Bruins Host Nevada, LBSU in Midweek Battles

Tuesday, February 27

Los Angeles, CA

5:00 PM

UCLA

Nevada

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Roch Cholowsky

Photo by: Ross Turteltaub

Bruins Host Nevada, LBSU in Midweek Battles

February 26, 2024 | Baseball

Game Notes (PDF)Watch (Tue.)Listen Live Stats

UCLA (3-3) vs. Nevada (4-2)
Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2023 - 5:00 p.m. PT
Location: Los Angeles, Calif. (Jackie Robinson Stadium)
TV: Pac-12 Networks
TV Talent: J.B. Long, Wes Clements
Stream: Pac-12.com / Pac-12 Now app
Audio: UCLA Lean Player
Play-by-Play Talent: Nick Koop
Live Stats

UCLA (3-3) vs. Long Beach State (5-0-1)
Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2023 - 5:00 p.m. PT
Location: Los Angeles, Calif. (Jackie Robinson Stadium)
Audio: UCLA Lean Player
Play-by-Play Talent: Nick Koop
Live Stats

UCLA Opens Homestand With Back-to-Back Midweeks
After embarking on the team's first road trip of the season over the weekend, the UCLA baseball team (3-3) returns to Los Angeles this week for five games, starting with home midweek contests against Nevada (4-2) on Tuesday and Long Beach State (5-0-1) on Wednesday. Tuesday's tilt will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks, and both will feature an audio-only broadcast via UCLABruins.com with Nick Koop on the call. Fans can also follow along with live stats (uclalivestats.com) and X/Twitter updates (@UCLABaseball).

UCLA Quick Hits

UCLA is 3-3 on the season, sweeping Gonzaga to open the year before dropping three straight at No. 5 TCU
This marks UCLA's first midweeks of the year, after a Feb. 20 game against LMU was rained out
UCLA was 6-4 in midweeks a season ago
Cody Schrier has hit safely in all six games so far, carrying a .500/.593/.818 triple-slash line
The Bruins enter the week with a plus-20 walk differential (38 drawn, 18 issued)
UCLA is coming off a 28-24-1 campaign and a berth into the 2023 Pac-12 Tournament
It marked the program's 7th consecutive winning season and 15th overall in 19 seasons under HC John Savage
The Bruins' freshman class was the No. 1-ranked recruit class in the country (as was the junior class)
Junior 2B Duce Gourson earned Preseason All-America acclaim from Baseball America and Perfect Game
Gourson, Cody Schrier, and Luke Jewett were named to the 2024 Pac-12 Preseason All-Conference Team
The Bruins were picked to finish 3rd in the Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll
Bruin alum Gerrit Cole won the 2023 AL Cy Young, making UCLA the first DI school ever to have had multiple Cy Young winners on the same team

Projected Pitching Matchups
Tuesday, Feb. 27 - 5 p.m. PT
UCLA - Fr. RHP Landon Stump (0-0, 4.91 ERA)
NEV - RJr. RHP Theo Millas (0-0, 3.00 ERA)
Wednesday, Feb. 28 - 5 p.m. PT
UCLA - TBA
LBSU - Fr. RHP Josh Donegan (1-0, 0.00 ERA)

In The Polls
UCLA enters the week ranked in one major national poll, checking in at No. 25 (Perfect Game). The Bruins also received votes in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll and NCBWA Top-25 Poll. The Bruins were ranked No. 22 in the preseason, and rose to No. 20 after a season-opening sweep of Gonzaga. Among this week's opponents, only UC Irvine (No. 20) is ranked.

The All-Time Series Against Nevada
UCLA owns a 7-7 record all-time against Nevada. The Bruins and Wolf Pack have previously met just twice during John Savage's tenure at UCLA (since 2005), with UCLA recording an 11-3 win at home on May 18, 2021 following a 7-3 loss to Nevada on the road on Mar. 5, 2005. Prior to 2005, UCLA and Nevada faced off in weekend series in four consecutive seasons from 1994-97, with each team taking two sets apiece (UCLA won two of three in Reno in 1994 and at JRS in 1997). John Savage was an assistant coach on the Nevada staff for the first three of those series.

Last Time Out Against Nevada
UCLA recorded an 11-3 win over Nevada at home on May 18, 2021 in the most-recent meeting between the two schools. Nevada entered that game having won 11 of their last 12. A pair of two-out rallies from the bottom of the lineup helped the Bruins to build a 6-1 lead by the end of the fourth, and UCLA pulled away with a five-run seventh highlighted by a bases-loaded double from catcher Noah Cardenas. Kevin Kendall went 3-3 with four RBIs to lead UCLA offensively.

The All-Time Series Against Long Beach State
UCLA owns a 70-47 record all-time against LBSU, including a 21-16 mark under head coach John Savage. UCLA and Long Beach State have played a home-and-home midweek series in most recent seasons. The Bruins single-season record against LBSU in those years: 2023 (2-0), 2022 (1-1), 2019 (2-0), 2018 (0-2), 2017 (2-0), 2016 (1-1), 2015 (1-1). The two programs last met in a weekend series in 2014, with the Dirtbags taking two of three in a split-venue series (Friday/Sunday games at UCLA, Saturday game at LBSU).

Last Year Against LBSU
The Bruins took both ends of the midweek series against LBSU last year:

W, 7-6, at UCLA on Mar. 7, 2023: Jack Holman had a career-high five RBIs to lead UCLA to a 7-6 home win over LBSU. He hit a three-run homer as part of a first-inning four-spot, and drove in the game-winning run with an RBI single in the eighth that closed the scoring. LBSU clawed back down 5-1 to tie the game in the eighth, but the deadlock was short-lived as Holman put the Bruins on top for good in the bottom half of the eighth. Since-drafted Kyle Karros had three hits in that game for UCLA, and Carson Yates hit a ball off the batter's eye that was ruled a triple.
W, 4-3 (13) at LBSU on Apr. 4, 2023: UCLA outlasted Long Beach State for a 4-3 win in 13 innings to finish off the season sweep. The Bruins were trailing 3-1 and down to their last out in the ninth inning when Duce Gourson took Dalton Ponce deep for a game-tying two-run home run. The teams battled to a deadlock until UCLA manufactured a single run in the 13th – since-drafted Darius Perry drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on a sac bunt, and later scored on a sac fly – to take its first lead of the game. Luke Jewett got the win after a masterful relief effort, closing the game by going a then-career-long 5 1/3 innings without allowing a run. His stiffest test came in the bottom of the 13th after allowing a leadoff double, but he got the next three batters in a row to strand the game-tying run. As a whole, Bruin relievers closed the game by getting 27 consecutive outs without allowing a run, the equivalent of a full nine-inning game.