No. 20 UCLA Baseball to Play Three-Game Series at Stanford

No. 20 UCLA Baseball to Play Three-Game Series at Stanford

April 20, 2011

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LOS ANGELES - The No. 20 UCLA baseball team opens a three-game Pac-10 series at Stanford (17-12, 3-6) on Thursday night. The Bruins (20-12) have won 12 of their last 16 games. Junior right-hander Gerrit Cole (4-3, 2.22) will start for UCLA on Thursday in the series-opening ballgame.

PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
Thursday, April 21 - 5:30 p.m.
UCLA - Gerrit Cole, RHP, Fr. (4-3, 2.22)
Stanford - Mark Appel, RHP, So. (2-4, 2.86)

Friday, April 22 - 5:30 p.m.
UCLA - Trevor Bauer, RHP, Jr. (7-1, 1.47)
Stanford - Jordan Pries, RHP, Jr. (4-3, 3.26)

Saturday, April 23 - 1 p.m.
UCLA - Adam Plutko, RHP, Fr. (2-3, 1.87)
Stanford - Dean McArdle, RHP, So. (5-2, 4.13)

LISTEN LIVE ONLINE (click here)
Each of UCLA's games at Stanford this week will feature a live audio broadcast available online, free of charge, at uclabruins.com. Listen live as UCLA's John Ramey calls the game from Sunken Diamond on the campus of Stanford University. In addition, fans can follow the action online through GameTracker, which provides pitch-by-pitch updates of the game in progress on uclabruins.com.

BRUINS IN PALO ALTO
UCLA opens a three-game Pac-10 series at Stanford this Thursday evening, sending junior right-hander Gerrit Cole to the mound for the series opener. Under head coach John Savage the past six seasons, UCLA has gone 10-8 against Stanford, including a 5-4 record at Sunken Diamond. This spring, Bruins have won each of their last four Pac-10 weekend series, including road series victories at USC and Washington State. UCLA last opened its conference slate with five consecutive series wins in 2007.

WEEKEND IN REVIEW
The Bruins won the final two of three games over Arizona last weekend to secure their fourth straight Pac-10 series victory. UCLA's pitching staff tallied 29 strikeouts and one walk in 27.0 innings, limiting the Pac-10's top-hitting team (.340 batting average prior to the series) to a .202 batting average. Trevor Bauer struck out 13 on Saturday as the Bruins blanked Arizona, 4-0. In Sunday's series finale, UCLA erased a 5-2 fifth-inning deficit as Beau Amaral went 3-for-4 with a career-high six RBI, leading the Bruins to an 8-5 win.

MIDWEEK MEETING
UCLA scored a season-high 14 runs in a non-conference victory over San Diego State on Tuesday evening, as Kevin Williams led the way with a 4-for-5 effort in the 14-6 win. Williams became the first Bruin this season to record at least four hits in one game. Cody Regis went 1-for-2 with a three-run homer to extend his hitting streak to a season-high 13 games. Zack Weiss pitched five innings, allowing two runs and two hits, to collect his third win of the season. UCLA has won its last two midweek games, going 4-2 in Tuesday contests this spring.

CENTER STAGE
Sophomore center fielder Beau Amaral leads UCLA with a .319 batting average. He went 3-for-4 with six RBI in UCLA's 8-5 win on Sunday, belting a game-tying two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh. With the bases loaded in the eighth, he slapped a three-run double to give UCLA an 8-5 lead. Amaral's six RBI were the most in a game by a Bruin since March 7, 2008, when Gabe Cohen had six against Saint Mary's.

POWER PITCHING
UCLA's pitching staff has posted a 2.26 ERA, the lowest mark among Pac-10 teams. The Bruins also lead the Pac-10 with 334 strikeouts and a .190 opponent batting average. UCLA's pitchers are atop the conference in strikeouts per nine innings (10.4) and hits allowed per nine innings (5.95). The Bruins have hurled seven shutouts and limited the opposition to five hits or fewer in 16 of 32 games this season.

