No. 23 UCLA Baseball to Host Long Beach State on Tuesday

No. 23 UCLA Baseball to Host Long Beach State on Tuesday

April 11, 2011

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LOS ANGELES - UCLA opens a stretch of four home games this week by hosting Long Beach State on Tuesday evening. The Bruins split a pair of games against Long Beach State last season, as each team won one game at its opponent's venue. The Bruins have gone 2-2 in four midweek ballgames this season. UCLA continues its Pac-10 schedule with a three-game conference series against Arizona at Jackie Robinson Stadium beginning Friday night.

TUESDAY NIGHT'S STARTERS (at UCLA's Jackie Robinson Stadium)
Tuesday, April 12 (6 p.m.)
LBSU - Jake Stassi, LHP, Fr. (0-0, 0.00)
UCLA - Zack Weiss, RHP, Fr. (1-1, 3.38)

LISTEN LIVE ONLINE (click here)
Each game against Washington this weekend will feature a live audio broadcast online, free of charge, at uclabruins.com. Listen live as UCLA's John Ramey and Tim Wilhelm call the game from Jackie Robinson Stadium. In addition, fans can follow the action online through GameTracker, which provides pitch-by-pitch updates of the game in progress on uclabruins.com.

GETTING TO JACKIE ROBINSON STADIUM
Steele Field at Jackie Robinson Stadium is located on the grounds of the West L.A. Veteran Administration, north of Wilshire Blvd. and west of the 405 Freeway. From the 405 North, exit Wilshire Blvd. (west offramp), stay in the right lane coming down the offramp and turn right onto Sepulveda Blvd. Continue until Constitution Ave. and turn left. Parking lots for the ballpark are located on the north side of Constitution Ave.

TICKETS AND PARKING
Tickets for games at Jackie Robinson Stadium this Tuesday night cost $2 as part of the Bruins' ongoing "Two-Dollar Tuesday" promotion. Games on the weekend against Arizona will cost $7 for adults and $5 for youth (ages 16 and under). Parking on the VA grounds costs $7. UCLA's baseball concession stand is stocked with hot dogs, peanuts, nachos, chili, sodas and much more classic ballpark food.

WEEKLY REVIEW
The Bruins went 2-2 last week, dropping a 5-4 decision in 11 innings at UC Riverside on Tuesday before securing a Pac-10 series victory at Washington State over the weekend. Through those four games, Beau Amaral led the Bruins at the plate with a .400 batting average, and Cody Regis hit at a .353 clip with a team-leading six RBI. UCLA earned its first series victory at Washington State since 2005.

STRONG STARTS
UCLA's starting pitchers had impressive performances at Washington State last weekend. Gerrit Cole opened the series throwing a complete game, allowing one unearned run and five hits while striking out seven. Trevor Bauer fanned 15 batters and walked two in a complete game. Adam Plutko limited the Cougars to one bunt single through the first eight scoreless innings before surrendering one run and one hit in the ninth on Sunday.

POWER PITCHING
UCLA's pitching staff has posted a 2.05 ERA, the lowest mark among Pac-10 teams. The Bruins also lead the Pac-10 with 288 strikeouts and a .187 opponent batting average. UCLA's pitchers are atop the conference in strikeouts per nine innings (10.6) and hits allowed per nine innings (5.83). The Bruins have hurled six shutouts and limited the opposition to five hits or fewer in 14 of 27 games this season.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
In UCLA's 16 victories, the Bruins' pitching staff has limited the opposition to 21 runs (16 earned), for a 0.98 ERA. That translates to an average of 1.23 runs allowed per game when UCLA wins. The Bruins have limited their opponents to two runs or fewer in 16 of 27 games, going 13-3 in those contests. Opponents have scored five runs or more in seven ballgames with no more than eight runs in a single game (San Jose State, Feb. 27).

POINT BLANK
UCLA has thrown six shutouts through its first 27 games, the most shutouts for a Bruins' ballclub in one season since 1978. In comparison, UCLA's vaunted pitching staff hurled just one shutout last spring. Since 1967, UCLA has pitched six or more shutouts in four seasons. The Bruins' 1969 team hurled a school-record 10 shutouts. UCLA had nine shutouts in 1978, eight in 1967, and five in 2008, 1992 and 1977.

GC FIRING CGs
Junior right-hander Gerrit Cole threw his second consecutive complete game victory last Friday, striking out seven batters and walking one in a 3-1 victory at Washington State. Cole hurled his third complete game of the season, limiting the host Cougars to one unearned run and five hits. He moved into third place on UCLA's career strikeouts list. Cole ranks sixth in the Pac-10 in ERA (1.74) and fourth in strikeouts (64).

