The Bruins’ 25-5 start was their best since 2010.

But No. 15 UCLA baseball (29-10, 13-5 Big Ten) has since gone 4-6 – including a 1-3 performance last week against then-No. 6 Oregon State and then-No. 16 Oregon – falling to second place in the Big Ten standings.

And the road doesn’t get any easier Tuesday, when UCLA travels to Orange County, California, for its second midweek affair against No. 12 UC Irvine (28-9, 16-2 Big West). The Bruins defeated the Anteaters 11-4 on March 11 at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

“We just have to respond,” said coach John Savage. “Good teams respond from tough weeks. We knew it was going to be a tough week.”

The Oregon series was UCLA’s first weekend series loss of the season, putting an end to its streak of 10 consecutive weekend series wins that stretched back to 2024.

Meanwhile, UC Irvine will enter Tuesday’s game on a three-game win streak after allowing just a single run in a series sweep of Hawai’i.

The Anteaters currently sit atop the Big West conference standings and will likely challenge to host an NCAA regional – something the Bruins haven’t done since 2019.

And if UCLA is looking to make it back to the national tournament for the first time since 2022, it’ll likely benefit from a win over UC Irvine – who ranks 19th in RPI – after a week of three Quad 1 losses.

While UC Irvine has sported a 3.70 ERA in its past 10 games, it has posted a 10.50 ERA in its past four midweek contests – most recently surrendering 15 to Loyola Marymount on April 15.

After scoring just two runs total Tuesday and Friday, the Bruin offense scored 20 in the final two contests against the Ducks – which included four home runs from four different players.

“We just did a really good job,” said left fielder Dean West, who led off Saturday’s contest with a solo shot. “Everyone stayed within themselves, not trying to do too much collectively as a group. We knew our role and executed it.”

The Bruins have averaged 8.6 runs per game this season – 33rd in the nation – and will have a chance to continue last weekend’s success against the Anteaters.

UCLA will throw a variety of arms against UC Irvine, Savage said, beginning with redshirt junior right-hander James Hepp, who will make his first start of the season and the third of his career.

“We love being able to use more guys,” said junior right-hander Michael Barnett. “Because it just feels even better and more connected as a staff when we go and beat a team together.”

Hepp, who has not thrown more than two innings in a single collegiate appearance, made his first appearance since 2023 Tuesday after undergoing shoulder surgery. The junior tossed a scoreless inning against the Beavers before retiring the only batter he faced over the weekend in Eugene.

[Related: Injury-ridden seasons finally behind UCLA baseball, 4 pitchers back on the mound]

The Anteaters will send left-hander Ricky Ojeda to the bump against the Bruins for his second start of the season.

Ojeda, a 2024 Freshman All-American, has posted a 1.93 ERA this season in 37.1 innings, most of which came as a multi-inning reliever.

Additionally, Tuesday’s affair will be a homecoming of sorts for Savage, who helped design Cicerone Field when he revived the Anteaters’ baseball program as a first-time head coach in 2002.

“I have the utmost respect for Irvine.” Savage said. “Irvine is one of the best teams in the West – they’ve been the last couple years.”