UCLA baseball readies to sail into top-10 series with East Carolina Pirates
Sophomore right-hander Zach Pettway is set to make his ninth-straight Friday start for No. 1 UCLA baseball against No. 8 East Carolina. Pettway owns a 3.42 ERA in 55 1/3 innings this season. (Andy Bao/Daily Bruin)
Baseball
No. 8 East Carolina
Friday, 6 p.m.
Jackie Robinson Stadium
No TV info
No. 8 East Carolina
Saturday, 2 p.m.
Jackie Robinson Stadium
No TV info
No. 8 East Carolina
Saturday, TBD
Jackie Robinson Stadium
No TV info
By Zack Venable
April 12, 2019 12:59 a.m.
The Bruins are taking a break from Pac-12 play to face a top-10 team.
No. 1 UCLA baseball (24-6, 9-3 Pac-12) will host No. 8 East Carolina (25-7, 8-1 AAC) in a three-game series starting Friday night. This marks the only series the Bruins will play against an out-of-conference team in the latter two months of the season.
Coach John Savage said there is a level of unfamiliarity for both teams that will require extra preparation going into the three-game set.
“We might not know them as well as the people we play out here, so you have to do your homework,” Savage said. “They’re in the same boat as we are. … They don’t really know our players and we don’t know their players that well.”
The two programs last took the same field a decade ago, with the Bruins winning two of three games in Greenville, North Carolina. Both squads were unranked at the time.
The Pirates’ No. 8 ranking is their highest position this season. They were ranked No. 11 in D1Baseball’s Preseason Top 25 and haven’t dropped below No. 14 all year.
East Carolina is riding a three-game win streak after taking two of three against Houston and defeating UNC Wilmington on Tuesday. The Pirates have yet to lose a series this season.
A week removed from claiming a series victory at then-No. 2 Stanford, Savage said facing another highly ranked opponent is a good test for the Bruins and presents a chance for his team to improve.
“They’re another top-10 team. They’re a physical team (and) they have good arms,” Savage said. “It’s going to be very challenging and another good opportunity for us to get a little better.”
The Bruins, like the Pirates, haven’t lost a series this season and carry a three-game winning streak of their own heading into the weekend after defeating No. 18 UC Irvine on Tuesday. The upcoming series will mark the end of seven straight games against ranked opponents for UCLA.
Freshman right-hander Jesse Bergin said the focus is still on making internal improvements in practice, despite facing the high level of competition.
“Playing all these good players helps with preparation, but taking care of our craft and practicing how we practice (is important),” Bergin said. “We know once we take care of (our practices) it will leak into the games.”
First pitch will be 6 p.m. on Friday, followed by a 2 p.m. start time for the Saturday doubleheader.
