Two years ago, with no existing conference tournament, the Bruins’ regular-season concluding loss would have marked the end of the year altogether.

No. 7 seed UCLA baseball (27-23-1, 12-16-1 Pac-12) is currently projected to miss the NCAA tournament, according to D1Baseball. And this year, with an at-large selection unlikely, an automatic bid through the second annual 2023 Pac-12 tournament is the only expected way to get into the big dance for coach John Savage and company.

“We’re still standing,” Savage said. “The kids are still competing – they’re still together. We’ve had some really hard-fought series against Stanford and Oregon State, and now Arizona State. We feel like we can beat anybody at any given time, and now the preparation begins.”

UCLA begins Pac-12 tournament pool play Tuesday against No. 4 seed USC (33-22-1, 17-13) before shifting to face No. 3 seed Washington (33-16, 17-12) on Wednesday. With the tournament split into three pools of three teams, the winners of the groups will advance to the semifinals, while one wild card – decided by the best record remaining – will be the fourth semifinalist.

The Bruins dropped both their conference series 2-1 against the Trojans and Huskies but were two runs away from series victories in both instances.

USC and Washington lost their final regular-season series to No. 8 seed Arizona and No. 9 seed California, respectively – both teams that sit below UCLA in the standings.

Senior outfielder/left-hander Josh Hahn – who had his 12-game hitting streak snapped Saturday – said the Bruins have to take the games against the Trojans and Huskies pitch by pitch.

“We just really can’t think of the past,” Hahn said. “It’s over, it’s done with, and now we’re fighting for our lives. Survive and advance kind of mentality.”

Heading into the first pitch Tuesday, UCLA is set to receive its Friday-night starting pitcher Jake Brooks back from injury.

On March 24 against Washington, the junior right-hander hurled the most efficient start of his season. Across 6.2 scoreless frames, Brooks struck out nine batters and walked just one.

[Related: UCLA baseball defeats Washington behind season-best performance from Jake Brooks]

“Brooks should be a go this week,” Savage said.

Last year, UCLA made a run into the Pac-12 tournament semifinals, defeating Oregon State in a 25-22, 10th-inning thriller. However, the Bruins ultimately fell short of a championship game appearance, losing to the Beavers 8-7 later that day.

Despite having never played in collegiate postseason action, freshman right-hander Michael Barnett believes the team controls its own destiny.

“We’re all unified and know that winning the Pac-12 tournament is achievable,” Barnett said. “And if we all come together, then we can do what we want to do with the rest of the season.”