UCLA Wraps Road Schedule at No. 7 Oregon State

UCLA (16-30, 6-18) at No. 7 Oregon State (36-12, 14-9)
Friday, May 10, 2024 - 7 p.m. PT
Saturday, May 11, 2024 - 5 p.m. PT
Sunday, May 12, 2024 - 12 p.m. PT
Location: Corvallis, Ore. (Goss Stadium)
TV: Pac-12 Networks
Stream: Pac-12.com / Pac-12 Now app
Live Stats

UCLA Wraps Road Schedule at No. 7 Oregon State    
This weekend, UCLA (16-30, 6-18 Pac-12) heads to Corvallis, Ore. to face No. 7 Oregon State (36-12, 14-9) in a three-game Pac-12 series. It marks the Bruins' final road games of the regular season. The entire weekend set will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks, with Rich Burk on the call.Fans can also follow along with live stats (StatBroadcast) and X/Twitter updates (@UCLABaseball). 

UCLA Quick Hits    

• UCLA is 16-30 overall on the season, including a 3-2 mark over the last five games
• The Bruins went 5-6 in midweek contests in 2024, with wins against Nevada, LBSU, UCSB, LMU, and Pepperdine
• UCLA is 12-11 this season at home
• The Bruins are 6-18 in Pac-12 play, taking weekend series against Washington State and USC
• UCLA enters the contest with a plus-13 walk differential (212 drawn, 199 issued)
• The Bruins have an 81% success rate on stolen bases so far this year (39-48)
• Bruin starting pitchers have allowed 3 ER or fewer in five straight games, a season-long streak (6 ER total over 5 GP)
• Duce Gourson had a 22-game reached-base streak snapped Apr. 9 ... he's reached in 42 of 45 games so far this year
• The Bruins hit a season-high five home runs on April 30 at Pepperdine, including a pair from Mulivai Levu
• Mulivai Levu and Roch Cholowsky are the first Bruin freshmen in the John Savage era with multiple 2-HR games
• The Bruins have started multiple players at all nine defensive positions (plus DH)
• UCLA is coming off a 28-24-1 campaign and a berth into the 2023 Pac-12 Tournament
• It marked the program's 7th consecutive winning season and 15th overall in 19 seasons under HC John Savage
• The Bruins' freshman class was the No. 1-ranked recruit class in the country (as was the junior class)
• Junior 2B Duce Gourson earned Preseason All-America acclaim from Baseball America and Perfect Game
• Gourson, Cody Schrier, and Luke Jewett were named to the 2024 Pac-12 Preseason All-Conference Team
• The Bruins were picked to finish 3rd in the Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll
• Bruin alum Gerrit Cole won the 2023 AL Cy Young, making UCLA the first DI school ever to have had multiple Cy Young winners on the same team
• Nick Nastrini was called up by the White Sox on April 15, making him the 92nd Bruin all-time to make his MLB debut

Projected Pitching Matchups
Friday, May 10 - 7 p.m. PT 
UCLA - Jr. RHP Luke Jewett (1-4, 3.75 ERA)
OSU - Jr. RHP Aiden May (4-0, 3.13 ERA)
Saturday, May 11 - 5 p.m. PT 
UCLA - So. RHP Michael Barnett (4-3, 4.70 ERA)
OSU - Jr. RHP Jacob Kmatz (5-2, 3.26 ERA)
Friday, May 12 - 12 p.m. PT 
UCLA - Fr. RHP Luke Rodriguez (2-4, 4.37 ERA)
OSU - Fr. RHP Eric Segura (5-1, 5.11 ERA)

On the Road    
UCLA is in the middle of a stretch of playing 10 of 11 games away from Jackie Robinson Stadium. The Bruins are scheduled to play road series against Pac-12 opponents Utah and Oregon State, and midweeks at Pepperdine and UC Irvine. In the middle of that, the Bruins will play a tri-venue series against Cal State Fullerton during the team's conference bye week (one apiece at Angel Stadium, CSF's Goodwin Field, and UCLA's Jackie Robinson stadium; the latter representing the Bruins' lone home game during this span). Prior to this stretch, UCLA had played just 15 true road games all season. 

