The Bruins have an undefeated record in conference play this season.

But most of those wins have come in weekend series against programs with little recognition at the national level.

With the exception of then-No. 12 USC, every conference opponent the Bruins have faced so far has failed to enter the top-25 rankings at any point this season.

But following this weekend, that will no longer be the case.

With the postseason on the horizon and its place atop the Big Ten already secured, No. 1 UCLA baseball (44-4, 24-0 Big Ten) will face No. 13 Oregon (35-12, 17-7) at Jackie Robinson Stadium for its penultimate weekend series of the season. The Bruins have not played a ranked opponent since facing the Trojans at home over a month ago.

While UCLA will enter the weekend on a five-game winning streak, it has been anything but easy for the usually dominant squad.

After cruising to an easy first win, the Bruins outscored their opponents by a combined 10 runs over the course of their next four victories.

Furthermore, these victories came against Michigan State and Loyola Marymount, which are ranked 116th and 65th nationally in RPI.

“Our weekends have been pretty inconsistent,” said coach John Savage on Monday. “Minnesota weekend, we really didn’t hit much. The Sac State weekend, we didn’t hit much. And then this weekend was pretty inconsistent the first two days.”

While the pitching staff wasn’t in top form, the Bruin offense hit its stride in its two most recent contests, scoring 22 combined runs.

The scoring was fueled in part by the group’s discipline at the plate and willingness to provoke free passes. In the two contests, UCLA amassed 13 walks and five hit batters, which accounted for nearly as many baserunners as actual hits.

“Passing the baton, getting the next person up, not taking selfish at-bats,” said junior third baseman Roman Martin on Sunday. “When you get those little small wins, like a 3-2 winner with a walk or a hit by pitch, that’s kind of been our thing all year.”

Though he didn’t play Tuesday – his first rest day this season – junior first baseman Mulivai Levu helped lead the way for the Bruins’ offense throughout the weekend, smoking two home runs and reaching base seven times.

“I’ve just developed consistently over these three years,” Levu said Sunday. “I finally passed my mark from last year. Hopefully it will keep going.”

After hitting 12 home runs last season, Levu – the No. 93 MLB Draft prospect according to MLB Pipeline – increased his season-long total to 14, ninth-most in the Big Ten.

The offense will need to continue supporting a pitching staff that will still be without ace junior right-hander Logan Reddemann – whom Savage said will not be pitching against Oregon. The staff is also still trying to preserve itself for the postseason, as shown by Savage’s decision to rest redshirt senior left-hander Ian May last weekend.

Oregon has won eight of its last nine contests – though it lost its most recent game to a Washington squad ranked 172nd in RPI.

The Ducks are still in the running for a top seed in the Big Ten tournament and, as a top-ranked team in the nation, the opportunity to host an NCAA tournament regional.

“You got Oregon, who’s a top team in the league and the country, ranked pretty high,” Savage said. “They’re a host option, so they present a tremendous challenge.”

The UCLA pitching staff will have to manage Oregon’s powerful offense, which leads the Big Ten with 86 home runs – nine more than second-ranked UCLA.

Though no Duck currently eclipses either junior shortstop Roch Cholowsky or junior center fielder Will Gasparino, the team features seven batters with at least five home runs.

Oregon’s pitching staff ranks fourth in the Big Ten with a 4.19 ERA, but it will enter the weekend completely fresh and rested, as its midweek series against Grand Canyon University was canceled.

While no official reason was given, the risk of losing to the Antelopes – which feature an RPI ranking of 219 – might have outweighed the positive impacts of the series for the Ducks’ RPI and therefore their postseason chances.

Canceling midweek games because of RPI concerns has become a well-known practice across college baseball, with other squads – notably Michigan, North Carolina State, Kansas State and Miami – also canceling their midweek contests, though most programs cited inclement weather as the cause.

With just six games remaining this season – all of which are conference games – the Bruins have the opportunity to go undefeated in Big Ten play and win 50 regular season games for the first time in school history.

“It’s a long season,” Savage said. “You go through things throughout the season, and I need to understand that. At the end of the day, we’ve lost four games, so you don’t want to start complaining too much.”