No. 13 UCLA Hosts Arizona State

No. 13 UCLA (27-13, 11-7) vs. Arizona State (20-22, 9-9)
Friday, Apr. 29, 2022 - 6:00 p.m. PT
Saturday, Apr. 30, 2022 - 2:00 p.m. PT
Sunday, May 1, 2011 - 1:00 p.m. PT
Location: Jackie Robinson Stadium
Streams: Pac-12 Plus | Pac-12 Now app
Audio: UCLA Lean Player
Audio Talent: Nick Koop
Live Stats

Bruins Host Arizona State This Weekend    
The No. 13-ranked UCLA baseball team (27-13, 11-7) concludes a four-game homestand this weekend by hosting Pac-12 rival Arizona State (20-22, 9-9) starting on Friday night at 6:00 p.m. PT. All three games of the series will be streamed on Pac-12.com, with Nick Koop on the call. Fans can also follow along with a live audio broadcast as well as live stats on UCLABruins.com and Twitter updates from @UCLABaseball.

Quick Hits    

• UCLA is 27-13 so far on the year, including an 11-5 mark in April
• The Bruins trailed at some point in 10 of their last 12 wins (dating to Mar. 29 vs. UCSB)
• UCLA ranks top-10 nationally in ERA (3.35, 7th), WHIP (1.17, 5th), and strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.4, 8th)
• The Bruins played seven consecutive one-run games from Apr. 1-10, a program record
• UCLA was crowned champion of the Shriner's Children's College Classic in Houston (2-1 record, plus-15 run differential)
• The Bruins have won seven of their nine weekend series this year, and are 7-3 in midweek contests
• UCLA is 59-68 this season in stolen base tries (87% success rate), including a team-high 18 SBs from Kenny Oyama
• The Bruins have struck out 10+ batters in 20 of 40 games so far, including a season-high 19 vs. LBSU on Mar. 1
• This season, John Savage has recorded career win No. 700 as well as his 600th win at UCLA 
• UCLA's current freshman class was the No. 1-ranked recruit class in the country
• UCLA had six players on D1Baseball's Top 100 Impact Freshmen List, more than any other school in the country
• 2021: 37-20 record, No. 2 seed in NCAA Regionals, NCAA-high 10 players selected in MLB Draft

Projected Pitching Matchups
Friday, Apr. 29 - 6:00 p.m. PT
UCLA – Max Rajcic, RHP, So. (5-3, 3.26 ERA)
ASU – Adam Tulloch, LHP, RJr. (2-1, 6.66 ERA)
Saturday, Apr. 30 - 2:00 p.m. PT
UCLA – Ethan Flanagan, LHP, Fr. (3-0, 1.88 ERA)
ASU – Kyle Luckham, RHP, RJr. (6-2, 4.47 ERA)
Sunday, May 1 - 1:00 p.m. PT
UCLA – Kelly Austin, RHP, RSo. (3-1, 3.26 ERA)
ASU – Boyd Vander Koi, RHP, RSr. (1-1, 6.75 ERA)

The Week In Review    
UCLA went 2-2 over the last week, winning a road series at Cal but falling in a Tuesday midweek to UC Irvine

