With college baseball now in the middle of its conference portion of the schedule, many people start looking ahead to which teams will make the postseason.
This past weekend, then-No. 7 UCLA (25-7, 12-3 Pac-12) claimed a 2-1 series victory over then-No. 6 USC (26-9, 8-4), staking a strong claim as a postseason team by maintaining its place atop the Pac-12 standings.
On Tuesday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium, No. 3 UCLA hosts Cal State Fullerton (19-15, 6-3 Big West) in a rematch of the 2013 NCAA super regional, which the Bruins won on their way to the claiming the 2013 national championship.
Last season, the Bruins lost both games to the Titans, each by one run, in an injury-plagued year when UCLA did not make the postseason. This season has been a different story for UCLA though, as the Bruins have won all eight of their weekend series and are a top-10 team in the country.
Despite Fullerton being a perennial postseason powerhouse – the Titans have made the postseason every year since 1992 – it might be on the outside looking in this season, as it currently sits in second place in the Big West, with an No. 38 RPI ranking.
Regardless, coach John Savage expects to see the Titans continue their 22-year-long streak of making the postseason.
“(Fullerton) coach (Rick) Vanderhook was an assistant here (from 2009 to 2011), and I have a ton of respect for him and the job that he’s done there,” Savage said. “I think Fullerton’s gonna get back in the (postseason) picture.”
Savage might be right, because Vanderhook’s team has won five of its last six games and seemingly appears to be on the upswing.
And while Vanderhook may have left UCLA four years ago, he still has a connection to its current players, such as junior left fielder Ty Moore.
“That’s the guy that recruited me here at UCLA before he left,” Moore said. “They’re always a good team; they play fundamentally sound baseball.”
With the series win over USC under its belt, UCLA not only carries with it the emotional momentum of victories over its crosstown rival, but the Bruins also proved themselves after a loss to the Trojans earlier in the season at the Dodger Stadium College Baseball Classic.
“We know that they’ll definitely be contenders in the Pac-12, so getting this kind of series win is big in the standings,” said junior catcher Darrell Miller Jr. “But in our minds right now, we just have to handle it like it’s another series.”
Moore echoed that sentiment because, in the grand scheme of a 56-game schedule, the Bruins can’t get too caught up in two victories in one series, even if they came at the expense of their rival.
“We just can’t focus on this one any longer than (Sunday),” Moore said. “Let it go till midnight (Sunday), then (Monday’s) a new day.”
A new day to continue their push toward the postseason.
Contributing reports by Matthew Joye, Bruin Sports senior staff.