Let's start with the Tuesday round up with some baseball news. If you have been keeping up with rye's incredible blogging effort this season, you'd know that there is not a lot of hope left for our baseball team to make the post season. They currently have a record of 26-26 with four game left on road against top-5 teams (UCI and ASU). They will have to go 4-0 to get a consideration for the post season.
Right now I just don't see it happening. Nevertheless the Bruins will give it a shot tonight when they go up against No. 1 ranked UCI (Anteaters are ranked no. 1, the Anteaters? WTF?). The official site predictably has some encouraging/feel good notes:
- The Bruins have gone 14-10 in Pac-10 play and currently reside in third place in the conference standings.
- UCLA has won 13 of its last 20 games, including three wins against top-20 ranked competition.
- UCLA has played the most challenging schedule in the nation with four games left against top-3 teams.
- Freshman right-hander Trevor Bauer leads UCLA with eight wins and three complete games in 96.1 innings.
- UCLA's pitching staff leads the conference in strikeouts (482) and ranks fourth in team ERA (4.27).
- Senior first baseman Cody Decker has logged team-highs with 19 homers, 49 RBI and 51 runs in 52 games.
- Juniors Casey Haerther (9 HR, 40 RBI) and Blair Dunlap (6 HR, 17 2B, 36 RBI) have bolstered the offense.
Also since opening the season 2-10, Bruins have bounced back with a 24-16 record in its last 40 games. They could have had more realistic shot at getting into the post season if they hadn't choked against Stanford and UCB. Anyway, the season is not officiall over yet. We will see how they respond in these remaining games against some great teams.
Moving on to football notes since we are in the off-season we have news on more camps by former Bruin greats. Marcedes Lewis is hosting a youth football camp on June 20 in his old stomping ground over at Long Beach:
Tight end Marcedes Lewis, who earned All-America honors at UCLA in 2005 and is currently playing with the Jacksonville Jaguars of the NFL, is hosting his first annual FREE football youth camp on June 20.
The camp, for boys ages 9-17, will be held on the campus of Long Beach State University. Registration will be held near the track and field complex between 8:30 a.m. and 9:15 a.m. on June 20 and the camp will last until 1:30 p.m. Campers will receive instruction, lunch and a T-shirt. Supplies on the t-shirts are limited, so campers are encouraged to show up early.
More details including contact information for those who are interested in participating in it over here. Always, good to see Bruin alums strengthening the ties of the program and giving back to the community.
Also, on a football related note there will be a celebration for the life of former UCLA assistant coach Frank Gansz on June 5th at Alumni Hall on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. Again for those who didn't know Coach Gansz was an assistant coach at UCLA under Donahue in 1976 and 1977 before moving to the NFL and his son - Frank Jr. - is currently on the UCLA coaching staff. More details of that event is available on the official site as well.
Lastly, asad09's post on Rick Neuehisel's visit to NYC has generated a lot of reaction around the internets. Specifically the news on the possible matchup with Rutgers have the Scalet Knights' fans all fired up [See posts on ScarletNation.com and StateofRutgers.com]. They are ready to make it happen.
I like the idea of it and it definitely sounds good to all of us who are in the East Coast. However, I'd really like a matchup with Boston College. I think a Fall weekend trip to Beantown for a UCLA football game would be awesome. Chestnut Hill is a great place to watch a game and we can write post after posts on all the fun things to do in Beantown. So while here is a thumbs up for Rutgers here is an early push for UCLA-BC series in coming years. I will probably write more on that topic later.
GO BRUINS.