The UCLA baseball team has reached that point in its season.
Starting tonight, every game the Bruins play is the most important of the spring.
“The sense of urgency is there,” coach John Savage said following the Bruins’ series win over Oregon. “We’ve played well since we’ve had it.”
The Bruins (22-22) have won nine of their last 12 games to storm back into the postseason picture. With their latest win, Sunday’s 8-1 disposal of Oregon, the Bruins secured a .500 winning percentage for the first time in 40 games.
Now only 12 games remain in UCLA’s season, six of which are against conference opponents. The next five, starting tonight against Cal State Bakersfield (9-30), will come at Jackie Robinson Stadium where the Bruins are 12-7 this season.
“Right now, we’re trying to treat every game like a conference game,” Savage said. “We have to play well and take care of business.”
Savage will send junior starting pitcher Garett Claypool to the mound tonight for his fifth consecutive start against a nonconference opponent. After shuffling between sophomore pitchers Rob Rasmussen and Matt Grace earlier in the season, Savage has cemented Claypool in the midweek role.
In a six-inning outing last Tuesday, Claypool surrendered just one hit to earn the win over visiting Long Beach State. Tonight, the right-hander looks to contain a Cal State Bakersfield team that is only 2-15 on the road.
The Roadrunners are in their inaugural season as a baseball program, and despite their lopsided overall record, they are more than capable of playing the spoiling role. Just last week, Cal State Bakersfield traveled to UC Santa Barbara and defeated the Gauchos 8-6.
Regardless of who is in the other dugout, freshman starter Trevor Bauer said that the Bruins are only focusing on themselves.
“We can’t control anything but ourselves,” he said. “We’re going to try and take it one game at a time because it’s the only thing that we can worry about.”
UCLA will host conference foe California in a three-game set this weekend and welcome Long Beach State next Tuesday. The Bruins then head to Orange County for the opener of a three-game series against No. 6 Cal State Fullerton next Friday. The two remaining games between the Bruins and Titans will be held in Westwood.
After that, UCLA plays a midweek game at No. 1 UC Irvine and then travels to Tempe, Ariz. to face conference leader and No. 5 Arizona State.
That’s what is left of the regular season.
“We’re certainly on the bubble,” Savage said. “We’re three games behind Arizona State with six to go (in conference play). Every game is critical.”
According to Bauer, the Bruins are playing their best baseball because, for the first time this season, everyone is on the same page.
“The team you see playing now has been there all year,” he said. “But now we’re a lot more consistent in a lot more areas.”
The Bruins have picked the right time to put a streak together. Yet with only 12 games left, a letdown would ultimately be costly for a Bruin team seeking an opportunity to reach its fourth consecutive postseason.
“We’re going to focus on the now and see where we’re at after that,” Bauer said.
“We know what’s ahead of us and what we need to do,” Savage said.