RECORD WATCH
Trevor Bauer established UCLA's career strikeout record with a 14-strikeout effort at USC on March 26. Gerrit Cole ranks third on the career list after having fanned seven batters last Friday at Washington State. This season, Bauer currently leads all Pac-10 pitchers with 97 strikeouts while Cole ranks fourth with 64. Bauer tied Alex Sanchez for the lead on UCLA's career wins list (27) last Saturday at Washington State, improving his all-time ledger to 27-7.

WEEKLY AWARDS
Trevor Bauer secured Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week honors for the sixth time in his career and third time this season, after having fanned 15 batters in a complete game at Washington State last Saturday. Bauer also earned Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week acclaim for the fifth time in his career after hurling his seventh career complete game (second this season). Bauer leads UCLA with 64.2 innings and ranks seventh on the school's career innings pitched list (301.1).

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
- UCLA has won five of its last seven games and has opened Pac-10 play with a 7-2 record.
- Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer have earned the victory in each of their last three starts.
- Cody Regis has hit safely in 12 of the last 13 ballgames, batting .362 in that span.
- UCLA limited Washington State to a .183 batting average in 27.0 innings.
- Pat Valaika has thrived with runners in scoring position, batting .412 (7-for-17, 10 RBI).
- UCLA's pitchers have hurled perfect games into the seventh inning in three contests.

TUESDAY'S STARTER
Freshman Zack Weiss has started each of the Bruins' last two midweek ballgames. He threw three scoreless innings and did not record a decision at UC Riverside last Tuesday. Weiss enters this week's game against Long Beach State with a 1-1 record and 3.38 ERA, having logged 19 strikeouts and seven walks in 21.1 innings. Weiss has pitched in 11 games, limiting the opposition to a .176 batting average this spring.

MR. VERSATILE
Midway through his sophomore year, Trevor Brown has played four positions on the infield at UCLA. Last season, he served as a catcher in addition to playing third and first base. This season, he has played at third, first and second. Brown has started UCLA's last seven games at second base in place of Tyler Rahmatulla (pending academic issue). Last summer, he played shortstop for the Wenatchee AppleSox (West Coast League).

CAUGHT RED-HANDED
Junior catcher Steve Rodriguez threw out four of five attempted base stealers in three games against Washington (April 1-3) and did not have any baserunners attempt a stolen base at Washington State (April 8-10). This season, he has thrown out 13 of 26 attempts, converting at a 50.0 percent clip (second-best in the Pac-10 among catchers who have had at least 20 attempts against).

POWER OF THE PAC
Six Pac-10 teams are currently ranked in one of the five college baseball polls. UCLA checks in at No. 23 in Baseball America, with its highest ranking coming from Collegiate Baseball (No. 12). Baseball America's poll features six Pac-10 teams, including Oregon State (9), Arizona State (10), California (16), Stanford (17), Arizona (20), and UCLA (23). Last season, a record eight Pac-10 teams advanced to NCAA Regionals, the highest percentage of teams to advance from one conference in the sport's history.

LOOKING AHEAD
Next week, the Bruins host a midweek game against San Diego State (April 19) before opening a three-game Pac-10 series at Stanford on Thursday, April 21. After having played just two games at home in March, UCLA has 11 games on its schedule in April. Following the series at Stanford, the Bruins will host one game versus UC Irvine (April 26) and play three at Jackie Robinson Stadium against Oregon State (April 29-May 1).

2010 IN REVIEW
UCLA advanced to the finals of the College World Series in 2010 for the first time ever. The Bruins earned their third trip to the College World Series (first since 1997), defeating Cal State Fullerton in an NCAA Super Regional. UCLA's 51 total wins and 43 regular-season victories established school records. The pitching staff led the nation with 700 strikeouts, (school record) after the Bruins opened with a program-best 22-game win streak. UCLA hosted an NCAA Regional for the first time since 1986 (first-ever Super Regional host).

FIVE-YEAR COMPOSITE
In conference games over the last five seasons (2006-10), UCLA ranks second in both wins (73) and winning percentage (.584). Overall, the Bruins rank third in total wins (177) and fourth in winning percentage (.584). UCLA finished second in the Pac-10 in 2010, after having posted a third-place finish the previous four years. The Bruins have advanced to the postseason in four of the last five seasons.