The last time UCLA baseball was in control of a ballgame was March 26 against Arizona, when the Bruins cruised into the ninth with a four-run lead. The Bruins lost that game and have lost all five games they’ve played since.
Coach John Savage consoled his players after their sixth straight loss Tuesday night.
“I just told our guys, ‘Guys, we’re not in that bad of a position,'” Savage said. “I mean I’ve been in this league a long time, and we’re one weekend away from being right back in it … you’re only as good as your last weekend in conference.”
UCLA (12-14, 4-5 Pac-12) is hoping that weekend will come against Stanford (15-8, 4-2), as the two will square off for a three-game set at Jackie Robinson Stadium starting Thursday.
The Bruins’ six-game losing streak has pushed them out of the rankings and into seventh place in the Pac-12. They’ll face the conference’s No. 3 team: the Cardinal.
“They’re the same old Stanford – they’re really good,” Savage said. “They can pitch, they can really play defense. I think they’re the best defensive team in the league. And they’re starting to swing it.”
The Cardinal heads into Westwood on a three-game winning streak, over the course of which they’ve scored at least eight runs per game. They also beat California – which swept UCLA last weekend – as part of a non-conference matchup Tuesday.
Savage said he was happy with his pitching, but the Bruin offense has only scored seven runs in its last four games.
“Some guys, they’re putting too much pressure on themselves,” said sophomore first baseman Sean Bouchard. “We’ve definitely shown throughout the season flashes of what we can be.”
Even though his team has lost seven of its last eight, Bouchard has gone 13-for-27 with four doubles in that span.
The three-game set will mark UCLA’s first home series since its sweep of Washington State three weeks ago. Although Savage mentioned that the Bruins’ road record over the last 10 years is by far the best in the conference, the same hasn’t been true this year, with UCLA posting a 3-8 road mark.
“We lost that opportunity to get a couple road games,” Savage said. “Now we better be able to take care of Jackie Robinson.”
Thursday’s tilt will feature Bruin sophomore righty Griffin Canning (3-3, 4.28 ERA) against Cardinal lefty Chris Castellanos (3-1, 4.45). Both are looking to rebound from rough outings last weekend.
On Friday, Stanford will trot out right-handed phenom Tristan Beck (4-2, 1.50), Baseball America’s No. 2 draft prospect in the freshman class, against UCLA junior righty Grant Dyer.
Stanford has not yet announced a pitcher for Saturday, but freshman Kyle Molnar (2-2, 3.83) will start for UCLA.
“It’s not all lost,” Savage said. “I mean, RPI is still fairly good. Now it’s 53 – it was 10 about two weeks ago – but it’s still within a fighting chance. (And) with our conference, our RPI is going to keep getting better, because of who we play. But we’ve got to stand up on our own two feet and compete.”
Email Gottlieb at dgottlieb@media.ucla.edu or tweet him @BroadcasterDave.