PT
Location: Los Angeles, Calif. (Jackie Robinson Stadium)
Stream: Pac-12 Now App / Pac-12.com
Audio: UCLA Lean Player / UCLA Bruins app / Varsity Network app
Play-by-Play Talent: Nick Koop
Live Stats

UCLA Prepares to Host UC Davis
No. 19-ranked UCLA (19-9-1) opens up a four-game homestand this weekend, hosting Big West-member UC Davis (11-17) for a three-game set at Jackie Robinson Stadium starting at 6:00 p.m. PT on Friday. The entire series will be streamed through Pac-12.com, and fans can access a live audio broadcast through UCLABruins.com or the Varsity Network app. In addition, there will be live stats and Twitter updates from @UCLABaseball.

Quick Hits

UCLA is 19-9-1 overall on the year, including an 11-4 mark in non-conference play
The Bruins are 8-5-1 in Pac-12 play, with series wins against Oregon, Arizona, and Utah
The Bruins enter the weekend with the No. 9 ERA in the country (3.40)
UCLA ranks top-10 nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.8, fourth) and walks per nine innings (2.7, fourth)
Kelly Austin leads all qualifying Pac-12 pitchers with a 1.93 ERA
UCLA has sizable advantages in walks drawn vs. issued (161-78) and HBPs drawn vs. issued (41-20)
Duce Gourson (1.037) and Kyle Karros (1.017) are both sporting an OPS north of 1.000
The Bruins (15-2-1 at JRS) are averaging 7.8 runs per game at home
UCLA has allowed a crooked number 27 times in 265 defensive innings
UCLA is 14-1-0 when scoring first this year, and 14-1-1 this year in games with 1+ SB
UCLA's current sophomore class was the No. 1-ranked recruit class in the country
Cody Schrier and Alonzo Tredwell were named 2023 Preseason All-Americans
2022: UCLA went 40-24, earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tourney, had an NCAA-high four Freshman All-Americans

Projected Pitching Matchups
Friday, Apr. 14 - 6:00 p.m. PT
UCLA -Jake Brooks, RHP, Jr. (4-3, 4.71 ERA)
UCD - Bryan Green, LHP, So. (4-1, 4.09 ERA)
Saturday, Apr. 15 - 2:00 p.m. PT
UCLA -Alonzo Tredwell, RHP, So. (3-1, 3.44 ERA)
UCD - Alejando Huezo, RHP, Fr. (1-1, 5.54 ERA)
Sunday, Apr. 16 - 1:00 p.m. PT
UCLA -Kelly Austin, RHP, Sr. (3-1, 1.93 ERA)
UCD - Carter Delaney, RHP, So. (0-2, 4.18 ERA)

The Week In Review
UCLA is 2-1-1 over the last week, taking two of three from Utah (tying the other) before dropping a midweek at Pepperdine:

A pair of early multi-run rallies proved to be more than enough offense for Kelly Austin, who led UCLA to a 5-3 win over Utah in Thursday's series opener. Austin set career highs in innings (7.0) and strikeouts (11), becoming the first Bruin pitcher to record that many Ks in a game this year. He went nine-up, nine-down to start the game, and allowed just a single the rest of the way after Utah got to him for two runs in the fourth. UCLA went ahead for good in the first after stringing together four consecutive singles for two runs. The Bruins added three in the third after Duce Gourson and Cody Schrier led off that frame with doubles. Cody Delvecchio went 1-2-3 in the ninth for his first-career save.
Jake Brooks led a combined 12-inning shutout as UCLA recorded a 1-0 walk-off win to clinch the series on Friday. JonJon Vaughns had the game-winning hit, shooting an opposite-field single to left with the bases loaded and nobody out in the 12th. UCLA had previously juiced the bags on a Keenan Proctor bunt single, a mis-played sac bunt, and an intentional walk. Brooks went six-plus scoreless for UCLA, and Cody Delvecchio, Luke Jewett, and Charles Harrison chipped in two scoreless relief innings apiece. It was UCLA's first walk-off win of the year.
UCLA and Utah battled to a 10-10 tie in Saturday's series finale, as the game was called after 11 innings and four-and-a-half hours due to a travel curfew. The game was a back-and-forth affair, as the teams traded the lead and crooked numbers multiple times over the middle inings. It settled into a bullpen duel late, with neither team getting on the board from the ninth inning on. Six Bruins had multiple hits, including two-hit days for each of the bottom-four batters in the lineup. Jarrod Hocking had a double and triple for the first two extra-base hits of his career. Cody Delvecchio fired four scoreless relief innings to lead UCLA on the mound.
UCLA's last tie: Apr. 29, 2014 at UC Santa Barbara (called after 12 innings due to darkness with the score tied, 5-5)
For the weekend, UCLA out-scored Utah 16-13 and had the edge in batting (.274-.221) and ERA (2.53-4.20)
Duce Gourson (.375/.444/.688, 3 XBH, 4 R) and Cody Delvecchio (4 app, 8 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 7 K) were nominated for Pac-12 Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively.
UCLA totaled 15 hits and fought back to tie the game on four occasions, but dropped an 8-7 result at Pepperdine on Tuesday. The Waves answered back to re-take the lead in each of the four innings UCLA tied it, walking off in the ninth on a hit-and-run bloop single that scored a runner from first base. Four different Bruins had multiple hits, including career days from Malakhi Knight (4-5, three RBIs) and Josh Hahn (3-5, two runs).

