Baseball Wraps Homestand With UCSB Midweek - UCLA (2024)

UCLA (9-12) vs. UC Santa Barbara (13-7)
Tuesday, March 26, 2024 - 6 p.m. PT
Location: Los Angeles, Calif. (Jackie Robinson Stadium)
Stream:Pac-12.com/ Pac-12 Now app
Audio:UCLA Lean Player
Play-by-Play Talent:Nick Koop
Live Stats

UCLA Wraps Homestand With UC Santa Barbara Midweek
The UCLA baseball team (9-12) on Tuesday concludes a season-long eight-game homestand by hosting Big West-member UC Santa Barbara (13-7) at Jackie Robinson Stadium starting at 6 p.m. PT. The game will be streamed live via Pac-12.com, with an audio-only call available through UCLABruins.com. Nick Koop will be on hand for the simulcast call. Fans can also follow along with live stats (StatBroadcast) and X/Twitter updates (@UCLABaseball).

UCLA Quick Hits

• UCLA is 9-12 on the season, with series wins over Gonzaga, Washington State, and USC
• The Bruins are 2-2 in midweek contests, with wins against Nevada and Long Beach State
• The Bruins are 9-4 so far this season in home games, but are seeking their first win away from Jackie Robinson Stadium
• UCLA is 4-5 in Pac-12 play, taking weekend series against the Cougars and Trojans
• The Bruins enter the week with a plus-28 walk differential (108 drawn, 80 issued)
• UCLA has started multiple players at all nine defensive positions (plus DH)
• 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, March 26 - 6 p.m. PT
UCLA - Fr. RHP Luke Rodriguez (1-3, 2.55 ERA)
UCSB - Fr. RHP Jackson Flora (0-1, 1.20 ERA)

The Week In Review
UCLA is coming off a series win over USC, rallying from a Friday night loss to take two out of three from the Trojans:

• The Bruins did not have a midweek game scheduled last week due to final examinations.
• FRI — The Bruins absorbed a 15-2 loss in the series opener. The game was close in the early and middle innings, but USC pulled away with a three-run fifth before breaking it open with a seven-spot in the sixth. Duce Gourson had three hits, including two doubles, for UCLA. Owen Egan made his collegiate debut, allowing one hit and striking out three over 1 2/3 innings of work.
• SAT — UCLA evened the series with a 7-6 win in game two. UCLA never trailed in the contest despite the close final scoreline, as the Bruins built a 5-0 lead through three before holding the Trojans at bay just enough down the stretch. The 3-4-5 spots in the UCLA order combined to go 7-13 with four runs scored and thre RBIs. Freshman third baseman Roch Cholowsky led the way with a 3-5 day including a double off the right-field wall that was inches away from his first-career home run. Junior second baseman Duce Gourson went 2-4 with a home run, and freshman first baseman Mulivai Levu added two hits, including a two-run single that proved decisive. JonJon Vaughns also had a huge two-way game, notching a pair of singles and making a crucial diving catch to end the third inning and preserve a 2-0 lead at the time. Michael Barnett was rock solid in a 5 1/3-inning start, holding the Trojans off the scoreboard in each of his first five frames en route to a Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week nomination.
• SUN — The Bruins clinched the series with a 6-3 rubber match win. USC opened the scoring with an unearned run in the second, but UCLA responded to go ahead for good with back-to-back three-spots starting in the third. Redshirt junior right fielder AJ Salgado (2-4, two RBIs) and junior shortstop Cody Schrier (2-4) each had multi-hit days to pace the Bruins offensively, while freshman first baseman Mulivai Levu added a clutch two-run single in the third inning. Junior center fielder Malakhi Knight had the biggest single swing of the game, popping a two-run homer to center in the fourth inning that ultimately served as the game-winning hit. The Bruins used four pitchers in the contest, with none surrendering more than one run. Freshman third baseman Roch Cholowsky was a standout on the defensive end, making a trio of highlight-reel defensive plays at the hot corner.

The All-Time Series Against UC Santa Barbara
UCLA owns a 57-40-1 record all-time against UC Santa Barbara, including an 11-11-1 mark under John Savage. The Bruins have won four of their last five games against the Gauchos, including a sweep of the home-and-home midweek series between the two in 2022, the last year in which UCLA and UCSB met. The Bruins and Gauchos are playing a midweek set for just the third time since 2016, though the two schools were scheduled to meet in 2020 before the season was canceled abruptly due to the COVID-19 epidemic. UCLA also took two of three in a split-venue weekend series against the Gauchos during the 2021 campaign.

Current Bruins Against UCSB
Though most of UCLA's active roster has never faced UC Santa Barbara, several upperclassmen have posted solid numbers in their careers against the Gauchos, including Duce Gourson (2-7, two doubles), Daylen Reyes (.375 average, three RBIs in three games), Cody Schrier (triple, two runs, two RBIs in two games), and JonJon Vaughns (three extra-base hits, four RBIs in three games).

Friendly Confines
The Bruins are off to a strong start in home games so far this season, going 9-4 at Jackie Robinson Stadium. UCLA is outscoring its opponents 79-75 at home and holds sizable advantages in batting (.269-.234), OBP (.405-.336), slugging (.395-.353), and ERA (4.58-6.24).The Bruins went 19-9-1 at JRS a season ago, including a 13-game home winning streak to open the campaign. UCLA had a plus-63 run differential (207-144) in home games last year.

Midweek Notes

• UCLA is 35-13 in midweek contests since the start of 2019
• The Bruins are 2-2 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 (.588 SLG, four RBIs), Rashad Ruff (4.2 IP, 0 R, 8 K), and Luke Rodriguez (5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER) 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

Bruins On the National Leaderboards
UCLA enters the week ranked in the upper-third nationally in the following team stats:

• BB/9 - 3.97 (4th in the Pac-12 / 61st in the NCAA)
• WHIP - 1.46 (6th / 75th)
• K-BB Ratio - 2.06 (6th / 92nd)
• ERA - 5.16 (5th / 97th)

Dynamic Late-Inning Duo
UCLA's setup-closer combo of sophom*ore Cody Delvecchio and graduate Rashad Ruff has been a standout of the pitching staff so far this season:

• Delvecchio leads the Pac-12 (and ranks second nationally) with 14 appearances and has pitched to a 2.38 ERA over 22 2/3 innings. He's unscored upon in three of his last four outings, and has allowed an earned run in just four of his 14 appearances.
• Ruff has recorded five saves on the year, tied for seventh nationally and just two behind Duke's Charlie Bellenson for the NCAA lead. He's number two in the Pac at 13 appearances, and has struck out 23 batters in just 15 1/3 innings for a team-best 13.5 K/9 ratio (among pitchers with 2+ IP on the year).

Good Eye
So far this season, UCLA has issued more walks than its drawn just five times in 21 games. The Bruins own a plus-28 walk differential overall on the season (108 drawn, 80 issued), good for second in the Pac-12, fourth among schools in the western half of the country, and 38th overall in the NCAA. UCLA is averaging 8.5 free passes (walks + hit batters) per game in wins this season, compared to 4.5 in losses.