• The Bruins dropped Friday's series opener by a score of 8-3, as Cal rode back-to-back-to-back solo homers in the bottom of the first to a win. Cal hit five home runs overall on the night. Cody Schrier and Michael Curialle each had multiple hits, and Kenny Oyama hit a solo home run, his second roundtripper of the season.
• UCLA evened the series with a comfortable 9-4 Saturday win. The Bruins scored in five of their first six offensive innings, including a trio of crooked numbers. UCLA totaled 19 hits on the night, one off its season-high of 20 (accomplished Apr. 29 vs. UCSB) as seven Bruins collected multiple hits. Strong performances in particular came from Darius Perry (3-5, two doubles) and Kyle Karros (3-5, HR), who co-led the team with three RBIs. Cody Schrier added two doubles, and JonJon Vaughns hit a moon-shot solo home run as part of a productive sixth inning. Max Rajcic turned in a quality start (6 IP, 3 ER) to pick up the win. 
• The Bruins clinched the series with a 6-3 Sunday win. UCLA fell behind 1-0 after one, but went on to score six consecutive runs to grab control of the game. Cal didn't make it close until a two-run home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Michael Curialle led the Bruins with a home run and a double. Kyle Karros and Cody Schrier both went 2-5 with a double and Carson Yates added a solo home run. Gage Jump gave up just two hits but fell one out short of qualifying for the win. 
• UCLA outscored Cal 18-15 for the weekend, and the team that scored first lost each game. 
• The Bruins were able to load the bases in the bottom of the ninth, getting the game-tying and go-ahead runners on board, but couldn't come all the way back in a 4-2 loss to UCI on Tuesday. UCLA briefly led after an RBI double from Cody Schrier made it 2-1 in the fifth, but the Anteaters went ahead for good with a two-spot in the sixth. Schrier (2-5) led UCLA on offense. 

In The Polls    
UCLA appeared in all five major national polls this week, checking in as high as No. 12 (Collegiate Baseball, NCBWA) while also appearing at No. 13 (D1Baseball), and No. 14 (USA TODAY Coaches Poll, Baseball America). UCLA has been ranked as high as No. 9 this season (Apr. 11, Collegiate Baseball), and entered the year as high as No. 22 in the preseason polls.

The All-Time Series Against Arizona State    
UCLA trails the all-time series against ASU by a margin of 81-120, including a 22-26 mark under head coach John Savage. Since 2015, the Bruins have won five of six series over the Sun Devils (going 12-6 overall) including the last four in a row. UCLA's sweep in last year's series was the first for either team in the head-to-head series since 2010. Among Bruins on the 2022 roster, Jake Moberg (3-5, four runs) and Max Rajcic (5 K, 3 IP) have the strongest career numbers against ASU.

Last Year Against the Sun Devils    
The Bruins swept three games from ASU in Tempe to close out the 2021 regular season (May 27-29, 2021). UCLA won the opener in a rout (21-9) before taking both games two and three by a three-run margin. JT Schwartz hit .500 for the weekend (6-12) to lead the Bruins, while Noah Cardenas hit a pair of home runs. Jesse Bergin led UCLA on the mound with seven innings of shutout ball on Sunday en route to a 3-0 sweep-clinching win. The Bruins outscored ASU by a margin of 32-14 for the weekend (plus-18 run differential). 

Good Start    
UCLA's starting pitching has been excellent in 2022, as the group of Jake Brooks, Max Rajcic, Kelly Austin, Ethan Flanagan, Thatcher Hurd, and Gage Jump have combined for the following stats:

• 3.29 ERA and 211-49 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 191 2/3 innings
• 70 total earned runs allowed (1.8 per game)
• 1.11 WHIP, 9.9 K/9
• Allowed 0 ER or fewer in 10 of 40 games, 1 ER or fewer in 20 of 40 games, and 2 ER or fewer in 29 of 40 games
• Allowed more than four hits just 12 times in 40 games

In The Zone    
As is the case most years, the Bruins have been adept so far in 2022 at limiting free passes. Entering the week, UCLA is fifth in the country in WHIP (1.17), seventh in walks allowed per nine innings (2.9), and eighth in K-BB ratio (3.4). The Bruins have sizable advantages over their opponents in walks drawn vs. issued (204-117) and HBPs drawn vs. issued (76-24). The Bruins' +52 differential in HBPs is fourth-best in the country, and their +87 walk differential ranks 10th nationally. 