POINT BLANK
UCLA has thrown seven shutouts through its first 32 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 seven 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.

THE COLE FILE
Junior right-hander Gerrit Cole has thrown three complete games this season, having gone 4-3 with a 2.22 ERA as the Bruins' Friday starter. Slated to start Thursday night at Stanford, Cole ranks second on the list of NCAA active career strikeout leaders (332), tied with Southern Mississippi's Todd McInnis. He has thrown back-to-back complete games in Pac-10 play this season (April 1 vs. Washington, April 8 at Washington State).

RECORD WATCH
Trevor Bauer has become UCLA's career leader in strikeouts (367) and wins (28). He improved his career record to 28-7 last Saturday, throwing a complete game shutout against Arizona. Bauer also climbed to fourth on UCLA's career innings list (310.1). He has collected a 26-4 all-time record as a starting pitcher (went 2-3 in relief in 2009).

WEEKLY AWARDS
For the second straight week, Trevor Bauer secured Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week and Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week honors. He has earned Pac-10 weekly honors seven times in his career (four times this season). He leads the Pac-10 in strikeouts (110), innings (73.2) and opponent batting average (.148) and is tied for the conference lead in wins (7, with OSU's Sam Gaviglio).

HEATING UP
UCLA's offense has batted at a .349 clip through its last five games and has posted a .317 batting average through the last 12 contests. Beau Amaral leads the way in that 12-game span, batting at a .429 clip with a team-leading .529 on-base percentage. Four other Bruins are hitting .345 or higher in UCLA's last 12 games - Steve Rodriguez (.400), Cody Regis (.364), Cody Keefer (.349) and Pat Valaika (.345). In Pac-10 play, UCLA has batted .283 with Amaral leading the group at a .405 clip.

STREAKING
Sophomore Cody Regis has compiled a team-leading 13-game hitting streak, the longest by any UCLA hitter since Regis hit in 13 consecutive games last season (streak was snapped in finals of 2010 College World Series). Regis has batted .362 (17-for-47) with three doubles, one triple, one homer and 14 RBI during the streak. He has hit safely in 17 of the team's last 18 games, drawing two walks in the one game in which he went hitless. Sophomore Beau Amaral enters this weekend's series at Stanford with a nine-game hitting streak.

MILESTONE VICTORIES
In his seventh season as UCLA's head coach, John Savage has picked up two milestone victories this spring. Savage earned career win No. 200 at UCLA on March 12 (vs. Saint Mary's). Last Tuesday in a win over San Diego State, he collected career victory No. 300. Savage accrued 88 wins in three seasons as UC Irvine's head coach (2002-2004) and has logged 212 wins midway through his seventh year at UCLA.

CAUGHT RED-HANDED
Junior catcher Steve Rodriguez has thrown out 14 of 27 attempted base stealers this spring, including six of 10 attempts in Pac-10 action. Rodriguez is converting on the basepaths at a 51.9 percent clip, highest among Pac-10 catchers who have had at least 20 attempts against. In addition, Rodriguez is batting .291 with five doubles and 12 RBI, including a .389 batting average in Pac-10 play.

MR. VERSATILE
Midway through the season, Trevor Brown has played four positions on the infield at UCLA. Last year, 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 10 of the Bruins' last 12 games at second base in place of Tyler Rahmatulla (pending academic issue). Last summer, he played shortstop for the Wenatchee AppleSox (West Coast League).

POWER OF THE PAC
Five Pac-10 teams are currently ranked in one of the five college baseball polls. UCLA checks in at No. 20 in Baseball America, with its highest ranking coming from Collegiate Baseball (No. 11). Baseball America's poll features five Pac-10 teams, including Oregon State (3), Arizona State (9), California (15), UCLA (20) and Arizona (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.

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).

SIX-SEASON COMPOSITE
In conference games over the last five-plus seasons (2006-11), UCLA ranks second in both wins (82) and winning percentage (.599). Overall, the Bruins rank fourth in total wins (197) and winning percentage (.588). 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.