In The Polls
UCLA entered the week ranked in three of the five major national polls, checking in as high as No. 19 (USA TODAY Coaches Poll) while also appearing at No. 21 (NCBWA) and No. 22 (D1Baseball, NCBWA). The Bruins were unranked in the Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball polls.

The All-Time Series Against UC Davis
UCLA is 2-1 all-time against UC Davis, taking two of three at home in a season-opening weekend series from Feb. 20-22, 2009. The Bruins won the first two games of that series before UCD salvaged the weekend with a one-run Sunday win. This is the third straight year that UCLA is facing a Big West team in a weekend series, following sets against UC Riverside (2022) and UC Santa Barbara (2021).

Last Time Out Against the Aggies

Game 1 (Feb. 20, 2009) — Rob Rasmussen limited UC Davis to two hits over five scoreless innings to lead UCLA to a 13-1 Opening Day win. CF Blair Dunlap (3-3), RF Gabe Cohen (2-4), and 1B Casey Haerther all had multiple hits for the Bruins. Current assistant coach Niko Gallego made his first-career start at shortstop in that game, going 1-3 with two runs, two RBIs, and two walks. UC Davis didn't break up the shutout until the ninth inning. The game was the first ever between UCLA and UC Davis.
Game 2 (Feb. 21, 2009) — Gerrit Cole (6 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 7 K) led UCLA to a 5-2 win over UC Davis in his collegiate debut. He faced no more than one over the minimum in any of his six individual frames. All nine UCLA starters reached base at least once in the win. Trevor Bauer closed it out for his first-career save.
Game 3 (Feb. 22, 2009) — UCLA was edged, 8-7, in 11 innings in the series finale. RF Gabe Cohen (3-4, two RBI) led the Bruins offensively. The game featured four lead changes, with UCD tying it up in the ninth inning before going ahead in the 11th.
For the weekend, UCLA out-scored UC Davis 25-11.

Friendly Confines
The Bruins have posted a 15-2-1 record in home games to this point in the season, winning 13 consecutive contests at Jackie Robinson Stadium to open the campaign. UCLA has widely outperformed its opponents at JRS, slashing a collective .290/.405/.443 (compared to .233/.285/.344 for opponents) while posting a plus-81 run differential (141-60). On the pitching side, the Bruins have a 2.30 team ERA at Jackie (opponents: 7.41) with a 199-158 advantage in strikeouts. Four Bruins regulars are hitting over .300 in home games, with Duce Gourson (.391/.530/.578) and Kyle Karros (.404/.500/.635) proving especially-tough outs.

Bruins On the National Leaderboards
To this point in the season, UCLA ranks near the top nationally in a number of statistics on both sides of the ball:
K-BB Ratio — 4th (3.79, 1st in the Pac-12)
BB/9 — 4th (2.65, 1st in the Pac-12)
ERA — 9th (3.40,2nd in the Pac-12)
Shutouts — 10th (4, 1st in the Pac-12)
WHIP — 11th (1.22, 2nd in the Pac-12)
K/9 — 41st (10.1, 4th in the Pac-12)
H/9 — 48th (8.37, 5th in the Pac-12)
Walks Drawn — 75th (161, 2nd in the Pac-12)

Controlling the Zone
So far this season, UCLA has ranked among the best in nation in drawing walks on the offensive end while limiting free passes on the mound. The Bruins have a plus-84 walk differential this season (161 drawn, 78 issued), good for sixth in the country. UCLA is one of just three schools in the country with 160 walks drawn and fewer than 80 issued (Wofford, Wake Forest).