Weekend in Preview: Feb. 15
Baseball
Sam Connon, assistant Sports editor
The Bruins’ first test in 2019 will be a big one.
No. 5 UCLA baseball will open its season at home against St. John’s on Friday with sophomore right-hander Zach Pettway taking the mound for the Bruins. Pettway was projected to be coach John Savage’s No. 2 starter before junior right-hander Ryan Garcia was shut down for 10 days with flexor inflammation.
“We’re faced with an opportunity right now to throw some different guys,” Savage said. “Everybody’s role gets moved up a little bit.”
Pettway posted a 3.35 ERA and 8-4 record in 2018, earning him a Freshman All-American nod.
With Pettway sliding up to Friday, redshirt junior right-hander Jack Ralston will start Saturday and freshman right-hander Jesse Bergin will take the mound in the series finale Sunday. Ralston tossed 36 1/3 innings last season en route to a 6.44 ERA.
St. John’s was the 2018 Big East champion, and its pitching staff was able to record the fifth-best ERA in the country last season with a 3.08 mark – just one spot ahead of UCLA. Junior second baseman Chase Strumpf said the Red Storm are a talented team and will be a good test for the Bruins at the start of the 2019 campaign.
“Scrimmages are really good for us, but obviously this is where we really want to play against another team,” Strumpf said. “I know a lot about St. John’s, not their players in specific, but I know they had a really good year last year.”
First pitch will be at 6 p.m. on Friday, followed by 2 p.m. and 1 p.m. starts Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Women’s water polo
Marcus Veal, Daily Bruin reporter
Bruins and Anteaters. Round three.
No. 3 UCLA women’s water polo (13-1) will have the opportunity to hold a 3-0 head-to-head lead over No. 7 UC Irvine (5-3) when the Bruins host the Anteaters on Saturday.
“We know that (UCI) is a really good team,” said coach Adam Wright. “Obviously, playing them three times in the first five or six weeks of the season is a challenge. (However,) we absolutely expect that it’s going to be a difficult game and we want it to be that way.”
UCLA and UCI squared off in the first weekend of competition for both teams at the UC Santa Barbara Invitational.
Junior attacker Maddie Musselman and freshman attacker Val Ayala scored four and three goals, respectively, and led UCLA to the 10-6 win.
Round two was the Triton Invitational and the Bruins saw a nearly identical outcome.
The Anteaters had two goals entering half time, they netted six goals before the final whistle and Ayala had a hat trick – just like the first meeting. UCLA scored one more goal than the first matchup and bested UCI 11-6.
In order for the Bruins to get their third win against the Anteaters this season, Wright said UCLA needs to play defense without forcing exclusions.
In the first two matchups, UCI earned 16 man-up opportunities and converted on seven of them.
“We did a nice job against them last weekend on that side of the ball,” Wright said. “They play a very fast-paced game and if we don’t have great awareness, we’re going to be playing a lot of man down, so for us, the big area that we need to focus on is our commitment to great defense.”
Swim and dive
Robert J. Nevarez, Daily Bruin contributor
The Bruins face their final test of the regular season this weekend.
No. 25 UCLA swim and dive (8-2, 4-2 Pac-12) will square off against its crosstown rival No. 15 USC (6-2, 4-2) at Uytengsu Aquatics Center on Friday and Saturday.
Both the Bruins and the Trojans are coming off hard-fought losses in the Bay Area to No. 3 Stanford and No. 4 Berkeley two weeks ago.
These were the first two casualties of the season for both programs.
“We lost a lot of really close races, but losing to national champions and Olympians is nothing to be ashamed of,” said coach Cyndi Gallagher. “I want to see them dig deep and that’s definitely easier for them to do since they’re facing their rival.”
Historically, the Trojans boast a 27-16-1 series advantage, currently holding an 11-meet win streak over the Bruins that dates back to 2008. The 2018 meet ended in a tie.
“Last year’s tie was a huge moral victory for us,” Gallagher said. “We can beat them if we just ignore the score and focus on being better than we were last week.”
Nevertheless, Gallagher said the Bruins remain excited and eager for the upcoming meet, hoping to snap their winless drought and reclaim citywide bragging rights.