Change of Scenery    
UCLA is also in the middle of a span of playing seven consecutive games at seven different venues (Utah's Smith's Ballpark, Pepperdine's Eddy D. Field Stadium, Angel Stadium, Cal State Fullerton's Goodwin Field, Jackie Robinson Stadium, UC Irvine's Anteater Ballpark, and Oregon State's Goss Stadium). It is believed to be the first time in program history that the team is playing at a different venue in seven straight games. Earlier this year, the team played four straight contests in different venues (Mar. 1 at Jackie Robinson Stadium, Mar. 3 at Dodger Stadium, Mar. 5 at LBSU's Blair Field, Mar. 8 at Cal's Stu Gordon Stadium). Even that stretch was just the second time over the last eight years (2021) that UCLA had played four consecutive games at a different venue. 

Active Bruins Against OSU    
Active Bruins with strong career numbers against the Beavers include: Michael Barnett (3.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 K in 2 apps), Duce Gourson (.300/.425/.433, HR, 7 RBIs in 8 GP), Jarrod Hocking (.462/.462/1.154, 2 HR, 6 RBIs in 3 GP), Jack Holman (4 RBIs in 4 GP), Luke Jewett (6.1 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K in one start), Daylen Reyes (.355/.474/.484, 4 XBH in 9 GP), and AJ Salgado (.462/.462/.538, 2 RBIs in 3 GP).

The All-Time Series Against Oregon State    
UCLA owns a 46-44 record all-time against the Beavers, including a 22-33 mark under head coach John Savage. The two teams have split the last four head-to-head weekend series, with the Bruins taking two-of-three the last time they were in Corvallis (2022).

Last Year Against the Beavers    
UCLA dropped two-of-three at home to Oregon State last year (May 12-13, 2023):

• Game 1 — The Bruins opened the OSU series with a 12-5 win on Friday night. UCLA never trailed in the contest, going ahead 4-0 by the third and ultimately putting the game away with a six-run seventh inning. All nine spots in the order had a hit for the Bruins, with five notching multiple knocks. Jarrod Hocking and JonJon Vaughns hit key home runs to power the Bruins, the former making it 4-0 in the third and the latter sparking the game-winning six-spot. AJ Salgado added three singles in his first start since Mar. 17. Jake Brooks earned the win with a solid 5 2/3 inning start, and a trio of relievers combined to hold OSU scoreless the rest of the way.
• Game 2 — Kelly Austin fanned a career-high 13 batters, but OSU was able to even the series with a 6-4 Saturday win. The Beavers hit home runs in three consecutive innings starting in the fourth to go ahead for good, and the relief duo of Ben Ferrer and Ryan Brown held UCLA scoreless over the final five innings of the game. Jarrod Hocking homered for the third straight game and finished a triple short of the cycle to lead UCLA offensively. Austin teamed with Michael Barnett (2 Ks in 3 hit-free relief innings) to match UCLA's season high for strikeouts season with 15. 
• Game 3 — OSU took a 21-5 decision in the rubber match. The game was fairly close early (it was tied 3-3 after five) but OSU took control of the game by scoring in each of its last four offensive innings, including a trio of crooked numbers. Duce Gourson paced the Bruins' bats, going 2-2 with a homer and reaching base four times. Ethan Flanagan settled down after a somewhat-rocky start, retiring 11 of the final 12 batters he faced and ending with a season-high six Ks.

Freshman Bats Leading the Home Run Department    
Freshman infielders Roch Cholowsky (7 HRs, tied with Duce Gourson for team lead) and Mulivai Levu (6 HRs) have been leading the Bruins in the long ball department. Entering the year, no Bruin freshman had ever recorded multiple two-homer games under John Savage (since 2005), but Cholowsky and Levu have both accomplished that feat this season. They are the only batters on the 2024 squad with a multi-homer game. 

He Will Roch You    
Frosh third baseman Roch Cholowsky has been on a tear with the bat as of late, hitting six homers over his last nine games and slashing .342/.447/.895 over the last 10 games. Roch has compiled nearly half of his extra-base hits for the season (nine of 20) over that same stretch. He is the lone Bruin to appear in every game so far this season.

Levu Leaves the Yard    
UCLA freshman first baseman Mulivai Levu has made a habit of hitting the long ball this year. He hit three home runs during the Cal series, including a two-HR performance in the series finale that made him the first Bruin in 2024 with multiple home runs in one game, and the first Bruin frosh with a two-homer game since current Cincinnati Red Matt McLain had two bombs at Washington State on May 12, 2019. He added two homers in as many innings at Pepperdine on April 30. His seven RBIs in that Pepperdine game are the most by a Bruin since Tommy Beres in the 2022 Pac-12 Tournament. 

