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UW Travels to No. 10 UCLA for First Pac-12 Road Series

Mar 31, 2021

SEATTLE -- Fully in the swing of Pac-12 play, the Washington Huskies (8-13, 0-6) embark on their first conference road trip of the season, traveling to Los Angeles to take on No. 10 UCLA (15-7, 4-2). All three games of the series will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Network, with J.B. Long handling play-by-play duties and Ben Francisco providing color commentary.

Scouting the opposition

UCLA at a Glance: The Bruins opened the season as the No. 2-ranked team in the country by D1 Baseball and are still residing in the top 10. They were 13-2 and ranked No. 5 in the country when the season was halted in 2020. In conference play, UCLA has won two-of-three from both Arizona and USC to start the season. The Bruins are 15-7 overall and 4-2 in Pac-12 action. 

Man in Charge: John Savage is in his 17th season in charge of the UCLA program and led the Bruins to the 2013 national championship. He has amassed over 500 wins with the Bruins and is the third longest-tenured coach in the history of UCLA baseball.

By the Numbers: The Bruins have a balanced lineup, but no hitter has been more productive than JT Schwartz. Despite only playing 12 games, he leads the team with 18 RBIs and is hitting .500 in 44 at bats. Kevin Kendall has started every game for UCLA and is hitting .347 with a team-high 34 hits. Mikey Perez leads the Bruins with his three home runs and 24 runs scored. On the mound, Jesse Bergin has been the workhouse starter, leading the team with six starts and 30.1 innings pitched, with a 3-1 record and 2.97 ERA. Sean Mullen has started three games for UCLA and appeared in another nine out of the bullpen. He has a 4-1 record in 27.2 innings of work, while also leading the team with two saves. 

Husky Notes
Finally on the Road Again: Washington has played a program-record five straight weekend home series, dating back to its February four-gamer against UTRGV. This weekend will be the team's first road series since it's season-opener at UC Irvine. The Huskies have played 17 of their last 18 games at Husky Ballpark, with a midweek contest at Gonzaga last week being the exception. 

Pac-12 Youngsters: 21 different UW players have played in their first-career Pac-12 games this season.  This list includes two starting pitchers from last weekend's series against No. 21 Oregon State in Logan Gerling and Stu Flesland III.  Through their first six conference games, the Huskies have played freshmen with no Pac-12 experience before this year at all nine positions in the field as well as DH.

Bullpen Quality: Returning a bulk of last year's dominant bullpen, the Huskies have found similar spurts of dominance in 2020. With plenty of depth, four different UW pitchers have picked up each the team's four saves this season. Gabe Smith is currently in the midst of 12 consecutive scoreless innings. Davis Delorefice has yet to allow an earned run in nine innings of work. Additionally, Dylan Lamb has shown the ability to come in and get big outs, which included a save in UW's most recent win over Seattle U. Colton Charnholm has emerged as a quality lefty arm that can be called on at any point in a game.

Series Schedule

 Date  Game Time  UW Starter  UCLA Starter
 Thu Apr. 1  6:00 p.m.  RHP Logan Gerling (0-2, 2.51 ERA)  RHP Zach Pettway (0-0, 2.84 ERA)
 Fri Apr. 2  2:00 p.m.  LHP Tyson Guerrero (0-0, 1.42 ERA)  RHP Jesse Bergin (3-1, 2.97 ERA)
 Sat Apr. 3  12:00 p.m.  TBD  RHP Jared Karros (2-1, 3.33 ERA)