UCLA Welcomes Arizona State for Three

UCLA (13-21, 6-12) vs. Arizona State (17-21, 7-11)
Friday, April 19, 2024 - 6 p.m. PT
Saturday, April 20, 2024 - 2 p.m. PT
Sunday, April 21, 2024 - 1 p.m. PT
Location: Los Angeles, Calif. (Jackie Robinson Stadium)
Stream: Pac-12.com / Pac-12 Now app
Audio: UCLA Lean Player
Broadcast talent: Nick Koop
Live Stats

UCLA Hosts Arizona State in Pac-12 Set    
This weekend, UCLA (13-21, 6-12 Pac-12) hosts Arizona State (17-21, 7-11) for three games starting on Friday at 6 p.m. PT and continuing on Saturday at 2 p.m. PT and Sunday at 1 p.m. PT. The entire weekend will be streamed via the Pac-12, and an audio-only broadcast is available via UCLABruins.com. Nick Koop will be on hand to call the simulcast. Fans can also follow along with live stats (StatBroadcast) and X/Twitter updates (@UCLABaseball). 

UCLA Quick Hits    

• UCLA is 13-21 overall on the season, including a 3-6 mark thus far in April
• The Bruins are 4-4 in midweek contests, with wins against Nevada, Long Beach State, UC Santa Barbara, and LMU
• The Bruins are 11-7 so far this season at home
• UCLA is 6-12 in Pac-12 play, taking weekend series against Washington State and USC
• The Bruins enter the weekend with a plus-17 walk differential (162 drawn, 145 issued)
• UCLA has an 82% success rate on stolen bases so far this year (32-39)
• Duce Gourson had a 22-game reached-base streak snapped Apr. 9 ... he's reached in 30 of 33 games so far this year
• UCLA has started multiple players at all nine defensive positions (plus DH)
• 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
• Nick Nastrini was called up by the White Sox on Apr. 15, making him the 92nd Bruin all-time to make his MLB debut

Projected Pitching Matchups
Friday, April 19 - 6 p.m. PT 
UCLA - Jr. RHP Luke Jewett (1-3. 4.99 ERA)
ASU - So. LHP Ben Jacobs (3-2, 5.67 ERA)
Saturday, April 20 - 2 p.m. PT 
UCLA - So. RHP Michael Barnett (3-1, 4.69 ERA)
ASU - Sr. LHP Connor Markl (3-2, 3.95 ERA)
Sunday, April 21 - 1 p.m. PT 
UCLA - Fr. RHP Landon Stump (0-2, 5.21 ERA)
ASU - TBA

Friendly Confines    
The Bruins are off to a strong start in home games so far this season, going 11-7 at Jackie Robinson Stadium. UCLA holds advantages in batting (.263-.249), OBP (.393-.362), slugging (.389-.376), and ERA (4.96-5.65).The Bruins went 19-9-1 at JRS a season ago, including a 13-game home winning streak to open the campaign. UCLA had a plus-63 run differential (207-144) in home games last year. 

Nick Nastrini Called Up by Chicago White Sox    
Former UCLA standout righty Nick Nastrini was called up by the Chicago White Sox on Apr. 15, and tossed five innings of two-run ball that night in his MLB debut. Nastrini became the 92nd Bruin all-time to make his MLB debut. He's also the 29th UCLA player coached by John Savage to reach the Majors, and fifth from the 2019 team alone (Garrett Mitchell, Ryan Kreidler, Michael Toglia, Matt McLain). A fourth-round pick of the Dodgers in the 2021 MLB Draft, Nastrini had posted a 3.99 ERA and 353 strikeouts in 252 1/3 innings over four years in the Minor Leagues.

Active Bruins Against ASU    
Current members of the UCLA squad with strong career numbers against the Sun Devils include: Chris Aldrich (4 apps, 3.1 IP, 0 R, 3 K), Michael Barnett (1 app, 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 K), Luke Jewett (2 apps 3.2 IP, 0 R, 2 K), Daylen Reyes (9-24, 6 R, 8 RBIs in 6 GP), Cody Schrier (6-13, 3 XBH, 6 R, 8 RBIs in 3 GP), and Carson Yates (7-15, 6 R, 3 XBH, 5 RBIs in 5 GP).

The All-Time Series Against Arizona State    
UCLA trails the all-time series against ASU by a margin of 85-122, including a 26-28 mark under head coach John Savage. The Bruins have had the upper hand in recent years however, winning six of the last eight series against the Sun Devils, accruing a 16-8 record over that time. ASU took two-of-three from the Bruins in Tempe last season, but UCLA swept ASU in the two matchups prior. UCLA last dropped a home series to ASU in 2016, winning each of the last two sets between the two teams at JRS (they did not meet in 2020 due to COVID).

