UCLA Hosts Oregon State for Three

UCLA (23-13, 10-8 Pac-12) vs. Oregon State (28-12, 10-5)
Friday, Apr. 30, 2021 - 7:00 p.m. PT
Saturday, May 1, 2021 - 6:00 p.m. PT
Sunday, May 2, 2021 - 12:00 p.m. PT
Location: Los Angeles, Calif. (Jackie Robinson Stadium)
TV: Pac-12 Networks
Stream: Pac-12 Now App / Pac-12.com
Audio: UCLA Lean Player
Audio Play-by-Play Talent: Tim Wilhelm
Live Stats

UCLA Hosts Oregon State For Three    
This weekend, UCLA (23-13, 10-8) hosts league rival Oregon State (28-12, 10-5) in a three-game Pac-12 series at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The set, which will be televised in its entirety by the Pac-12 Networks, has night games on Friday (7:00 p.m.) and Saturday (6:00 p.m.) followed by a Sunday matinee (12:00 p.m.). Jim Watson and Wes Clements will have the call for the Pac-12 Networks (broadcast also available online at Pac-12.com/live and on the Pac-12 Now app). Fans can also follow along with a live audio broadcast at UCLABruins.com with Tim Wilhelm on the call, as well as live stats at UCLAlivestats.com and live updates from the team Twitter account, @UCLABaseball.

UCLA Outdoor Home Sporting Events Open to Team Guests    
In compliance with state and county public health guidance, UCLA outdoor home sporting events will be open to a limited number of team guests. Seating at these events will be limited in order to comply with updated state public health guidance for higher education and college athletics that has been adopted by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, as well as city, county and campus COVID-19 health and safety protocols. Tickets will not be available to the general public, and non-ticketed guests should not come to the competition venues. UCLA's campus remains closed to the general public.

Projected Pitching Matchups
Friday, Apr. 30 - 7:00 p.m. PT 
UCLA - Zach Pettway, RHP, Sr. (1-3, 4.00 ERA)
OSU - Kevin Abel, RHP, RSo. (3-3, 3.08 ERA)
Saturday, May 1 - 6:00 p.m. PT 
UCLA - Sean Mullen, RHP, Jr. (7-1, 2.72 ERA)
OSU - Cooper Hjerpe, LHP, Fr. (2-3, 3.12 ERA)
Sunday, May 2 - 12:00 p.m. PT 
UCLA - Jesse Bergin, RHP, Jr. (4-2, 4.29 ERA)
OSU - Jake Pfennigs, RHP, So. (2-0, 3.20 ERA)

The Week In Review    
UCLA played four road games last week, topping Pepperdine before losing two of three at No. 13 Oregon over the weekend. 

• UCLA opened a four-game road swing by eking out a 5-4 win at Pepperdine on Tuesday. The Bruins trailed 3-1 at the end of the first inning, but went ahead for good with a three-run third. The Bruin bullpen posted 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball, with that one run coming on a solo homer in the ninth. Daniel Colwell was the first man out of the pen and faced the minimum over a career-high four innings. Kyle Cuellar (4-5) and Matt McLain (3-3) both had big days offensively, and Mikey Perez provided the key hit of the go-ahead rally, a two-run double off the third base bag. 
• The Bruins dropped a 5-3 decision in the series opener at No. 13-ranked Oregon. The game was a pitcher's duel early, as Zach Pettway faced the minimum over the first five innings while the Ducks' Robert Ahlstrom limited UCLA to a single run over the first eight innings. Oregon broke through with a single run to tie it in the sixth, and went ahead for good in the seventh. The Bruins mounted a ninth-inning charge, as the first four batters of the inning reached en route to a pair of runs, but Oregon closer Kolby Somers stopped the bleeding there to seal the decision. 
• UCLA was edged 3-2 in 10 innings in the Saturday's game, the Bruins' first extra-innings affair of 2021. Kenyon Yovan scored the game-winning run for Oregon, singling to lead off the bottom of the 10th and eventually scoring on a Sam Novitske base hit. The score was tied for most of the game - UCLA scored a pair in the second (Josh Hahn RBI double, Michael Curialle RBI single) but Oregon responded with two runs in the third. UCLA's bullpen allowed just one run over 5 1/3 combined innings, while Sean Mullen struck out seven over four-plus innings. 
• The Bruins salvaged the series with a dramatic Sunday win, coming from behind to claim a 7-6 decision in 10 innings. JT Schwartz hit a pair of home runs to lead the charge, including the go-ahead and game-winning two-run blast in the top of the 10th. Trailing for most of the game, UCLA scored in three consecutive innings starting in the sixth to force extras, setting up Schwartz's heroics. Oregon posted an unearned run in the bottom half of the 10th to make it a one-run game, but Max Rajcic stood tall to earn the win. Matt McLain and Schwartz hit key home runs during the Bruins' late inning comeback. It was Schwartz's first career multi-homer day. 
• Every game UCLA played last week was decided by two runs or fewer. The last time the Bruins played four straight two-run games was Apr. 12-18, 2014. 
• The Bruins played back-to-back extra-innings games for the first time since Apr. 15-21, 2017. 

