No. 23 UCLA Baseball Concludes Regular Season at No. 8 Arizona State

No. 23 UCLA Baseball Concludes Regular Season at No. 8 Arizona State

May 25, 2011

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LOS ANGELES - The No. 23 UCLA baseball team finishes its regular-season schedule with a three-game Pac-10 series at No. 8 Arizona State this weekend. Right-hander Gerrit Cole will take the mound for UCLA (31-21, 16-8) in Friday evening's series opener at Arizona State (38-14, 16-8).

PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
Friday, May 27 - 6:30 p.m. (GameTracker)
UCLA - Gerrit Cole, RHP, Jr. (5-7, 3.27)
ASU - Brady Rodgers, RHP, So. (8-3, 2.78)

Saturday, May 28 - 6:30 p.m. (GameTracker)
UCLA - Trevor Bauer, RHP, Jr. (11-2, 1.37)
ASU - Kramer Champlin, RHP, Jr. (8-2, 2.79)

Sunday, May 29 - 12:30 p.m. (GameTracker)
UCLA - Adam Plutko, RHP, Fr. (6-3, 1.70)
ASU - TBA

LISTEN LIVE ONLINE (click here)
Each game of UCLA's series at Arizona State this weekend will feature a live audio broadcast online, free of charge, at uclabruins.com. UCLA's John Ramey and Tim Wilhelm will have the call live from Packard Stadium in Tempe, Ariz. In addition, fans can follow online through GameTracker, which provides pitch-by-pitch updates of the game in progress on uclabruins.com.

UPDATED TELEVISION INFORMATION
UCLA's series opener will be televised by Fox Sports Net on a tape delayed basis. In addition, FSN Arizona will provide a live stream of all three games online (fsnarizona.com). FSN Prime Ticket will broadcast Friday's game on Sunday, May 29, at 5 p.m. and on Tuesday, May 31 at 7 p.m. Comcast Bay Area will air Friday's game on Saturday, May 28, at 7:30 p.m. Steve Physioc and Morgan Ensberg will call the action from Packard Stadium. (LINK HERE to FSN Arizona's live feed)

FINAL COUNTDOWN
UCLA concludes its regular season with a three-game Pac-10 series at Arizona State this weekend. Junior right-hander Gerrit Cole is slated to start Friday night's series-opening game in Tempe, Ariz. UCLA has gone 8-4-1 in its 13 weekend series this spring and has posted a 6-2 record in eight Pac-10 three-game weekend series. The Bruins have won each of their last two weekend series against Cal State Bakersfield and California, securing victories on Saturday and Sunday after having lost in the series opener on Friday night.

LOOKING AT THE PAC
By winning two of three games against California over the weekend, UCLA has crept to within one game of first place Oregon State in the Pac-10 race. The Bruins are tied with Arizona State (both at 16-8) for second place in the standings, while Oregon State (17-7) leads the group. The Beavers dropped two of three games at home to USC, while Arizona State won the first two of three at Washington last weekend. With a three-game lead over fourth-place California (13-11), UCLA can finish no lower than third in the Pac-10 standings.

COMPLETE STREAK
Junior right-hander Trevor Bauer has thrown seven consecutive complete games as UCLA's Saturday starter, totaling eight complete games this season. Bauer limited California to one run and five hits in a 2-1 victory last Saturday, striking out eight batters and issuing just one walk. The native of Valencia, Calif., hurled his 13th career complete game, moving into second place on UCLA's all-time list. He leads all active NCAA pitchers with 432 career strikeouts and ranks third in career wins with 32 (tied with Southern Mississippi's Todd McInnis).

FINISHING THE WEEKEND
Freshman right-hander Adam Plutko has shined as UCLA's Sunday starter, going 6-3 with a 1.70 ERA, 83 strikeouts and 19 walks in 95.1 innings. A sixth-round MLB Draft selection by Houston last year, Plutko ranks second in the Pac-10 in ERA (1.70) and opposing batting average (.184) and is sixth in strikeouts (83). He has allowed two runs or fewer in 12 of his 14 appearances, each of which has lasted at least 5.2 innings. Plutko has secured the victory in each of his last four starts, allowing six runs and 18 hits in a span of 31.1 innings.

POINT BLANK
UCLA has thrown nine shutouts, the most for the Bruins since 1978 (nine). In 1969, the Bruins hurled a school-record 10 shutouts. UCLA totaled eight in 1967 and had five in 2008, 1992 and 1977. Last season, UCLA's staff hurled just one shutout. The Bruins opened this season with six shutouts through their first 18 games.

TOP RUN PRODUCERS
Junior Dean Espy (.310) and sophomores Beau Amaral (.311) and Cody Regis (.284) have been among UCLA's most proficient run producers. Regis leads the Bruins with five home runs and 39 RBI. Espy ranks second on the team in RBI (33) and third in runs scored (28). Amaral is third on the ballclub in RBI (27) and first in runs scored (32).

