The emphasis has been on the weekend series, but the adventures have come on Tuesdays for the UCLA baseball team.
After taking two out of three from Arizona on the road, the No. 5 Bruins (29-7, 7-5 Pac-10) return home to host UC Irvine tonight, when they will try to reverse their recent midweek fortunes.
On April 20, UCLA hosted Long Beach State and suffered its worst defeat of the season, 16-4. Two weeks before, the Bruins dropped a 6-1 home decision to Cal State Fullerton.
As evidenced by the scores of those losses, pitching has been an issue for UCLA in its midweek contests, particularly the staff’s tendency to give up the long ball. Senior Garett Claypool, the customary Tuesday starter, gave up three home runs in the first inning in the Cal State Fullerton loss, and UCLA pitchers as a whole yielded six long balls to Long Beach State.
UC Irvine (24-13, 8-4 Big West) enters tonight’s game riding a four-game winning streak, including a sweep of UC Davis in the weekend series. The Anteaters are led by senior first baseman Jeff Cusick, who is at the top of the team in batting average, home runs and RBIs.
In its recent midweek games, UC Irvine has employed a tandem of sophomore Matt Summers and freshman Evan Brock on the mound. Whoever gets the start for the Anteaters will likely oppose Claypool, who will look to improve his 5-1 record and 2.27 ERA.
In the game against Long Beach State, UCLA coach John Savage experimented with a lineup that featured second baseman Tyler Rahmatulla moving up from third in the batting order to second, with Dean Espy hitting in the three-hole. The Bruins reverted back to their customary look over the weekend in Tucson, Ariz., with Rahmatulla hitting third in all three games.
Compiled by Ryan Eshoff, Bruin Sports senior staff.