Savage Hits a Trio of Milestones in 2022    
The 2022 campaign has been chock-full of milestones for UCLA head coach John Savage, who this year has reached:

• Career win No. 700 (at Pepperdine on Apr. 12, 9-7)
• Win No. 600 at UCLA (vs. Harvard on Mar. 18, 25-2)
• Career game No. 1,000 at UCLA (Apr. 5 vs. LMU; W, 5-4)

On The Move    
UCLA has been busy on the basepaths so far in 2022, stealing 59 bases at an 87% success rate to this point. The Bruins rank 54th in the country in total stolen bases and 16th in success rate. UCLA is one of just two schools in the country (UAlbany) with 59+ stolen bases and a single-digit caught stealing figure. The Bruins have swiped a bag in 30 of 40 games this year, including nine contests with at least 3 SBs. UCLA stole 11 bases over three games against CSUN to open the season, the program's most in a single series over the last 10 years. 

Digging the Long Ball    
The Bruins hit at least one home run in all four of their games last week, including three contests with multiple HRs. UCLA's eight home runs last week represents the team's most in a four-game span this year. It also represents the first time this season that the Bruins had multiple homers three times in a four-game span. 

Curialle Coming Through    
Michael Curialle has been on an absolute tear over the last eight games, earning back-to-back UCLA Student-Athlete of the Week nominations. He was especially hot last week, slashing .588/600/1.235 with three home runs and five RBIs. Curialle has multiple hits in six of his last eight games, batting .484 overall (16-33) in that span with five HRs and nine RBIs. Previous to this stretch, Curialle had just three home runs over 84 career games. He's raised his average 59 points (.235 to .294) since Apr. 5. 

Close Shave    
UCLA pulled off a string of six consecutive one-run victories from Apr. 1-9, as part of an overall eight-game winning streak. That mark of six straight one-run wins doubled the previous program record of three consecutive one-run victories. The last time UCLA reeled off three straight one-run wins was on Mar. 18-19, 1995 against Washington and Washington State. 

Flanagan, Tredwell Named to Stopper of the Year Watch List    
UCLA freshman pitchers Ethan Flanagan and Alonzo Tredwell were both named to the NCBWA Midseason Stopper of the Year Watch List on Apr. 27. UCLA was one of just four schools (Arizona, Michigan, North Dakota State) with multiple pitchers on the list. The Bruins have had three Stopper of the Year winners (David Berg, 2013 & 2015; Holden Powell, 2019) since the award was incepted in 2005, tied with Texas for the most of any program in the country. 

Rub Some Dirt On It    
UCLA enters the weekend ranked No. 11 in the country in offensive HBPs (76). The Bruins have an HBP in 29 of 40 games so far this year (including 14 in a row to start the season) and are averaging 1.9 HBPs per game. The Bruins had 12 batters plunked vs. Harvard (including a season-high six on Mar. 18) and saw another eight batters plunked during the Arizona series. Ethan Gourson leads the Pac-12 and is 18th nationally with 15 HBPs so far in 2022, and five Bruins regulars have at least 7 HBPs. 

Young Blood    
Despite a heavy amount of turnover on the pitching staff, UCLA has continued to excel on the mound in 2022 thanks in large part to the performance of its freshmen. The five first-year Bruin pitchers who have recorded an out so far (Luke Jewett, Thatcher Hurd, Ethan Flanagan, Gage Jump, Alonzo Tredwell) have combined for some gaudy numbers: 8-1, six saves, 2.29 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, and a 168-46 K-BB ratio over 129 2/3 innings. The top three ERAs on the staff belong to freshmen (Hurd, Flanagan, Tredwell). 

Early Birds    
UCLA is outscoring its opponents by a healthy margin (236-161) overall in 2022, and that advantage is particularly acute in the early innings. In the first three innings of games, the Bruins are outscoring their opponents 96-45 (plus-51), including a 38-13 advantage in the third inning alone. The Bruins are 19-4 this season when scoring first (.826 winning percentage) and 13-3 when scoring in the first inning (.813 winning percentage).