UCLA (5-5) at Long Beach State (8-1-1)
Tuesday, Mar. 5, 2024 - 6:00 p.m. PT
Location: Long Beach, Calif. (Blair Field)
Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats

UCLA Rematches Long Beach State in Final Tune-Up Before Pac-12 Play    
The UCLA baseball team (5-5) on Tuesday drives south to face Long Beach State (8-1-1) for the second time in a six-day span, visiting Blair Field less than a week after dealing LBSU it's first and, to date, only loss of the season. The game will be streamed live via ESPN+. Fans can also follow along with live stats (StatBroadcast) and X/Twitter updates (@UCLABaseball). 

UCLA Quick Hits    

• UCLA is 5-5 on the season, including a sweep of Gonzaga and midweek wins over Nevada and Long Beach State
• The Bruins are 5-1 so far this season in home games, but are seeking their first win away from Jackie Robinson Stadium
• This is the Bruins' last game before Pac-12 play starts this weekend at California
• Cody Schrier has hit safely in nine of 10 games so far and carries a .400/.489/.625 triple-slash line
• The Bruins enter the week with a plus-26 walk differential (58 drawn, 32 issued)
• UCLA is coming off a 28-24-1 campaign and a berth into the 2023 Pac-12 Tournament
• It marked the program's 7th consecutive winning season and 15th overall in 19 seasons under HC John Savage
• The Bruins' freshman class was the No. 1-ranked recruit class in the country (as was the junior class)
• Junior 2B Duce Gourson earned Preseason All-America acclaim from Baseball America and Perfect Game
• Gourson, Cody Schrier, and Luke Jewett were named to the 2024 Pac-12 Preseason All-Conference Team
• The Bruins were picked to finish 3rd in the Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll
• Bruin alum Gerrit Cole won the 2023 AL Cy Young, making UCLA the first DI school ever to have had multiple Cy Young winners on the same team

Projected Pitching Matchups
Tuesday, Mar. 5 - 6 p.m. PT 
UCLA - Fr. RHP Landon Stump (0-0, 6.23 ERA)
LBSU - So. LHP Van Larson (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

The All-Time Series Against Long Beach State    
UCLA owns a 71-47 record all-time against LBSU, including a 22-16 mark under head coach John Savage. UCLA and Long Beach State have played a home-and-home midweek series in most recent seasons. The Bruins single-season record against LBSU in those years: 2024 (1-0), 2023 (2-0), 2022 (1-1), 2019 (2-0), 2018 (0-2), 2017 (2-0), 2016 (1-1), 2015 (1-1). The two programs last met in a weekend series in 2014, with the Dirtbags taking two of three in a split-venue series (Friday/Sunday games at UCLA, Saturday game at LBSU).

Last Year Against LBSU    
The Bruins took both ends of the midweek series against LBSU last year:

• W, 7-6, at UCLA on Mar. 7, 2023: Jack Holman had a career-high five RBIs to lead UCLA to a 7-6 home win over LBSU. He hit a three-run homer as part of a first-inning four-spot, and drove in the game-winning run with an RBI single in the eighth that closed the scoring. LBSU clawed back down 5-1 to tie the game in the eighth, but the deadlock was short-lived as Holman put the Bruins on top for good in the bottom half of the eighth. Since-drafted Kyle Karros had three hits in that game for UCLA, and Carson Yates hit a ball off the batter's eye that was ruled a triple. 
• W, 4-3 (13) at LBSU on Apr. 4, 2023: UCLA outlasted Long Beach State for a 4-3 win in 13 innings to finish off the season sweep. The Bruins were trailing 3-1 and down to their last out in the ninth inning when Duce Gourson took Dalton Ponce deep for a game-tying two-run home run. The teams battled to a deadlock until UCLA manufactured a single run in the 13th – since-drafted Darius Perry drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on a sac bunt, and later scored on a sac fly – to take its first lead of the game. Luke Jewett got the win after a masterful relief effort, closing the game by going a then-career-long 5 1/3 innings without allowing a run. His stiffest test came in the bottom of the 13th after allowing a leadoff double, but he got the next three batters in a row to strand the game-tying run. As a whole, Bruin relievers closed the game by getting 27 consecutive outs without allowing a run, the equivalent of a full nine-inning game. 

