After a series loss to Arizona over the weekend pushed UCLA baseball out of the top 25, the Bruins will face an unwelcome challenge: a Tuesday game.
UCLA (12-9, 4-2 Pac-12) will square off against Cal State Fullerton (12-11) in its first midweek matchup since giving up 20 runs to Cal State Northridge in early March. The Bruins haven’t had much luck on Tuesdays this season, going 0-3 and giving up 41 runs so far in 2016.
Sophomore sinkerballer Jake Bird (1-1, 3.32 ERA) will make his second start of the season. He threw 5 2/3 innings in his only other start, giving up two runs and inducing 10 groundouts on 79 pitches. His most recent appearance was in relief Saturday, when he fired 14 pitches in a scoreless inning of work.
Bird’s role has morphed over the course of the season as various injuries have forced coach John Savage’s hand. The sophomore started out as the seventh inning man, but he started in place of injured sophmore Griffin Canning and has handled the eighth inning in the absence of redshirt junior Tucker Forbes.
The Titans have gone 0-4 against Pac-12 teams this year, but have kept it close in all four contests, never losing by more than two runs.
Sophomore John Gavin (1-1, 2.87) will take the hill for Fullerton. Last time out, the lefty earned a no decision against USC, giving up two runs over six innings.
In its preseason rankings, D1Baseball.com projected the Titans would win the Big West. Tuesday’s game will represent Fullerton’s final tuneup before conference play, which starts Friday.
Players to watch on UCLA’s side include sophomore first baseman Sean Bouchard, who’s hitting .457 in his last 10 games with five extra base hits and 14 RBIs, and redshirt senior Eric Filia, who has reached base safely in all 21 of UCLA’s contests this season.