“They’re swimming with enthusiasm and are enjoying the competition and each other,” Gallagher said. “They’re definitely not afraid or intimidated.”
Men’s tennis to take on Notre Dame in first round of indoor championships
Coach Billy Martin said he has four goals this season – one of them includes winning an indoor championship.
No. 7 UCLA men’s tennis (3-1, 0-0 Pac-12) will continue to play on the road as they compete in the ITA national team indoor championships. UCLA will see the No. 11 Notre Dame (8-1, 2-0 ACC) in its first round. Match play will be held from Friday to Monday at the Midtown Athletic Club in Chicago – just 15 miles away from Martin’s hometown of Evanston, Illinois.
The tournament will be a homecoming for the Chicago native. Martin and the Bruins, however, will be welcomed by some of the stiffest competition in the country.
“I’ll get my relatives out there cheering on the Bruins,” Martin said. “I always love getting back out to Chicago.”
All 16 teams in the tournament are ranked in the top 25. Also in the Bruins’ half of the bracket are No. 2 seed Mississippi State and No. 3 seed Wake Forest.
The latter bested the Bruins last season 4-2, ending UCLA’s indoor tournament run that included upsets over then-No. 2 Ohio State and then-No. 6 Texas A&M.
The Bruins qualified for the indoor championships with wins over Indiana and San Diego during the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in January.
“Once (the team) gets into Chicago, their competitive juices will come out,” Martin said. “If I have to get them excited about a tournament like this, they probably aren’t in the right place.”
Sophomore Bryce Pereira said indoor tennis is completely different and that the Bruins will need to adjust their play style to compensate.
“Everything is quicker, louder, and we’ll need to play closer to the baseline,” Pereira said. “We need to play more aggressive.”
Junior Ben Goldberg said the lack of outside elements encourages him to play a more aggressive style of tennis.
“Personally, I love playing indoor tennis,” Goldberg said. “I feel like I’ve always played well inside. We had a really good run indoors last season, but we just have to focus on the match. All of these schools play indoors up until now, and we haven’t.”
Martin said his team will have to discuss how to change their game style to play indoors.
UCLA arrived at Chicago on Sunday and had four practices indoors before facing off against No. 14 Illinois on Wednesday. UCLA was defeated 4-2 after clinching the doubles point to start the match.
The Bruins will take on the Fighting Irish in their first round Friday at 10 a.m. They will then face the winner of Wake Forest and Columbia the following day, should they win.
“These are exciting times,” Martin said. “It’s the second most important team tournament we have all year, besides the NCAAs. I’m sure everyone will be really excited and ready to go.”
Women’s basketball to rematch Stanford and California in weekend games
The Bruins will have an opportunity to win their first top-10 matchup of the season.
UCLA women’s basketball (15-9, 8-4 Pac-12) will rematch against No. 10 Stanford (19-4, 9-3) on Friday and California (14-9, 5-7) on Sunday at home. UCLA lost to then-No. 6 Stanford 86-80 and defeated then-No. 18 Cal 84-79 in January.
Although UCLA nearly pulled off the upset after holding a seven-point halftime lead, the Cardinal limited the Bruins to just 10 assists on 31 field goals. But since then, UCLA has averaged 13.3 assists per game.
Redshirt freshman guard Lindsey Corsaro said the Bruins will have to make plays off the ball.
“We have to be detailed setting screens, using screens and moving without the ball,” Corsaro said. “They are really good at defense and limiting those easy points.”
Stanford fell 88-48 to No. 3 Oregon at home Sunday – its worse home loss under Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer in her 33 seasons.
The Cardinal went 31.7 percent from the field, which marked their lowest performance all season. The last time Stanford shot a lower percentage from the field was when it shot 31.2 percent in a loss to Western Illinois in 2017.
“I think they will have an intensity about them (Friday),” said senior guard Japreece Dean. “No one wants to be beaten by 40.”
Stanford’s forward Alanna Smith averages 20.1 points per game, but Oregon limited her to just six. Smith has logged double-digit performances in all but one other game this season.
