NICOLE MILLER/Daily Bruin Senior Matt
Pearl charges back to first base on a pick-off attempt in
the Bruins’ game against UNLV earlier this season.
By Adam Karon
Daily Bruin Staff
The No. 24 Bruin baseball team cruised into the national
rankings for the first time last week. This weekend, the No. 19
Tulane Green Wave hopes to wipe them out of the polls.
UCLA catapulted to No. 24 in the Baseball Weekly/ESPN Coaches
poll following an eight-game winning streak and a tough series
against No. 2 USC. Their victory Tuesday over No. 13 Pepperdine
continued the Bruins’ trend of winning in the final inning,
as they crashed the Waves 5-4 in the ninth to improve to 9-4
overall.
Tulane enters the series with a record of 10-2 after recently
dropping two of three to Pepperdine. The Green Wave hopes to make
its second Southern California trip more successful. They are led
by Jake Gautreau, who is hitting .525 with eight extra base hits
and 15 RBIs. Gautreau is slugging an astounding .925 so far this
year.
“They’re going to battle. They’re going to be
tough,” Head Coach Gary Adams said. “They have pretty
good hitters from one through nine.”
On the mound, the Green Wave has been dominant. The staff has a
total ERA of 3.43. Starter Matt Foster has a 2.08 ERA with 17
strikeouts. Beau Richardson has a 3.31 ERA with 15 strikeouts.
“I’m sure they have a good pitching staff,”
leftfielder Adam Berry said. “But we can battle with
anybody.”
Tulane got off to a quick start this year, winning its first
eight games. But the Green Wave has yet to play well against a
nationally ranked opponent, having swept teams like Sam Houston
State and Temple. Pepperdine is the only serious challenge it has
faced, and Tulane dropped two of three against the Waves.
The series provides the Bruins with a chance to gain some
national respect, but the team does not seemed concerned with the
polls.
“Rankings look cool for your friends but for this team, it
has no bearing whatsoever,” Berry said.
This year’s team is focused on winning as a group,
something that was missing a year ago in the Bruins power-studded
lineup.
“We’re not the offensive power of UCLA’s teams
of years past,” designated hitter Brian Baron said. “We
have true baseball players on this team. We’re more cohesive
and that’s cool.”
Baron has been a major part of the Bruins’ recent success.
He is currently batting .500, and recently went 4-5 against
Pepperdine.
As a team, UCLA is batting .288 and has outscored opponents
99-60. Even with the team’s success, coaches and players are
quick to point out that a slide can happen at any time.
“I think that any opponent that we run into this year,
we’re going to have to play our best, be efficient,”
Adams said.
Junior Josh Karp is scheduled to start Friday’s game,
while seniors Jon Brandt and Bobby Roe will take the hill for the
weekend matchups.