UCLA Baseball to Play at Pepperdine on Tuesday Afternoon
May 2, 2011
UCLA at Pepperdine - Game Notes 
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LOS ANGELES - The UCLA baseball team hits the road for a non-conference game at Pepperdine on Tuesday afternoon. Game time at Pepperdine's Eddy D. Field Stadium is 3 p.m. The Bruins (23-16) have won their last four meetings against the Waves (18-20).
TUESDAY'S PROBABLE STARTERS
Tuesday, May 3 (3 p.m.)
UCLA - Zack Weiss, RHP, Fr. (4-1, 2.29)
Pepperdine - Matt Maurer, LHP, Fr. (3-4, 4.45)
LISTEN LIVE ONLINE (click here)
UCLA's game at Pepperdine will feature a live audio broadcast online, free of charge, at uclabruins.com. Listen live as UCLA's John Ramey calls the game from Pepperdine's Eddy D. Field 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.
BRUINS TO FACE PEPPERDINE
UCLA will play four road games this week, starting with a non-conference game at Pepperdine on Tuesday. The Bruins secured a 9-0 victory over Pepperdine on Tuesday, Feb. 22, in the two teams' only previous meeting this season. Freshman right-hander Zack Weiss will start on Tuesday, making his fifth consecutive midweek start for UCLA. The Bruins have won each of the last four meetings against Pepperdine.
WEEKEND IN REVIEW
The Bruins lost two of three games last weekend to No. 3 Oregon State at Jackie Robinson Stadium. After UCLA lost Friday's series opener (7-5), Trevor Bauer struck out 15 batters in a complete-game effort on Saturday. Oregon State left-hander Josh Osich threw a no-hitter in that game, blanking the Bruins, 2-0. UCLA answered in Sunday's series finale with a 5-2 win, as right-hander Adam Plutko struck out six batters in 6.1 innings.
BAUER POWER
Junior right-hander Trevor Bauer threw his fourth consecutive complete game on Saturday, absorbing the loss despite striking out 15 batters and walking two. Bauer has logged at least 10 strikeouts in 10 of his 11 starts this season. The native of Valencia, Calif., leads all Pac-10 pitchers with a 1.47 ERA, 142 strikeouts, 91.2 innings and a .143 opponent batting average. He is tied for the lead in wins (8) with Oregon State's Sam Gaviglio.
CONSISTENCY IS KEY
Freshman right-hander Adam Plutko has gone 3-3 with a 1.79 ERA, the third-lowest mark among Pac-10 pitchers (through Sunday, May 1). Plutko collected his third victory of the season on Sunday against Oregon State after having recorded four consecutive no-decisions. Through his last five starts, Plutko has gone 1-0 with a 1.34 ERA, 28 strikeouts, seven walks and a .188 opponent batting average.
CENTER STAGE
Sophomore outfielder Beau Amaral leads UCLA with a .319 batting average and 11 doubles. Amaral had a 14-game hitting streak snapped in UCLA's 2-0 loss to Oregon State last Saturday. The resident of Huntington Beach, Calif., also leads the team with a .440 on-base percentage and .457 slugging percentage. Amaral has started the Bruins' last 35 games in center field and has totaled 11 multiple-hit games.
POWER PITCHING
UCLA's pitching staff has posted a 2.45 ERA, the lowest mark among Pac-10 teams. The Bruins also lead the Pac-10 with 400 strikeouts and a .198 opponent batting average. UCLA's pitchers are atop the conference in strikeouts per nine innings (10.2) and hits allowed per nine innings (6.32). The Bruins have hurled seven shutouts and limited the opposition to five hits or fewer in 19 of 39 games this season.
POINT BLANK
UCLA has thrown seven shutouts through its first 39 games, the most for a Bruins' ballclub since 1978. In comparison, UCLA's vaunted pitching staff hurled just one shutout last spring. The Bruins' opened this season with six shutouts in their first 18 games. Since 1967, UCLA has pitched seven or more shutouts in four seasons. The Bruins' 1969 team hurled a school-record 10 shutouts.