No Slouches in the Nine Hole    
UCLA has seen plenty of production from the very bottom of its lineup, as nine-hole hitters have combined to slash an unreal .348/.435/.477 so far this season. Collectively, UCLA's nine-hitters have the best batting average, and second-best OBP and SLG of any spot in the lineup. Players such as Payton Brennan (13-21, .905 SLG), AJ Salgado (5-9, .889 SLG), and Cashel Dugger (8-23, .467 OBP) have all been especially productive at the nine-spot.

Dependable Duce    
Duce Gourson has been a constant presence on the basepaths this season, reaching in 42 of 45 games thus far (he was kept off in the final two games of the TCU series, but has reached in all but one contest otherwise). His 37 walks rank third in the Pac-12 (just one behind runner-up Malcolm Moore of Stanford) and his .437 OBP ranks eighth among qualifying league batters. However, he's walked just 15 times in the last 24 games after drawing 22 bases on balls over his first 21 outings. Duce has hit safely in nine consecutive games, a career-long streak and the longest of any Bruin thus far in 2024.

The Week In Review    
UCLA is 2-2 over the last week, taking two of three in a tri-venue non-conference series against Cal State Fullerton before dropping its midweek finale at No. 16 UC Irvine on Tuesday night:

• FRI — Luke Jewett (8 IP, 0 R, 9 K) turned in the best start of his career, but UCLA ultimately absorbed a 2-1 loss in extra innings to Cal State Fullerton at Angel Stadium. Both teams were held off the board until the 12th frame, with Colby Wallace's two-run homer in the top half serving as the decisive play. Prior to the homer, UCLA pitchers had successfully put up a zero in four consecutive innings despite CSF getting the leadoff man aboard each time. Jewett took a no-hitter into the sixth, and retired 14 in a row after a game-opening HBP to face the minimum through five. 
• SAT — Michael Barnett fired 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball and AJ Salgado provided a tie-breaking two-run double in the seventh as UCLA recorded a 4-1 win at Goodwin Field. UCLA and CSF battled to a 1-1 tie through six innings before Salgado's decisive double down the left field line. CSF rarely threatened against Barnett, and the relief duo of Landon Stump/Rashad Ruff didn't allow a hit over the final 2 1/3 innings of the game. Ruff earned his seventh save.
• SUN — Roch Cholowsky homered twice and UCLA scored the first 10 runs of the game en route to a series-clinching 11-4 victory at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Payton Brennan was 3-4 with two doubles and Jack Holman reached four times and scored three runs. Luke Rodriguez drew the start and put up four consecutive zeroes but ultimately finished one out short of qualifying for the win. Justin Lee and JonJon Vaughns combined to limit CSF to one run over the final 4 2/3 innings. UCLA jumped all over the CSF starter, batting around and scoring six runs in the first. Cholowsky then added two-run homers in his next two ABs to give UCLA a 10-0 lead through four.
• TUE — UCLA doubled up UC Irvine in the hit column, but absorbed a 9-6 loss at Anteater Ballpark. The Bruins had a dozen hits (including seven during a five-run fifth inning) but issued 14 free passes on the mound and struck out a season-high 15 times. UCI went ahead 6-0 on back-to-back crooked numbers to start the game, and never relinquished the lead. AJ Salgado had a game-high three hits, Duce Gourson added a solo homer to extend his hitting streak to nine games, and Roman Martin hit a three-run pinch-hit homer to highlight that big fifth inning for UCLA.

Strong Start    
UCLA starting pitchers have combined to allow just six earned runs total over the last five games. That stretch includes three consecutive games allowing 1 ER or fewer (all vs. CSF). The rotation has allowed 3 ER or fewer in five straight games, a season-long streak.

Bruins On the National Leaderboards    
UCLA enters the contest ranked in the upper-third nationally in the following team stats:

• ERA - 5.10 (6th in the Pac-12 / 70th in the NCAA) 
• WHIP - 1.50 (7th / 74th)
• BB/9 - 4.33 (7th / 96th)
• Sac Bunts - 22 (4th / 90th)
• Triples - 11 (6th / 86th)