The members of the UCLA baseball team have been proven road warriors this season, losing only one game away from home. However, by no means are they taking their chances on the road for granted.
“You’re going on the road and we know it’s going to be very difficult. It’s going to be a tremendous challenge for us,” coach John Savage said.
UCLA (25-8, 10-5 Pac-12) travels to Corvallis, Ore., this weekend to face Oregon State (24-11, 6-6).
UCLA jumped up in Baseball America’s rankings this week, rising from 17 to 11 after beating Cal State Fullerton and taking two out of three against Arizona, both top 25 ranked teams.
Sophomore pitcher Adam Plutko has struggled recently, but Savage has remained consistent in his belief that the starter will find his mojo again.
“He needs to get better, and he knows that. He’s our Friday night guy, he’s not going anywhere; we just got to get him right. He’s been good at times, he’s been pretty inconsistent and what made him so good last year was his consistency. So he needs to get back on track and he knows it.”
Plutko’s teammates echoed confidence in their Friday night starter.
“There’s no doubt in my mind he’s going to go out there and do what he does. He’s a competitor and he comes out every game ready to go. We’re expecting that,” said junior outfielder Beau Amaral.
Plutko will start the first game of the series and fellow sophomore right handers Nick Vander Tuig and Zack Weiss will follow on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Weiss will follow up with his second start in more than a month. Last weekend at Arizona he looked as good as new, taking the win and striking out five.
Amaral has been a powerful asset for the Bruins lately, and was recognized last week not only at the conference level as Pac-12 Player of the Week, but also on a national scale, as the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association named him its player of the week as well.
Although the Bruins seem to have power and momentum on their side, they recognize the need to keep working and improving.
“I think we can improve in everything, our hitting, our pitching, our defense. Everything can improve, but I like where we’re at,” said sophomore infielder Pat Valaika. “We’ve just got to keep playing with confidence, getting the next guy to the plate and playing good defense.”