Midweek Notes    

• UCLA is 35-11 in midweek contests since the start of 2019
• The Bruins are 2-0 so far this year in midweeks, defeating Nevada and LBSU at home
• In 2023, UCLA went 6-4 with wins coming against Pepperdine, Michigan, Long Beach State (2), LMU, and CS Fullerton
• The Bruins had two midweek games rained out last year, and have had one rained out so far this year
• Duce Gourson (4-9, four RBIs), Rashad Ruff (3 IP, 0 R, 6 K), and Cody Delvecchio (2.1 IP, 0 H) have been standouts in midweeks so far this year for the Bruins
• Last season, the Bruins outscored their midweek opponents 77-68 and outperformed them in several stats including OBP (.414-.350), ERA (4.83-6.52), and home runs (12-6)
• Standouts in midweek games last year included Malakhi Knight (.410 BA, 10 RBIs), Jarrod Hocking (.435/.606/.565), Darius Perry (.487 OBP), Luke Jewett (0.00 ERA, 10 K in 8.2 IP), and Charles Harrison (0.00 ERA, 10 K, 7 IP)
• The Bruins went undefeated in midweeks in 2019 (11-0) and 2021 (8-0)
• UCLA won seven straight midweeks from Mar. 1 to Apr. 19, 2022

The Week In Review    
UCLA is 2-2 over the last week, taking a pair of midweeks before going 0-2 in the Dodger Stadium College Baseball Classic:

• TUE — UCLA used a four-run seventh to log a 5-4 comeback win over Nevada last Tuesday in the team's first midweek of the year. Freshman 3B Roch Cholowsky had the biggest at-bat of the game, lining an outside pitch into the right-center field gap for a two-run double that gave UCLA its first lead of the game and capped the scoring. Two infield singles, two walks, and a wild pitch accounted for the first two runs of the go-ahead rally. Cody Schrier went 3-4 with a double to lead UCLA offensively. Landon Stump posted five solid innings his debut start, and the Bruin bullpen combined for four scoreless innings to close it out. Rashad Ruff earned his second save of the year.
• WED — Peyton Brennan singled home Jack Holman in the bottom of the tenth to finish off a 12-11 walk-off win over Long Beach State in what is likely to be the wildest game of the season at JRS. The Bruins trailed 7-0 after three in the contest, but bounced back to tie it up at 7-7 by the fourth. LBSU would go on to re-take the lead three consecutive innings starting in the sixth, but the Bruins answered with an equal number in the bottom half of each frame. Rashad Ruff held LBSU off the board in the ninth and tenth innings to set up Brennan's game-winner. Duce Gourson was the main man behind UCLA's early-game comeback, notching four RBIs on a homer and two-run single over the third and fourth innings. The four-hour, 15-minute game featured a combined 12 errors, 13 walks, and six hit batters.
• FRI — UCLA was edged 4-3 by Michigan in the opener of the DSCBC on an intermittently-rainy night at JRS. The Bruins led for much of the night, but allowed three unearned runs under slippery field conditions in a seventh inning that proved decisive. Michigan righty Mitch Voit fired a complete game (UCLA's first CG against since 2018) to lead the Wolverines to the win. Luke Jewett was strong for the Bruins, allowing just one run over six innings.
• SAT — Saturday's scheduled game against San Diego was rained out. It was the Bruins' second rainout already in 2024 (Feb. 20 vs. LMU)
• SUN — A seventh-inning grand slam proved to be the difference as UCLA dropped a 5-2 decision to No. 20 UC Irvine at Dodger Stadium. UCLA tied the game at 1-1 in the fifth on an RBI groundout from Duce Gourson, but the Anteaters broke it open on a four-run homer from Caden Kendle to improve to 9-0 on the year. Barnett pitched five solid innings for the Bruins, allowing just five hits and one run. It was UCLA's first appearance at Dodger Stadium since 2019.