Bruins Looking To Even Things Up Game Thread

Last night didn't go as planned for the Bruins, but a series is made up of three games so in no way are things lost just yet. Today, UCLA will get the chance to even up the series and send it to a scintillating Sunday with the whole series on the line. Before they can think about Sunday drama, though, they need to find a way to get today's contest. The UCLA offense was shut down by ASU starter Seth Blair last night and that's not unusual versus Friday night pitchers, but they need to find some more runs today and they will need a stronger performance from their bullpen.

UCLA's Trevor Bauer, who is 6-2 with a 2.57 ERA, holds a distinct advantage over Arizona St.'s Merrill Kelly, who has a 3.75 ERA, but he is a perfect 8-0. Bauer is third in the Pac-10 in strikeouts per nine innings and was solid, even if he wasn't spectacular, last year versus ASU when he threw a complete game and allowed four runs in the Bruins' only win of the series. Kelly is a JC transfer so he has not pitched against UCLA in the past, but his low strikeout to walk ratio (not quite 2:1) makes him a favorable match-up for the home team.

All of this plays out beginning tonight at 2 pm PDT. The game, at UCLA's Jackie Robinson Stadium, should see a capacity crowd pack the place even with its recently expanded capacity. For those of you unable to make it out to the stadium and pack the stadium blue, you can follow along with GameTracker or listen in with John Ramey on the audio call. You can also get updates on my UCLA baseball twitter, where I'll also have all the links from around the country on the games and any significant statistics all weekend. This is your game thread so fill it with updates, thoughts, analysis and anything else. Play ball.