“She’s an Olympic-level player,” said coach Cori Close. “If she’s able to pop back, catch and shoot 3, come off those stagger screens, catch and shoot 3, or be able to wheel to either hand in the post, she’s going to be pretty darn good.”
Smith logged 24 points when playing the Bruins. Smith – along with guards Kiana Williams and Dijonai Carrington – combined to score 75 of Stanford’s 86 points.
“It starts with our ball pressure,” Corsaro said. “If the person guarding the ball is up, being aggressive and making them think about who’s guarding them, then those passes aren’t going to be as easy.”
The Bruins will host the Golden Bears on Sunday, who have lost four of their last six games.
UCLA pulled off an upset Jan. 4, defeating then-No. 18 Cal 84-79 in overtime. The Bruins secured a 42-32 lead at halftime, but fell behind the Bears in the third quarter after going nearly three minutes without scoring.
Sophomore forward Michaela Onyenwere logged 29 points in the contest. With the Bruins down by two, Onyenwere pulled down an offensive rebound off a missed free throw . The guard finished it in the last seconds of the game to extend the game into overtime.
UCLA led most of overtime, but Cal drained a 3 with 21 seconds left to put the Bears out front. The Bruins completed free throws in the last seconds of the game to secure the win.
“The reality is they are very different game plans,” Close said. “ We’ll have to regroup and have an excellent game (plan) for Sunday.”
Men’s volleyball to face defending champions Long Beach State, then Concordia
The Bruins will have another chance to take down the defending champions.
No. 4 UCLA (10-3, 2-0 MPSF) will travel to Long Beach to face No. 1 Long Beach State (12-0, 0-0 Big West) on Saturday. The Bruins lost their first meeting with the 49ers this season in straight sets by scores of 27-29, 22-25 and 17-25, respectively, on Jan. 19. UCLA had 20 attacking errors and hit for .210, while Long Beach State had five attacking errors and a .429 team hitting percentage.
Senior outside hitter Dylan Missry said the Bruins are working on limiting their hitting errors by playing smarter.
“We need to make smarter swings,” Missry said. “Last time we played them, we beat ourselves. They played well, but we need to minimize errors in order to give ourselves a shot.”
Long Beach State has only dropped one set this season. The 49ers are led by opposite Kyle Ensing and outside hitter TJ DeFalco, who have 124 and 130 kills, respectively. DeFalco led the 49ers with 13 kills and hit for .500 in the previous game against the Bruins.
Coach John Speraw said it will be difficult trying to contain the two hitters.
“(DeFalco and Ensing) are guys that you don’t always stop,” Speraw said. “You got to do everything to put pressure on them from a serve and defensive perspective.”
Sophomore middle blocker Grant Maleski said his previous experiences of playing against Long Beach State could help limit DeFalco and Ensing’s impact on the outcome of the game.
“(DeFalco and Ensing) are going to score points,” Maleski said. “Being super fundamental and knowing their tendencies is going to be important for us.”
UCLA will then visit Irvine on Wednesday to play Concordia (5-8, 1-0 MPSF) for the first time this season.
The Eagles have won five of their last seven games after beginning the season with six straight losses.
Concordia has posted its five highest hitting percentages of the season in its five wins, with its season-high mark of .468 coming against UC Santa Cruz on Jan. 31.
The Bruins only dropped one set in their three games against the Eagles last season, but in the set they lost by a score of 28-26, the Bruins hit .188 and had eight attacking errors. Speraw said blocking is one of Concordia’s strengths.
“(Coach) Shawn Patchell does a really good job of teaching blocking,” Speraw said. “He brings that skill set really well to Concordia.”
Men’s basketball heads north in hopes of season’s second win against Stanford
The Bruins have momentum.
Coming off a 75-67 overtime win against California on Wednesday night, UCLA men’s basketball (13-12, 6-6 Pac-12) will head to Palo Alto to take on Stanford (13-11, 6-6) on Saturday.
The Bruins and Cardinal are tied for sixth in the conference standings, with the Cardinal most recently overcoming a 14-point deficit in the first half to defeat the USC Trojans on Wednesday.
UCLA opened conference play this season against Stanford with a 92-70 win. Freshman center Moses Brown led the Bruins against the Cardinal with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while forward KZ Okpala recorded 22 points and 10 rebounds for Stanford. UCLA outshot Stanford 51.5 percent to 37.1 percent from the field.