The All-Time Series Against Oregon State    
UCLA is 40-39 all-time against the Beavers, including a 16-28 mark under head coach John Savage. The Bruins took two of three from Oregon State at home in the last matchup between the two schools (2019), breaking a streak of three consecutive head-to-head series wins for OSU. The Bruins and Beavers have two series wins apiece in the last four sets played at Jackie Robinson Stadium. 

Last Time Out Against the Beavers    
UCLA won two of three games against Oregon State from Mar. 15-17, 2019 in the last matchup between the two schools. Both were ranked in the top-five at the time, with UCLA as high as No. 2 and Oregon State as high as No. 3. Zach Pettway led the Bruins to an 8-0 shutout win in the series opener, Oregon State responded by scoring four runs in the ninth to win Saturday's game 7-3, and UCLA took the series with a 9-7 win on Sunday. The Bruins jumped to No. 1 in the nation after the series win, starting a program-record streak of 12 consecutive weeks atop the national rankings. Current Bruins that made an impact in that 2019 series include Matt McLain (.417 BA, four RBIs), Kevin Kendall (.375 BA, three RBIs), Zach Pettway (7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 8 K), and Kyle Mora (4 IP, 3 H, 0 R). 

JT Back in the Lineup    
After missing the team's first 10 games, sophomore JT Schwartz has been back in the lineup for UCLA the last 26 games and has made an immediate impact, going 39-95 (.411) with 12 extra-base hits and 31 RBIs. He's the team leader in RBIs despite playing 10 fewer games than the regulars chasing him. Schwartz has hit safely in 22 of 26 games so far, has multiple hits in 11 games, and also has a team-high 10 multi-RBI games. He had arguably his finest performance in a Bruin uniform on Sunday at Oregon, setting or matching career-highs in hits (3), home runs (2), and RBIs (4) to lead a Bruin comeback victory. 

Kendall Swinging it    
Kevin Kendall has been a thorn in the side of UCLA's opponents this year, as he's reached base in 32 consecutive games while recording a .366/.405/.529 slash line. He took his production to another level in the LMU-Utah week, earning Pac-12 Player of the Week honors after batting .588 (10-17) with three home runs, 10 RBIs, and eight runs scored. He had seven RBIs on Apr. 16 against Utah (a pair of two-run homers and a bases-clearing triple), his first-career multi-HR game and the most single-game RBIs by any Bruin since Michael Toglia on Apr. 21, 2017. He enters the weekend with the most hits per game in the Pac-12 (1.6) while ranking fourth in runs (37). 

Offense Emerging    
After shaking off a slow start to the season offensively (UCLA averaged 4.1 runs per game in February but has rebounded to post 8.2 runs per game since Mar. 2), the Bruins now rank among the Pac-12's team leaders in most offensive statistics. The Bruins rank second in the league in runs per game (7.4) and on-base percentage (.390) while ranking third in hits (363) and home runs (36).

Karros Collecting Hits    
Freshman third baseman Kyle Karros snapped an eight-game hitting streak on Sunday, a span that saw him go 16-39 (.410) with seven RBIs and his first career home run. He's one of just two Bruins over the last four seasons to collect an 8+ game hit streak as a true freshman (Noah Cardenas, 2019 - nine games). Also during that streak, Karros posted a career-high three hits in three separate games, drove in a career-high four runs on Apr. 13 against LMU, and scored a career-high four runs on Apr. 16 against Utah. Karros raised his batting average 67 points (.195 to .262) during the hit streak.