UCLA baseball aims to maintain momentum in final home series against California

With only one home series remaining, the Bruins are down to their last chances to make a playoff berth.

No. 18 UCLA baseball (31-16, 14-10 Pac-12) will host California (26-23, 12-12) for a three-game set this weekend at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The series will be the penultimate one for both teams, marking their final run at the postseason before the Selection Show on May 31.

The Bruins rank fourth in the Pac-12, three games back from the leader, No. 6 Oregon. The Golden Bears hold the seven-spot in the conference, trailing the Bruins by two games. The conference winner will earn an automatic ticket to the postseason, with 33 remaining spots up for grabs in at-large bids.

“For us, (this series is) another opportunity, it’s another challenge,” said coach John Savage. “It’s another really good team coming in, a team that’s really fighting for their playoff life. It’s going to be very competitive. We expect it to be competitive and we expect a tough series.”

The Cal series will be UCLA’s last at Jackie Robinson Stadium – a venue it has accrued a .741 winning percentage at in 2021. In contrast, the Bruins are only two wins above .500 away from home turf.

UCLA has won five consecutive home series against its University of California counterpart dating back to 2009. In their last outing against the Bears in 2019, the Bruins took two of three at home in a series that featured two shutout innings from redshirt senior right-hander Kyle Mora.

In Tuesday’s 11-3 win over Nevada, Mora made his return to the mound after being sidelined for more than six weeks with an injury. His scoreless fifth inning helped the Bruins largely keep the Wolf Pack offense at bay.

“Our bullpen was impressive,” Savage said. “They kind of passed the baton from one to another and kept on putting up some zeros. It was great having Kyle Mora back, that was a big day for us. We got another arm back so that’s nice to have.”

Junior infielder Mikey Perez said Tuesday’s game will hopefully serve as a momentum boost for UCLA heading into the weekend.

“I’d say (we’ll be focusing on) definitely taking the momentum from this Tuesday game into the weekend and making sure to try to go ahead and punch first on Friday,” Perez said. “Hopefully all goes as planned and (we) keep taking that momentum and keep riding that out.”

The Bruins’ regular shortstop, junior Matt McLain, has been out of the lineup nursing a thumb injury since May 2. In the meantime, Perez has taken over at short while redshirt junior Kevin Kendall has slotted into Perez’s usual post at second base, playing in the infield for the first time this season after spending the majority of the year in center field.

Perez said he’s embraced being versatile and playing where he’s needed with UCLA and said he has been getting more comfortable in his new role. Kendall, who spent most of his first two years at shortstop, said he has enjoyed his stint covering second base.

“It’s been smooth, it’s been fun,” Kendall said. “I’ve always been an infielder and I haven’t spent any time in the infield in the last five months, so it’s definitely good to be back in there and I’m enjoying it.”

Two of California’s projected starting pitchers appear on MLB’s 2021 draft prospect rankings list, while Friday’s starter – right-hander Josh White – owns a 1.93 ERA, having allowed only 11 earned runs in 51.1 innings of work this season.

“Cal’s very good,” Savage said. “They have a very, very talented team, they got a ton of prospects. … (This series is) going to give us a really good challenge and an opportunity to play against a really good Pac-12 team.”

First pitch against the Golden Bears is set for 6 p.m. on Friday at Jackie Robinson Stadium.