Cal pitcher to challenge struggling UCLA baseball

The nation’s toughest schedule doesn’t get any easier this weekend. Not in the slightest.

UCLA baseball – which holds the top strength of schedule in the country– visits No. 12 California (15-6, 4-2 Pac-12), a team that recently swept then-No. 3 Oregon State in Berkeley. The Golden Bears are particularly difficult to beat in their home ballpark, as they’ve posted a Pac-12 best 9-2 record at home this year.

Aside from that, California has one of the best starting pitchers in all of college baseball: Daulton Jefferies.

Jefferies, a 6-foot, 180-pound junior, stifled UCLA (12-10, 4-2) in his lone start against the Bruins last year. The righty posted 6.2 innings of scoreless ball, allowing seven hits but also inducing three double plays. He fooled the Bruins by using an effective changeup in fastball counts.

“(UCLA is) pretty aggressive, so I just tried to throw a lot of strikes and get ahead early, let them get themselves out,” Jeffries told Scout.com after his April 16, 2015, start against the Bruins. “Not a lot of breaking stuff. I threw changeups in fastball counts, which was nice, got them off balance a little bit.”

What was perhaps most impressive about Jefferies’ 2015 outing was that he defeated UCLA ace James Kaprielian – an eventual first-round pick of the New York Yankees in the 2015 MLB draft.

“(Jefferies is) pretty complete,” said UCLA coach John Savage. “He’s a little bigger than you think. Maybe not that tall in stature, but he’s got long arms and long legs. Kind of a (Trevor) Bauer-looking guy.”

Savage called Jefferies an eventual first-round pick. His fastball sits between 92 and 95 miles per hour, which he commands on both sides of the plate. This kind of pitching prowess is not foreign to the Bruins with that No. 1 strength of schedule to their name.

“We faced a couple guys like (Jefferies) earlier this year with North Carolina,Texas and a couple other good squads,” said senior second baseman Brett Urabe.

Jefferies, who has a 6-0 record and 1.29 ERA, will face off with UCLA’s No. 1 starter – sophomore Griffin Canning with a 3-2 record and 3.43 ERA – on Friday night. Canning was roughed up a little bit in his last start, allowing six runs in 6.2 innings against Arizona.

Helping UCLA’s cause will be the return of redshirt junior setup man Tucker Forbes, who’s been out with an injury since March 6.

“(Forbes’ return) could change dramatically the complexion of our bullpen,” Savage said.

Pitching will most likely determine the outcome of this series. The Bruins have been hitting the ball well lately – tallying 12 runs over their last two games – but poor pitching has prevented them from winning either of those contests. UCLA enters this weekend’s series ranked 10th in the Pac-12 with a 4.82 team ERA. California, on the other hand, is second in the conference with a 2.90 team ERA.