One down, one up. UCLA dropped the first game of the season, but bounced back yesterday to even their series with Portland at a game apiece. Now they have the rubber match -- a chance to get through the season's first weekend with the necessary series win.
Cody Poteet will take the ball for the Bruins as he makes the move to the weekend rotation. The sophomore went 4-6 with a 4.84 ERA last season, working mainly as the Tuesday starter. He had an up-and-down season as a freshman, turning in some outstanding performances and some terrible ones. The key this season will be finding some consistency, something the Bruins think they can get from him after he had a fantastic offseason.
Portland will counter with Kurt Yinger, who went 4-6 as well in 2013 with a 4.15 ERA. The Bruins' offense came to life last season and UCLA will need them again today to build confidence for a growing group as much as to help pick up the series win.
The game starts at 1 p.m. PT and, as always, you can listen along with John Ramey and Tim Wilhelm. You can also follow along on my UCLA baseball Twitter and on Gamecast. This is your open thread so fill it with updates, thoughts and whatever else you have as UCLA tries to nab the opening series of the season.