Baseball set to face longtime rival Long Beach State in rematch midweek game
UCLA baseball is undefeated in midweek play this season and will host Long Beach State on Tuesday. The Dirtbags fired their coach April 11 and own a losing record this season. (Alice Naland/Daily Bruin)
Baseball
Long Beach State
Tuesday, 6 p.m.
Jackie Robinson Stadium
No TV info
By Zack Venable
May 7, 2019 12:43 a.m.
This post was updated May 7 at 10:35 a.m.
The Bruins have one more home midweek game left on the slate this season.
No. 1 UCLA baseball (37-8, 16-5 Pac-12) will host Long Beach State (11-34, 5-10 Big West) on Tuesday in its second to last midweek and final one at home. The Bruins are 9-0 in midweeks and have won by an average of 4.1 runs in those games.
The two programs have met once already this season, with the Bruins scraping out a 2-0 road victory March 12. UCLA could only manufacture four hits during the contest – its lowest total of the year prior to three hits against California on April 19.
Freshman catcher Noah Cardenas said the Dirtbags have been a skilled team throughout the year, despite their losing record and last place standing in the Big West.
“They’re a really competitive team,” Cardenas said. “I know earlier in the season when we played them, their record didn’t show that.”
Long Beach State is two years removed from nearly reaching the College World Series, but is on pace to have one of its worst seasons in decades. The program fired nine-year coach Troy Buckley on April 11 after a reported incident of workplace violence.
Long Beach State is coming off a sweep of UC Riverside, marking its longest winning streak of the year.
UCLA and Long Beach State have split their last 12 matchups over the past five years.
The Bruins have the chance to get back in the win column after blowing a late lead and losing 8-7 at then-No. 22 Arizona State on Sunday. UCLA took the first two games of the weekend by scores of 3-2 and 18-3 to secures wins in all 11 of its series so far this season.
“It’s good for us, we can learn from this,” said coach John Savage. “We won the series, that is the telling end-of-the-weekend storyline. But at the same time, this is a tough loss when you have an opportunity to win three here.”
Injuries have plagued UCLA’s starters this season, with sophomore right-hander Zach Pettway the most recent Bruin to be sidelined with a forearm strain two weeks ago.
Savage chose an all-hands-on-deck approach on the mound against Pepperdine on April 30. Freshman right-hander Sean Mullen made his first collegiate start and was the first of seven Bruins to take the mound April 30.
On Monday night, Savage announced junior transfer Felix Rubi as his starter. Rubi has allowed one earned run and three hits in 5 1/3 innings across six appearances this season.
First pitch will be at 6 p.m. at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
