The last time UCLA played Long Beach State in late February, the Bruins were fresh off a 2,520-mile flight from Orlando, Fla. Junior outfielder Ty Moore called it the toughest road trip the team has gone through all season.
“That’s the longest amount of travel, and with the time change that’s kinda tough,” Moore said.
The Bruins faced the Dirtbags two days after that flight, looking a little jet-lagged. They didn’t record a hit for 5.1 innings against LBSU starting pitcher Ryan Cruz, and ended up with only two hits in a closely contested 1-0 win.
“We got back from (Florida), had a day off, and sometimes that happens – you come out flat,” said sophomore outfielder Kort Peterson on Feb. 27.
Come Tuesday night, No. 2 UCLA (31-9, 16-5 Pac-12) will face a similar situation. The Bruins are on the heels of a road trip to Stanford this past weekend, arriving back in Westwood Sunday night, with a road game against the Dirtbags (22-17, 8-7 Big West) coming up on Tuesday.
“We were running around (to catch the plane),” said coach John Savage. “Now we have to hop on a bus again and head down to Long Beach.”
But after taking the expedition from Florida to Westwood back in February, this travel sequence is nothing to Moore.
“Stanford’s kind of an easy trip, an easy hour flight up there,” Moore said. “Long Beach isn’t too far away, so nothing stressful.”
With the travel being less arduous this time around, the question is whether the Bruins will face as much difficulty from Cruz on the mound. The former 29th-round pick of the San Francisco Giants in the 2014 MLB draft got off to a strong start this year but has fallen off since. He currently holds a 4.72 ERA in 40 innings pitched, the highest ERA of any 49er starter.
“Cruz has a good arm,” Savage said. “It’s a hard breaking ball, good fastball.”
Though Savage respects Cruz, he said his main focus is on his own team. Moore agreed, saying that UCLA’s struggles against Cruz the first time around were as self-inflicted as they were imposed by Cruz.
“I mean he was throwing strikes, and he was making his pitches and doing a successful job of just hitting his spots,” said Moore, who went 1-for-3 against Cruz with a single on Feb. 24. “We weren’t as aggressive as we would’ve liked to be – that game in particular.”
One outside factor that UCLA may have to account for, however, is LBSU’s home-field advantage. The Dirtbags have gained 17 of their 22 wins this season on their home field.
“Traditionally, it’s difficult. I mean you’ve got Blair Field, and they’ve won a lot of games in there, they’ve got a great tradition,” Savage said. “So it’s a good test and I like it.”
Scouting report
Long Beach State will likely need a strong start from Cruz to win the game, as the Dirtbags’ offense ranks No. 276 in the nation in scoring (4.0 runs per game). The Bruins counter with an offense that ranks No. 54 in the nation (6.5 runs per game).
UCLA’s starting pitcher Tuesday will be junior Cody Poteet, who has a 2.86 ERA on the season but a 3.62 ERA in his eight starts. Last Tuesday, he allowed four earned runs in 2.2 innings pitched against UC Irvine.
“(Poteet and I) always talk about each outing and some of the mistakes that he made,” Savage said. “I think he landed some pitches in the middle of the plate when he was behind (in the count), and you still have to go down that pitch plan and make sure you’re making pitches when you’re in trouble.”