Most coaches wouldn’t call a road trip to play the nation’s No. 8 team “ideal,” but UCLA’s John Savage isn’t most coaches.
“I just don’t think you could draw it up any better for your team,” Savage said. “If you’re looking for a cupcake, that’s not how you get ready for the postseason.”
Savage’s No. 23 Bruins head to Tempe, Ariz., this weekend to cap off the regular and conference seasons with a series against the Arizona State Sun Devils (38-14, 16-8).
The two clubs are tied for second place in the Pac-10 Conference race, a game behind league-leading Oregon State. With the Beavers having to make a trip to Eugene, Ore., Savage thinks his team controls its own destiny.
“We’re really excited to go out there and win the Pac-10, something we haven’t done in a long, long time,” sophomore catcher Tyler Heineman said.
Since 2000, to be exact.
But winning the series or even the conference may not be the most important things UCLA (31-21, 16-8 Pac-10) can secure this weekend. The 16 NCAA Tournament regional hosts will be announced Sunday afternoon, right about the time the Bruins and Sun Devils will take the field.
In Savage’s mind, Oregon State, Arizona State and Cal State Fullerton are “set in stone” as regional hosts.
As for UCLA, he isn’t sure.
“You never know if they’re going to have another site,” he said. “But we don’t play with the crystal ball. You’ve got to go game to game.”
He does agree that a sweep of today and Saturday’s games would help their hosting chances.
“We could be a viable option if that’s the case,” he said. “We’d like to host, of course, as everybody would, but if we don’t, that’s OK too. We can go on the road and get to where we want to get to.”
Regardless of whether the Bruins host a regional, it’s clear that they’ll make the field of 64 teams, which will be announced Monday at 9:30 a.m. on ESPN.
ESPN’s College Baseball Blog and PerfectGameUSA.com each have Cal State Fullerton hosting a regional with UCLA headed there as the No. 2 seed while BaseballAmerica.com has UCLA listed as “safely in” the field of 64 but not necessarily headed to Fullerton.
Sweeping today and Saturday’s games may be a tall task for the Bruins considering junior right-hander Gerrit Cole has lost five out of his last six starts, and the Sun Devils have lost just five games at home this year.
“It’s a great opportunity any time you can go into the last weekend of the Pac-10 season and have a chance to win it,” sophomore third baseman Cody Regis said.
Savage likes his team’s chances under pressure on the road, though. After all, the Bruins are 8-4 in Pac-10 road games thus far.
“We’ve been a good road team all year and, really, for several years so our confidence is high,” Savage said.