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UCLA Finishes Regular Season at No. 2 Oregon State

May 18, 2022
Photo: Scott Chandler

No. 22 UCLA (33-19, 17-10) at No. 2 Oregon State (40-11, 19-8)
Thursday, May 19 - 6:00 p.m. PT
Friday, May 20, 2022 - 6:00 p.m. PT
Saturday, May 21, 2022 - 12:00 p.m. PT

Location: Corvallis, Calif. (Goss Stadium)
TV: Pac-12 Networks
TV Talent: Ben Creighton (pbp), William Rowe (analyst)
Streams: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Live Stats

Bruins Wrap Regular Season at Oregon State    
No. 22-ranked UCLA (33-19, 17-10) heads to Corvallis this weekend to face No. 2 Oregon State (40-11, 19-8) in the final regular season series of the 2022 season for both teams. All three games of the series, which runs Thursday through Saturday, will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks. Fans can also follow along with live stats (uclalivestats.com) and Twitter updates from @UCLABaseball

Quick Hits    

  • UCLA is 33-19 so far on the year, and enters the weekend in third place in the Pac-12 Conference at 17-10
  • The Bruins can finish between seeds 1-4 in the Pac-12 Tournament depending on this weekend's results league-wide
  • UCLA ranks top-10 nationally in ERA (3.48, sixth), WHIP (1.18, 4th), and strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.4, 6th)
  • 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 9 of their 12 weekend series, and own an identical 8-4 record in series openers, middle games, and finales
  • UCLA is 67-79 this season in stolen base tries (85% success rate), including a team-high 19 SBs from Kenny Oyama
  • The Bruins have struck out 10+ batters in 23 of 52 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
Thursday, May 19 - 6:00 p.m. PT
UCLA – Max Rajcic, RHP, So. (7-4, 3.21 ERA)
OSU – Cooper Hjerpe, LHP, So. (9-1, 2.42 ERA)
Friday, May 20 - 6:00 p.m. PT
UCLA – Ethan Flanagan, LHP, Fr. (3-0, 2.27 ERA)
OSU – Jacob Kmatz, RHP, Fr. (8-1, 3.52 ERA)
Saturday, May 21 - 12:00 p.m. PT
UCLA – Kelly Austin, RHP, RSo. (3-1, 3.58 ERA)
OSU – Jake Pfennigs, RHP, Jr. (2-0, 0.84 ERA)

The Week In Review    
UCLA is 3-1 over the last week, sweeping Washington State at home over the weekend before dropping a Tuesday game at UC Irvine:

  • Max Rajcic threw the first eight innings of a combined one-hitter as UCLA blanked Washington State 4-0 on Friday night. Rajcic was dealing all night, striking out a career-high 14 batters and facing just two over the minimum. Alonzo Tredwell added a 1-2-3 ninth to cap UCLA's first one-hitter in over two years. The Bruins produced all their runs in the first inning with a rally highlighted by a two-run Ethan Gourson double that opened the scoring.  
  • The Bruins used an early burst of offense to record a series-clinching 10-1 win on Saturday. The Bruins went through the whole lineup twice over the first two innings of the game, and built a 10-0 lead by the end of the third. Kyle Karros (three-run homer) and Kenny Oyama (3-4, three RBIs) led the Bruins offensively, while Ethan Gourson (3-4) and Jake Palmer (3-5) added three-hit days. Ethan Flanagan drew the start and tossed four scoreless, and a trio of relievers combined to limit WSU to one run the rest of the way.
  • Cody Schrier hit a walk-off single in the ninth to deliver a sweep-clinching 8-7 Sunday win. The Bruins built another early lead, scoring four in the first inning and leading 6-1 after five. WSU took its first lead of the series with a six-run sixth, but the Bruins immediately punched back with a single run in the bottom half to tie it, setting up Schrier's heroics. Kyle Karros hit a three-run home run in the first inning for the second consecutive day, and Michael Curialle had three singles. Kelly Austin started the Bruins off with five innings of one-run ball, and Alonzo Tredwell held WSU scoreless over the final three frames of the contest. 
  • UCLA outscored WSU 22-8 for the weekend, scored 4+ runs in the first inning of all three games, and only trailed for one half-inning
  • The Bruins used a season-high nine pitchers in an 8-1 loss at UC Irvine on Tuesday. Jake Palmer had a pair of base hits in his first game back at UCI since grad-transferring to UCLA, and Daylen Reyes added a 2-4 line. Sophomore righty Caedon Kottinger made  his UCLA debut and had the strongest performance of any Bruin pitcher, allowing just a HBP in a scoreless fifth inning.