Last Year Against the Sun Devils    

• UCLA dropped two of three at ASU in the final series of the regular season for both teams (May 18-20, 2023):
• Game 1 — Daylen Reyes had a career-high four hits, but it wasn't enough as ASU walked off UCLA in the ninth inning, 5-4, on Thursday. Luke Keaschall played the hero for the hosts, dropping a bloop inside the left-field foul line for a walk-off double with one out in the last of the ninth. He also hit a game-tying two-run homer in the third. Reyes and JonJon Vaughns (1-1, 3 BB) each reached four times for the Bruins, and Kelly Austin (6.1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 9 K) was solid despite pitching through rainy conditions.
• Game 2 — The Bruins evened the series with a 6-3 win on Friday. UCLA scored four runs early and never looked back, clinching a spot in the Pac-12 Tourney with the victory. Carson Yates and Darius Perry had key RBI singles in the early innings, and Duce Gourson provided key insurance with a two-run homer in the ninth that stretched UCLA's lead to three after ASU had got within a run at 4-3. Ethan Flanagan led the Bruins on the mound, going a career-long six innings.
• Game 3 — Michael Barnett and a quartet of relievers teamed up to throw a combined three-hitter for UCLA in Saturday's series finale, but a solo homer in the eighth inning proved the difference in a 2-1 rubber match win for ASU. Solo homers from UCLA's JonJon Vaughns in the second and ASU's Ryan Campos in the fourth accounted for the game's other two runs. Michael Barnett and Finn McIlroy were especially impressive on the mound for the Bruins. Barnett drew the start and allowed just one baserunner - on a two-out hit by pitch in the third - over his three innings of work. McIlroy retired eight consecutive batters to close his outing after getting UCLA out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth.
• Of note, the team with more hits lost each game in the series

The Week In Review    
UCLA is 1-3 over the last week, dropping two-of-three on the road at Washington as well as a midweek at UCSB:

• FRI — UCLA was edged, 5-4, in the Washington series opener. The Bruins had built a 4-0 lead early, but UW scored five unanswered in the back half of the game, walking it off in the bottom of the ninth on an errant throw from deep in the 5-6 hole. Washington previously tied it on a three-run homer in the sixth. Luke Jewett struck out a career-high nine batters 5 2/3 innings for UCLA. AJ Salgado and Jack Holman both tripled in the early innings.
• SAT — The Bruins evened the series with a 13-5 win in game two. UCLA matched a season-high in runs, and Michael Barnett became the first Bruin starter this season to pitch into the eighth inning. UCLA never trailed, scoring two in the top of the first and eventually going ahead 12-1 with a seven-run rally in the sixth. Several Bruins had big days offensively, including AJ Salgado (3-4, 3 RBIs, HR, 3 R), Roman Martin (2 XBH, 3 RBIs), Mulivai Levu (2-5, 2 2B, 3 RBIs), and Jack Holman (3-R HR). Barnett did the heavy lifting on the mound, going a career-long 7 1/3 innings and matching a career-best with six strikeouts. Caedon Kottinger and Justin Lee got the game's final five outs, without allowing a hit.
• SUN — Washington clinched the series with an 8-4 win. The Huskies scored all their runs in the sixth inning in a rally punctuated by a Cooper Whitton grand slam. UCLA built a 4-0 lead through the first half of the game thanks to offensive contributions from Roch Cholowsky (3-4, 2B, 3B), Duce Gourson (2-5), and Roman Martin (2-5). Landon Stump was outstanding over a five-plus inning start, facing the minimum his first time through the order and ultimately allowing just one run on two hits. 
• TUE — UCLA absorbed a 6-0 loss at UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday afternoon. The Bruins nearly doubled up the Gauchos in the hit column (9-5), but went 0-4 with runners in scoring position, were twice caught stealing, ran into two more outs on the basepaths, and hit a plethora of well-struck "at-him" balls that went for outs. A second-inning grand slam from UCSB's Aaron Parker proved decisive, and the Gauchos added two insurance runs late. Roch Cholowsky and Carson Yates both had two-hit days, and seven different Bruins ended the day with at least one knock. Besides the slam, UCLA pitchers limited UCSB to one earned run. 

Bruins On the National Leaderboards    
UCLA enters the contest ranked in the upper-third nationally in the following team stats:

• Triples - 9 (6th in the Pac-12 / 69th in the NCAA)
• BB/9 - 4.31 (7th / 90th)
• ERA - 5.08 (8th / 78th)
• WHIP - 1.50 (8th / 92nd)

Dependable Duce    
UCLA junior infielder Duce Gourson has been a constant presence on the basepaths this season, reaching in 30 of 33 games thus far (he was kept off in the final two games of the TCU series, but has reached in all but one contest otherwise). His 28 walks rank third in the Pac-12, only one behind No. 2 Gavin Turley of Oregon State. However, he's been walked just six times in the last 12 games after drawing 22 bases on balls over his first 21 outings.

Good Eye    
So far this season, UCLA has issued more walks than its drawn just 11 times in 34 games. The Bruins own a plus-17 walk differential overall on the season (162 drawn, 145 issued), good for fifth in the Pac-12, 14th among schools in the western half of the country, and 60th overall in the NCAA. UCLA is averaging 8.3 free passes (walks + hit batters) per game in wins this season, compared to 4.5 in losses.