Having lost four of their last five series against conference opponents, the Bruins need a series win this weekend to keep the top of the Pac-12 in reach.

In search of its first consecutive victories since April 14 and 15, UCLA baseball (24-16-1, 10-9-1 Pac-12) will have the chance to bounce back against California (18-23, 6-15) at Jackie Robinson Stadium this weekend. The Bruins started the 2023 season 16-4 but have gone 8-12-1 since, their first 20-game stretch of losing baseball in six seasons.

Coach John Savage emphasized that his team still has plenty to play for as the season nears its end.

“The message is: Stay with the process,” Savage said. “You’re always one weekend away from really getting back into the picture. All you have to do is look at the standings and realize that the parity is real within the league.”

Cal enters this weekend riding its own rough stretch, a six-game losing streak that has dropped the Golden Bears below .500 and to the bottom of the Pac-12 standings. The sister schools have split their last 10 matchups evenly dating back to 2019, while UCLA holds a 37-31 advantage since 2000.

On paper, this series doesn’t project to be a slugfest. UCLA and Cal are the two last-place teams in the conference in runs scored, batting average and total bases. The Golden Bears rank 273 out of 295 Division I teams in batting average and 274th in on-base percentage, while the Bruins’ .405 slugging percentage is last in the conference and 227th in the nation.

Part of UCLA’s offensive struggles can be attributed to its injury woes, but the recent return of junior infielder Daylen Reyes from hamate surgery has helped ease Savage’s load. Reyes’ said his wrist injury was the first significant injury of his baseball career, but he has recovered to post a six-game on-base streak after missing more than a month.

Savage praised his third-year infielder for what he brings to the lineup.

“He’s a great Bruin,” Savage said. “It’s just nice to have that sort of trust in his at-bats – defensively, knowing what he’s going to do. Just having his experience around and his mentality and his presence is a big addition to our team.”

UCLA’s strength all season has been its pitching. The team got its 16-4 start riding the second-best earned run average in the country, and even following recent struggles, the Bruins remain top 10 in the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio and 13th in ERA.

Senior left-hander Jake Saum said the coaching staff has kept the team optimistic.

“Obviously, we’ve had a rough few games, but we’re always hopeful,” Saum said. “We know what we need to do when we come out every day ready to go. There’s no quit in this team. So we’re ready to go this weekend.”

Despite their recent struggles, the Bruins still have an outside shot to win a conference title for the first time since 2019. They currently sit tied for sixth in the Pac-12 standings, just four games back of first-place Stanford.

Reyes said the mental side of the game will be key to getting back on track with nine conference games to go.

“I think our mentality is one of the biggest things that we can improve on,” Reyes said. “We need to play better baseball in all facets. I don’t think it’s one specific thing. Whether it’s pitching, defense, offense, I think that we just need to play more cohesively and play better together.”

The series against Cal begins Friday at 6 p.m. at Jackie Robinson Stadium.