UCLA baseball to hit the road again against UCSB after winning weekend in Texas

The Bruins may have just flown home from Texas, but they won’t be staying in Westwood for long.

After finishing the Frisco College Classic with three straight wins, No. 6 UCLA baseball (11-0) returned home Sunday and will immediately hit the road again to take on UC Santa Barbara (9-2) in a one-game, midweek meeting.

Jumping up four spots in the D1Baseball rankings, UCLA has yet to drop a game this season, has outscored its opponents 85-11 and hasn’t allowed more than two runs in any game thus far. No. 1 Florida is the only undefeated team ranked higher than UCLA.

Despite UCLA’s best start to the season since 2010 – when the Bruins won 22 consecutive games – coach John Savage said the win and loss totals shouldn’t be his team’s focus this early in the season.

“There’s no championship won in February or March,” Savage said. “We won 52 games last season and finished on a really tough note. So, it’s not about your record right now.”

UCSB will come into Tuesday’s matchup riding a four-game winning streak after sweeping Illinois-Chicago over the weekend and taking down Loyola Marymount in its previous midweek contest.

Gaucho second baseman and cleanup hitter Marcos Castanon leads his squad with 16 RBIs and is first in hitting with a .356 batting average in 45 at-bats.

With the Bruins coming off a weekend during which they scored in double figures against both then-No. 18 Texas A&M and Illinois, sophomore infielder Mikey Perez said his team stepped up to its first road challenges of the season and is looking to carry that execution into the coming week.

“I don’t think too much has to be changed,” Perez said. “We went into each game locked in and ready to go from pitch one, and I felt that was big for our team. As long as we go in with our game plan, we’ll be pretty good.”

Perez reached base on every plate appearance against Illinois, notching two hits, drawing two walks and getting hit by a pitch once. On every occasion, Perez came around to score and led the Bruins with five runs Sunday.

The UCLA bullpen will also enter Tuesday’s matchup having only allowed two earned runs all season, and junior right-hander Michael Townsend – who has made nine appearances in relief – hasn’t allowed a hit in 10 innings pitched.

Townsend said his focus over the weekend was squarely on the Frisco College Classic, and, despite the quick turnaround for the traveling squad, the pitching staff will continue to throw according to its coach’s plan.

“We weren’t looking ahead,” Townsend said. “We were focused on this weekend, so I haven’t really done my homework. But we will treat (the Gauchos) like any other game, and (Savage) always has his homework done and writes up a report.”

First pitch at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium is set for 5:30 p.m on Tuesday.