The baseball rivalry between UCLA and UC Irvine has traditionally been one of the best on the West Coast. From 2007 to 2015, the two teams combined for five College World Series appearances and 13 NCAA Tournament berths.
This year, however, the two programs have been anything but powerhouses.
The Bruins (21-21, 10-11 Pac-12) and the Anteaters (25-17, 7-8 Big West) are both in the middle of an up-and-down 2016. Neither squad has figured out how to produce consistent pitching or offensive power, and as a result both teams are fighting for their NCAA Tournament lives with one month left to go in the season.
Heading into a three-game series this weekend, UCLA’s RPI sits at 74 and UC Irvine’s sits at an even more perilous 119.
These two schools have had their fair share of duels on the baseball diamond over recent years. Since the start of the 2010 season, UCLA and UC Irvine have played 14 games, with the Bruins taking nine of those contests.
However, those games all occurred on an a la carte basis, played on separate Tuesday nights during the season. This weekend marks the first time in over a decade that UCLA and UC Irvine will play a three-game weekend series.
The first and last games of the series will be at Jackie Robinson Stadium and the middle game in the series will be played at Anteater Ballpark on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Coach John Savage, who coached at UC Irvine from 2002 to 2004, has owned the rivalry in recent years. He’s won nine of his last 14 games against the Anteaters, and five of his last six.
Relying on history would be a bad way to forecast this series, however. Both teams have been plagued by volatile pitching staffs that can be good on one night but reckless the next. For UC Irvine, the starting pitching has been problematic; for UCLA, the bullpen has been the issue.
Probable starters
The Friday pitching matchup should be the best one of the series, with each team’s top starter in terms of ERA taking the hill. UCLA sophomore righty Griffin Canning (5-5, 3.33 ERA) counters UC Irvine’s crafty senior lefty, Elliot Surrey (3-4, 3.43 ERA). UCLA has performed very well against left-handed starters lately, so Surrey may actually be a pleasant sight for the Bruins.
UCLA’s Saturday starter – junior righty Grant Dyer – was pegged to be the team’s ace at the start of the season, but he’s sporting a 5.89 ERA as of now. Meanwhile, one of Irvine’s top prospects – 6-foot-5 lefty Cameron Bishop – has excelled with strikeouts, with 0.97 per inning pitched, but struggled with command, recording 0.44 per inning pitched. The matchup between Dyer and Bishop should make for an interesting, if not high-scoring, Saturday matchup.
On Sunday, UCLA freshman Kyle Molnar – who has been surging lately with a full complement of breaking and off-speed pitches – will take the hill against UC Irvine’s Alonzo Garcia. Garcia (4-3, 4.5 ERA) is the only righty starter the Bruins will face in the series. Molnar has posted a quality start in three of his past four outings.