It was a sunny day in late February, and the Bruins were in the midst of their second preseason weekend series. In the first inning of Saturday’s matchup against Gonzaga, Sean Bouchard slugged a first-pitch home run to give UCLA an early lead.

UCLA baseball’s season was decided on a hit batsman.
With the bases loaded in the top of the 13th, senior Scott Burke came in for relief with one out.

Griffin Canning threw his third complete-game shutout of the year Thursday night, leading UCLA baseball (29-24, 18-10 Pac-12) to a 6-0 defeat of Oregon (29-24, 11-17) in its series opener.

UCLA baseball swept its final home series of the year in nearly season-best fashion.
Twenty-six hits and five homers paved the way to 20 runs for the Bruins over the three-game stretch, the most that they’ve racked up in a conference series since early April.

As the regular season nears the finish line, the Bruins continue to battle it out in the Pac-12.
“We’ve been playing for our season the last couple of weeks,” said coach John Savage.

Jake Bird is back.
After battling through a midseason shoulder injury and losing the Saturday starting spot, the right-hander pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings of relief, recording seven strikeouts.

UCLA baseball was six outs away from a two-run victory when things started to go south.
It started in the eighth when junior reliever Jake Bird’s hit batsman and a pair of singles cut the lead in half.

Make it two good starts in a row for Justin Hooper.
Throughout March, the sophomore southpaw struggled to last four innings on the mound. But in the past two weeks Hooper seems to have found his groove, pitching throughout the fifth each time.

Nick Kern gave the Bruins hope in the bottom of the ninth.
With two outs and a runner on third, he sent a 3-2 pitch to deep into the outfield, far over the head of the Beavers’ left fielder.

Four hours and 11 innings after UCLA baseball’s first pitch Tuesday, it was Chase Strumpf who put an end to the misty evening.
With a runner on third and one down, Strumpf sent an 0-1 fastball high into right field.