Four of Stanford’s six Pac-12 wins since falling to UCLA have been against teams that UCLA has lost to – Arizona State, Colorado, Oregon State and USC. Stanford also went into overtime prior to the start of Pac-12 play against then-No. 2 Kansas but fell after some late 3-pointers.
The Cardinal have been led by center Josh Sharma – who ranks first in the conference with a 66.4 field goal percentage and leads the team with 6.7 rebounds per game. Okpala ranks fifth in the Pac-12 in points per game with 17.4.
Stanford and UCLA match up closely in points per game and field goal percentage, with the Cardinal averaging 72.4 points and shooting 46 percent from the field and the Bruins averaging 78 points and shooting 46.4 percent. Both teams shoot about 33 percent from behind the arc.
Sophomore guards Kris Wilkes and Jaylen Hands and freshman guard David Singleton each scored in double figures for the Bruins against the Golden Bears, with Wilkes recording a team-high 27 points and notching his third career double-double.
Okpala also recorded 18 points and grabbed three rebounds for the Cardinal against the Trojans.
UCLA and Stanford will tip off at Maples Pavilion on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Softball’s second tournament of season honors former UCLA athlete Stacy Winsberg
There will be a different focus around Easton Stadium this weekend.
No. 1 UCLA softball (5-0) will host six teams as part of the Stacy Winsberg Memorial Tournament, in honor of a former UCLA player who died from lung cancer in 2001.
Stacy Winsberg was an integral member of UCLA softball’s 1982, 1984 and 1985 NCAA championship-winning teams before becoming a conditioning coach for the U.S. women’s national softball team at the 2000 Olympics.
Coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said it will be crucial for her team to reflect on prior Bruins and their accomplishments both on and off the field.
“It’s time for us to stop, appreciate and think a bit about how she represented UCLA,” Inouye-Perez said. “We’ll have an opportunity to honor her throughout the weekend because the Bruin family is not for just during a softball career but for life.”
Senior catcher/outfielder Taylor Pack touched further on Winsberg’s legacy and said she will be looking forward to wearing blue and gold this weekend in her honor.
“I think that it makes you really reflect and think about everyone who has come before you, and what we are representing every time we step out onto the field,” Pack said. “It just makes you really appreciate the moment.”
UCLA won all five of its away games at the Hawai’i Paradise Classic last week, in which high-swinging bats led them to two mercy-rule victories Saturday, scoring nine runs against Georgia State and putting 13 past Saint Mary’s.
Pack said they will need to have strong chemistry if they want to have a successful tournament.
“I think that we’re really clicking as a team and are focusing on ourselves rather than any of the opponents,” Pack said. “It doesn’t matter who the coaches put out there – we have everyone’s back and trust each other.”
UCLA will kick off the tournament with two games Friday against Cal Poly and Boise State, followed by matchups with Ole Miss and Fresno State on Saturday and finishing against UC Riverside and Loyola Marymount on Sunday.
The Bruins faced the Bulldogs on Feb. 7 in the Classic, winning 8-2. Sophomore pitcher Holly Azevedo pitched seven innings in her first outing of the 2019 season, allowing two runs on three hits to continue her undefeated pitching record as a Bruin.
Azevedo said UCLA’s camaraderie and depth strengthened this year’s squad and that her teammates must keep it simple if they want to power through their packed schedule.
“Six games in a weekend is a lot,” Azevedo said. “If I make a mistake, I know that they’ll pick me up, and if they make a mistake, I’ll pick them up, too. We’re just going to need all three of us – me, (redshirt junior pitcher/first baseman Rachel Garcia) and (freshman pitcher Megan Faraimo) – and make sure that we perform.”
Inouye-Perez said her team is ready to play despite current weather forecasts predicting heavy rains through the start of the tournament.
“I have a heavy feeling that in 2019 there will be some weather stuff going on, so we have got to prepare for it,” Inouye-Perez said. “The players are in great shape, are very athletic and versatile. Everyone is going to look forward to getting their opportunities and that allows for us to be strong and prepared.”