After clinching a series win in the Bay Area over the weekend, the Bruins are headed home for their longest homestand before the end of the regular season.
No. 13 UCLA baseball (27-12, 11-7 Pac-12) will host UC Irvine (22-15, 9-6 Big West) on Tuesday night in a matchup at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Following the midweek contest, the Bruins will stay home for three more games Friday through Sunday before hitting the road in May.
“Irvine is a premier West Coast program,” said coach John Savage. “We know that they’re going to be very competitive.”
On the bump for UCLA will be redshirt sophomore right-hander Kelly Austin, who has started five of the Bruins’ midweek contests this season. In each of those starts, he has not thrown more than 3.1 innings.
“I just like how aggressive he (Austin) is,” said freshman left-hander Gage Jump, who threw 4.2 innings for the Bruins on Sunday. “He doesn’t care who is hitting, he just attacks the zone and throws a lot of strikes. That’s the guy we want on Tuesday, for sure.”
Austin is projected to face Anteater right-hander David Vizcaino, who has made four appearances this season, coming out of the bullpen three times.
Tuesday will mark the first time the Bruins and the Anteaters face one another in the 2022 season. UCLA faced Irvine in a three-game, split-venue series last season, which saw the Bruins take two out of three games and drop the Saturday contest at Anteater Ballpark.
UCLA is hitting .274 in its midweek matchups this season. The Bruins are led by sophomore infielder Kyle Karros, who posts a 1.100 OPS, sophomore infielder Daylen Reyes hitting .409, and junior outfielder Michael Curialle, who leads the team with 11 midweek RBIs.
Irvine, on the other hand, has dropped one of its seven midweek contests so far this season, losing to San Diego by one run in extra innings March 22. In its Tuesday games, Irvine has taken down San Diego State, Arizona State, Cal State Fullerton and Loyola Marymount.
Irvine is fresh off a series loss to Kansas State, dropping two out of three games over the weekend.
UCLA has won seven midweek contests in a row, dating back to its win over Long Beach State on March 1.
“It all starts with our Monday practice,” said freshman infielder Cody Schrier. “Just keep playing our baseball – working pitch by pitch, we’ll be just fine.”
First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
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