In The Polls    
UCLA appeared in all five major national polls this week, checking in as high as No. 14 (Collegiate Baseball) while also appearing at No. 22 (Baseball America), No. 23 (D1Baseball, USA TODAY Coaches Poll), and No. 25 (NCBWA). The Bruins have been ranked as high as No. 6 this season (May 2, Collegiate Baseball) and entered the year ranked as high as No. 22 in the preseason polls. 

The All-Time Series Against Oregon State    
UCLA owns a 42-40 record all-time against the Beavers, including an 18-29 mark under head coach John Savage. The Bruins have taken two of three in each of the last two weekend meetings between the two schools, both at Jackie Robinson Stadium (2019, 2021). However, UCLA is seeking its first series win in Corvallis since 2010. The Bruins are playing at Goss Stadium for the first time since 2018. Active Bruins with strong career numbers against OSU include Kyle Karros (5-11, HR) and Max Rajcic (2.1 IP, 0 R, 4 K). 

Last Year Against the Beavers    
The Bruins took two out of three from OSU last year at Jackie Robinson Stadium (Apr. 30 to May 2, 2021). UCLA got on the board with a 10-inning Friday night win and clinched the set with a 2-0 Saturday shutout before the Beavers salvaged their weekend with a 5-3 Sunday result. The Bruins batted just .179 for the weekend, but got some clutch hitting and recorded a 1.93 team ERA. UCLA rallied from a 5-1 deficit in the ninth inning to walk off OSU on Friday. Jack Filby played the hero in that game, tying it up with a pinch-hit three-run double in the bottom of the ninth before UCLA won it on a walk-off balk in the tenth. Sean Mullen (2021 Tampa Bay draftee) led a combined shutout for the Bruins on Saturday, a 2-0 triumph. 

Rajcic Picks Up Slew of Honors After WSU Masterpiece    
UCLA sophomore right-hander Max Rajcic received accolades from a number of publications after throwing the first eight innings of a combined one-hitter over WSU on Friday:

  • He is the first Bruin coached by John Savage to strike out at least 14 batters in a game without issuing a walk
  • Retired 14 batters in a row after allowing a single in T1, faced just two over the minimum (the other reached on a dropped third strike)
  • Named the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week for the second time in the last three weeks. He is the tenth Bruin to pick up multiple Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week honors in a single season since the league moved to its current format in 1999 (other notables ... Zach Pettway, 2020; Ryan Garcia, 2019; Griffin Canning, 2017; Adam Plutko, 2012; Tyson Brummett, 2007)
  • NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week (UCLA's second this season; Thatcher Hurd, Mar. 8)
  • Perfect Game National Pitcher of the Week (UCLA's second this season; Thatcher Hurd, Mar. 8)
  • College Baseball Foundation National Pitcher of the Week (UCLA's first this season)
  • UCLA Student-Athlete of the Week (his second time winning that award in the last three weeks)
  • One of Collegiate Baseball's nine "National Players of the Week"

In The Zone    
As is the case most years, the Bruins have been adept so far in 2022 at limiting free passes. Entering the weekend, UCLA is fourth in the country in WHIP (1.18), seventh in walks allowed per nine innings (2.8), and sixth in K-BB ratio (3.4). The Bruins have sizable advantages over their opponents in walks drawn vs. issued (259-144) and HBPs drawn vs. issued (90-41). 

  • UCLA's +49 differential in HBPs is sixth-best in the country
  • UCLA's +115 walk differential is sixth-best in the country
  • Combined, the Bruins have a +164 differential for extra runners via BB/HBP. That total ranks fourth in the country, behind Tennessee, Oregon State, and Central Michigan. 

Palmer Locked In    
Graduate first baseman Jake Palmer has been red-hot over a 34-game reached base streak, going 48-125 (.384) while reaching a further 34 times via walk or HBP. His 48 free passes (36 BB, 12 HBP) rank second on a team that has excelled in that area, and he's nearly doubled his batting average since Mar. 6 (from .175 to .324). He was a Pac-12 Player of the Week nominee after going 9-15 (.600) with a pair of three-hit games and five runs scored against Cal State Fullerton and Washington State. He was last held off base for an entire game on Mar. 4 vs. Baylor at Minute Maid Park as part of the Shriner's Children's Classic.

Early Birds    
UCLA is outscoring its opponents by a healthy margin (314-218) 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 133-65 (plus-68), including a 65-24 advantage in the first inning alone. The Bruins are 25-7 this season when scoring first and 18-6 when scoring in the first inning.
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, Gage Jump, and Daniel Colwell have combined for the following stats:

  • 3.45 ERA and 263-60 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 242 1/3 innings
  • 93 total earned runs allowed (1.8 per game)
  • 1.10 WHIP, 9.8 K/9
  • Allowed 0 ER or fewer in 13 of 52 games, 1 ER or fewer in 26 of 52 games, and 2 ER or fewer in 40 of 52 games
  • Allowed more than four hits just 15 times in 52 games