The Bruins kryptonite has been mid-major opponents.

Two of their three losses have come from midweek matchups.

Therefore, the Tuesday night contest may be another test for No. 1 UCLA baseball (36-3, 21-0 Big Ten) when they take on Hawai’i (20-15, 10-11 Big West) at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

Part of what has made the Bruins so successful this season has been their offensive core, powered by seasoned, veteran batters.

Juniors center fielder Will Gasparino, first baseman Mulivai Levu, third baseman Roman Martin and shortstop Roch Cholowsky all possess a batting average over .320 with a collective 170 runs between them. Moreover, all seven starting Bruin batters possess an on-base percentage above .370.

One of these seven starters in lead-off hitter and junior left fielder Dean West – who has gotten a hit in 14 of the Bruins’ last 15 games – said his role rests in laying the foundation for this offense.

“We just say winning pitches, just being on every pitch,” West said. “Making the most of it and not getting sidetracked and always just staying in the present.”

The all-around consistency of the offense has helped the team secure their 36 victories, the most wins of any Division 1 baseball team this season.

Despite this success, coach John Savage said the team remains focused on the future.

“You’re talking about 56 games,” Savage said. “I know a lot of people go, ‘oh yeah, that’s so many games.’ Well, you look at major league, it’s 162, so it’s not … hard to keep people locked in. There’s just too much at stake.”

The UCLA offense has only been shutout once this year. This outlying performance came in the team’s recent Tuesday night game against UC Santa Barbara.

The Gauchos are not an exceptional team, especially in comparison to the other competition that the Bruins have faced. However, UCSB was able to hold the UCLA offense to zero runs and put-up four runs against the Bruin pitching staff on Westwood turf.

UCSB is not unlike the Hawai’i team.

In their contest against the Bruins, the Gauchos threw three pitchers out, none of which are their usual starters. Right-hander Aj Krodel – who threw for 3.1 innings and conceded two hits and allowed no runs against the Westwood bats – has an ERA of 6.45. A majority of the Rainbow Warriors bullpen pitchers that have thrown over 18 innings have an ERA around or below that of Krodel.

While it may seem that Hawai’i has a disadvantage against the high-powered UCLA offense, the similarities and success of the UCSB pitching staff could indicate an ability for the Rainbow Warriors to shut-down the Bruins.

On the other side of the ball, the UCLA pitching staff that handles Tuesday night games may open the door for the Hawai’i offense to put runs on the board.

The usual Tuesday night starter, freshman right-hander Angel Cervantes, has amassed a 5.92 ERA across just 24.1 innings pitched. Cervantes has put up inconsistent performances in his last three starts as he’s adjusting to collegiate ball. While giving up five runs between his starts versus UCSB and Cal State Fullerton, Cervantes has also shut-down an offense when he garnered four strike-outs across his two outings against UC Irvine.

While the offense for the Rainbow Warriors may not be the strongest as it boasts only two batters above the .300 batting average tally, they could still take advantage of the inconsistency of the Bruin pitching. Similarly, the Gauchos only have two batters with an average of .300-plus as well, and they managed to put-up four runs in their matchup, demonstrating the possibility for mid-major offenses to find success against Westwood pitchers.

Third baseman Tate Shimao and right fielder Ben Zeigler-Namoa lead the Rainbow Warriors offense, and are coming off a successful performance against CSU Bakersfield, going 3-for-5 and 3-for-6, respectively.

Hawai’i has also beaten UCSB twice this season. The Rainbow Warriors edged out close wins with a 2-1 and 3-1 victory, proving their ability to win close games.

And the Bruins treat every opponent the same.

“It’s baseball at the end of the day, anyone can beat anyone,” Martin said.

UCLA is the clear favorite heading into the Tuesday night bout with its impressive roster and resume, but the gap is open for Hawai’i to make some noise.