Bumped. GO BRUINS. - N

Tonight (8 pm PT, ESPNU), UCLA and Cal St. Fullerton will take to Goodwin Field with the regional championship on the line. The winner will advance to next weekend's Super Regionals and the loser's season will be over. In a do or die game like this teams will throw everything they have at each other. This is most evident on the mound where every single pitcher is at the head coach's disposal. No pitcher will be given much leeway and will be on a short leash. Each team could use 5, 6 or 7 pitchers tonight as they hope to get a few innings out of each guy.

The Bruin pitching staff is in far better shape than the Fullerton staff. UCLA's best arm out of the bullpen, Brendan Lafferty, has yet to pitch this weekend and their next best bullpen arm, Jason Novak, didn't throw yesterday. Fullerton's top two relievers, Adam Jorgenson and Michael Morrison pitched 2.1 innings yesterday and would be weary if used today.

For UCLA:

I talked to Coach Savage last night and he said the two guys most likely to get the start are Garett Claypool and Rob Rasmussen. Claypool has been inconsistent this season, but Savage likes the way he competes and he has postseason experience. Ramussen, as a freshman, doesn't have any postseason experience, but Savage really likes him and has thrown him in some pressure filled situations already. The wildcard here is Tim Murphy, who we almost certainly will see tonight. In college baseball it's not unusual to see aces make an appearance in a deciding game and Murphy has shown a rubber arm all year. I think we'll see him out of the bullpen, but a start would not surprise me.

My guess is we'll see Claypool get the start. They'll hope he can make it 4 innings and turn it over to Brendan Lafferty, who would go 2 or 3. Then Murphy would come in and finish it. That's in a perfect world so we could see Jason Novak for an inning or two or Rasmussen in relief, especially if Claypool runs into early trouble.

For Cal St. Fullerton:

Fullerton's pitching staff is battered so their situation is tough to figure out. They could go with the freshman lefty Kevin Rath, who has pitched against the Bruins twice this year. On March 5, Rath came out of the pen and gave up one run in 1/3 of an inning. On May 20, he got the start and made it two innings, allowing two runs. For the year, Rath was 1-0 with a 6.48 ERA. Rath hasn't pitched in the regionals so he'll have a fresh arm, but he could also have a butterfly stomach.

The Titans could also go with another freshman left in Jason Dovel. The Bruins have seen Dovel too, as he pitched against them three times. On March 4, Dovel finished off a Titan blowout win by pitching two scoreless innings. On May 20, he went 2/3 of an inning without giving up a run. Dovel pitched two nights ago versus the Bruins in mop up duty with the Bruins well ahead and didn't allow a run in 1.2 innings. Dovel went 3-3 with a 5.15 ERA on the year.

Another arm you could see as the starter or out of the bullpen is righty Ryan Ackland (1-1, 2.10). Jorgenson and Morrison are going to be available in a game with such high stakes, but their effectiveness after throwing yesterday is in question. Brian Wilson could be used in relief as well. Wilson, a righty, got the start on Friday versus Rider and threw a complete game shutout. It was Wilson's first start of the season, but in relief he put together a 3.86 ERA.