THE COLE FILE
Junior right-hander Gerrit Cole has started each of UCLA's series-opening games this season, going 4-5 with a 3.45 ERA and three complete games. Cole pitched complete games to earn the victory on back-to-back starts against Washington (April 1) and at Washington State (April 8). He has collected 81 strikeouts and 16 walks in 75.2 innings. Cole leads UCLA's starting ptichers with a 5.4 strikeout to walk ratio.
RECORD WATCH
Trevor Bauer has become UCLA's career leader in strikeouts (399) and wins (29), posting a career 29-8 record (27-5 all-time as a starter). Bauer's 399 strikeouts is fourth all-time among Pac-10 pitchers. He ranks third on UCLA's career innings list (328.1), 12.2 shy of tying Alex Sanchez's all-time innings pitched record. With a nation-leading 142 strikeouts this season, Bauer is tied for fourth on UCLA's single-season strikeouts list, 23 shy of his school-record 165 from last season.
STREAKING
Sophomore Cody Regis had a career-long 15-game hitting streak come to an end on April 23 at Stanford. During that streak, Regis batted .370 with three doubles, one triple and one home run. Regis has reached via a hit or walk in 24 of the Bruins' last 25 games. Amaral had a 14-game hitting streak snapped on April 30 against Oregon State. Amaral has hit safely in 20 of the team's last 23 games.
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). In a 14-6 victory over San Diego State on April 19, he collected career victory No. 300. Savage accrued 88 wins in three seasons as UC Irvine's head coach (2002-2004) and has logged 215 wins midway through his seventh year at UCLA.
CAUGHT RED-HANDED
Junior catcher Steve Rodriguez has thrown out 16 of 32 attempted base stealers this spring, including seven of 14 attempts in Pac-10 action. Rodriguez is converting on the basepaths at a 50 percent clip, highest among Pac-10 catchers who have had at least 20 attempts against. In Pac-10 play, Rodriguez has batted at a .302 clip with four doubles, nine RBI and five runs. He has posted a .403 on-base percentage in conference games.
NEWS AND NOTES
UCLA's weekend starters (Gerrit Cole, Trevor Bauer, Adam Plutko) have logged 284 strikeouts in 237.1 innings, averaging 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings ... that trio has posted a 2.20 ERA, limiting the opposition to 9.8 hits and walks allowed per nine innings (WHIP) ... first baseman Dean Espy is the only Bruin to have played all 39 games ... second baseman Tyler Rahmatulla is unable to play, pending the resolution of an academic issue.
CHASING HISTORY
UCLA was no-hit by Oregon State left-hander Josh Osich on April 30, marking the first no-hitter against UCLA (and in a Pac-10 game) since May 8, 1994, when Stanford's Jason Middlebrook no-hit UCLA in the second game of a doubleheader in Palo Alto, Calif. UCLA pitchers have had a no-hitter through six innings three times this season. Gerrit Cole had a perfect game broken with two outs in the seventh inning at Nebraska (March 4) and with one out in the seventh against Georgia (March 11). Trevor Bauer had a perfect game with one out in the seventh at USC and had his no-hit bid broken with one out in the eighth inning that night (March 26).
THIS WEEK'S POLLS
The Bruins are ranked in three of the five prominent college baseball polls this week. Collegiate Baseball has tabbed UCLA at No. 13, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association has the Bruins at No. 20 and ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll ranks UCLA at No. 22. The Bruins are unranked by Baseball America and Perfect Game USA. Three Pac-10 teams have been ranked by Baseball America - Oregon State (3), Arizona State (6) and California (21). Last season, a record eight Pac-10 teams advanced to NCAA Regionals.
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 wins and 43 regular-season victories established school records. The pitching staff led the nation with 700 strikeouts, (school and Pac-10 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 (84) and winning percentage (.587). Overall, the Bruins are fourth in total wins (200, with Arizona) and are fourth in winning percentage (.585). 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.