UCLA baseball heads into midweek game after 1st series win of season

The Bruins will enter their second midweek game of the season riding their first series win.

No. 8 UCLA baseball (4-3) will welcome Cal State Fullerton (3-3) to Westwood on Tuesday for the first of the teams’ three scheduled matchups in 2021. The Bruins are coming off a two-win weekend in which they took both home games against UC Irvine and dropped the middle contest at Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark.

Junior right-hander Nick Nastrini – the winner for UCLA in its combined three-hit shutout Sunday – said his club was determined to bounce back from its Saturday loss, and the series win has the Bruins itching to get back on the field.

“After (Saturday’s) loss, we kind of took it upon ourselves to not let that happen again so (Sunday’s) win definitely propels us well to the next game against Fullerton,” Nastrini said. “We have a spark under us so we’re really excited to get back onto the field and play Fullerton on Tuesday.”

Nastrini is the current strikeout leader on the team, sitting with 18 after his two starts, but he will be watching from the dugout Tuesday as junior right-hander Sean Mullen is tabbed to make his fourth appearance – and second start – of the year.

Mullen sits in a tie for second on the team in punchouts through the first seven games with 11, seven of which came in his 7.1 innings a week ago when he earned the victory against Loyola Marymount. Mullen had a tuneup over the weekend, tossing a scoreless ninth inning to wrap up Sunday’s game.

Offensively, UCLA has struggled early compared to the last couple of seasons, with only one qualified batter owning an on-base plus slugging of more than .720. The Bruins have a team OPS of .639, well below the .843 and .806 marks from 2019 and 2020, respectively.

One of the three UCLA batters to drive in a run Sunday – and the only player to knock in multiple – was freshman infielder Kyle Karros. Batting out of the nine spot, Karros drove a ball into the left-center field gap in the bottom of the seventh inning, plating two runs and putting the game out of reach for Irvine. The team’s RBI leader echoed Nastrini’s comments, saying the Bruins will need to come with high energy and ride the confidence of a series win.

“Fullerton’s a good club so we’re going to have to bring it to them, and I think it’s really keeping our energy levels up and bringing it to the field every day we show up,” Karros said. “So (we) just (have to use) this series win and the momentum that comes with it to go into Fullerton on Tuesday.”

Like the Bruins’ most recent opponent, the Titans have also taken a series from a Pac-12 program, winning two out of three against Utah over the opening weekend. Fullerton then dropped the first two games of its most recent series at San Diego but managed to salvage the third, getting back to .500 on the season.

Coach John Savage said UCLA will give Fullerton the same attention it gives all of its opponents and will take the midweek opportunity to prepare for the College Baseball Classic starting Friday.

“We treat every game the same,” Savage said. “We just value the game and value getting better as a team. We believe in midweek games – they’re allowing us to play. It’s a good opportunity to keep the guys sharp and engaged before they go into the weekend.”

First pitch from Jackie Robinson Stadium is set for 5 p.m.