THE COLE FILE
Gerrit Cole is among five UCLA pitchers in school history to have collected at least 20 wins and 250 strikeouts in a minimum of 250 innings (others include Trevor Bauer, Jim Parque, Alex Sanchez and Tim Leary). Cole enters the week sporting a 5-7 record and 3.27 ERA, having compiled 99 strikeouts and 19 walks (two intentional) in 99.0 innings.

RECORD WATCH
Trevor Bauer has become UCLA's career leader in strikeouts (432), wins (32) and innings (355.1), posting a career record of 32-8 (30-5 as a starter). He has become the only pitcher in school history to record a minimum of 10 wins in at least two seasons (11-2 in 2011, 12-3 in 2010). Bauer has averaged 12.5 strikeouts per start this season.

LEFT IN CHARGE
Cody Keefer enters UCLA's final weekend of the regular season leading the Bruins with a .311 batting average. The native of Davis, Calif., has started 51 of UCLA's 52 games in left field. Keefer's .406 on-base percentage is second on the team, and his .407 slugging percentage ranks third behind Beau Amaral (.437) and Cody Regis (.450).

NATIONAL WATCH LISTS
Junior right-handers Trevor Bauer and Gerrit Cole are among the 60 semifinalists for the Golden Spikes Award, as announced by USA Baseball on May 3. The Golden Spikes Award is presented at the conclusion of each season to the nation's top amateur baseball player. Bauer has been named as one of 25 pitchers to the National Pitcher of the Year Watch List, as announced by the College Baseball Hall of Fame. In addition, Bauer has been selected as one of 36 semifinalists for the annual Dick Howser Trophy.

PACKING SOME POWER
Sophomore infielder Cody Regis has been among UCLA's most prolific power hitters in 2011. He leads the team with five home runs and 39 RBI. After batting .179 through the Bruins' first 14 games, Regis has since hit safely in 28 of UCLA's 38 contests, reaching base safely in at least 34 of those 38 games. The native of Glendora, Calif., leads all current UCLA ballplayers with 14 career home runs, 86 RBI and 64 walks. In a 10-0 victory over Pepperdine (May 3), Regis had UCLA's first inside-the-park homer since March 22, 2008.

POSTSEASON UPDATE
The NCAA Tournament's 64-team bracket will be announced on Monday, May 30. ESPN will broadcast a 30-minute "Selection Show" at 9:30 a.m. (PT). The NCAA will announce the 16 Regional host sites on Sunday afternoon on ncaasports.com. UCLA has advanced to 16 NCAA Regionals, including four in each of the last five seasons. The Bruins have appeared in three NCAA Super Regionals, including two times in the last four years. Last season UCLA advanced to the finals of the College World Series for the first time in school history.

NEWS AND NOTES
UCLA has limited the opposition to two runs or fewer in 30 games (25-5 record) and to one run or less in 18 games (18-0 record) ... the Bruins lead the Pac-10 Conference in ERA (2.33), opponent batting average (.198), strikeouts (504) and strikeouts per nine innings (9.71) ... UCLA's pitchers have limited the opposition to six hits or fewer in 29 of 52 games this season ... UCLA had a season-high 21 strikeouts against Nebraska (March 5) ... junior infielder Tyler Rahmatulla has been suspended for the remainder of the 2011 season (academics).

CHASING HISTORY
UCLA was no-hit by Oregon State's Josh Osich on April 30, the first no-hitter against UCLA (and in a Pac-10 game) since May 8, 1994, when Stanford's Jason Middlebrook no-hit UCLA. This season, two Bruin starters have had a no-hitter intact through six innings. Gerrit Cole had a perfect game broken with two outs in the seventh 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 (March 26) and allowed his first hit with one out in the eighth.

SUCCESS ON THE MOUND
Five of the Pac-10 Conference's top 11 career strikeout leaders have been coached by UCLA seventh-year head coach John Savage. UCLA's Trevor Bauer ranks third on the list (432) and teammate Gerrit Cole is 10th overall (356) entering the final week of college baseball's regular season. Savage spent four seasons as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Southern California (1997-2000), where he coached Rik Currier (2nd, 449), Seth Etherton (4th, 420) and Mark Prior (11th, 352).

THIS WEEK'S POLLS
The Bruins have returned to the top 25 in each of the five prominent college baseball polls this week. Collegiate Baseball has tabbed UCLA at No. 17, at No. 19 by the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association, at No. 23 by Baseball America and No. 24 by Perfect Game USA. Three Pac-10 teams have been ranked by Baseball America - Oregon State (6), Arizona State (8) and UCLA (23). Collegiate Baseball has ranked five Pac-10 teams in its weekly top 30 selections.

SIX-SEASON COMPOSITE
In conference games over the last five-plus seasons (2006-11), UCLA ranks second in both wins (89) and winning percentage (.597). Overall, the Bruins are tied for third in total wins (208) and rank fourth in winning percentage (.588). UCLA finished second in the Pac-10 in 2010, after having been third the previous four years.