Bruin Bats Go Silent vs. Vandy 6-0, TCU Up Next Tonight

The Bruins did not start the weekend the way they were hoping to as Vanderbilt shut out UCLA 6-0 Friday night.

The credit for that has to go to Vanderbilt's Carson Fulmer who held the Bruin to 3 hits, their only hits of the game, over 6-1/3 innings while striking out 9 and earning the win. Meanwhile, Bruins' pitcher James Kaprielian got roughed up for 4 runs on 8 hits over 5-1/3 innings and took the loss.

Dansby Swanson drove in the first run of the game in the first and that turned out to be the game winner even though the Commodores would eventually add on 5 more runs.

Meanwhile, across town, it took 12 innings for Southern Cal to defeat TCU 7-6. Just$c led the Horned Frogs 5-2 after six innings, but a 4-run ninth inning rally tied the game and sent it into extra innings. Blake Lacey's squeeze bunt in the bottom of the 12th scored Timmy Robinson to give the Trogans the victory.

Tonight, the Bruins and the Horned Frogs will both be looking for a big win. UCLA will send lefty Grant Watson (2-0, 1.42 ERA) to the hill while TCU will probably have either Preston Morrison (2-0, 0.00 ERA), Alex Young (2-0, 1.38 ERA) or Tyler Alexander (0-1, 5.40 ERA) on the mound. Personally, if I had to guess, I'd say they'll go with Alex Young and hold Morrison back for tomorrow's game against Vanderbilt.

On paper, Watson seems like a good choice to face off against a TCU team which has a lot of lefty batters. But, games aren't played on paper. He will have to shut down a team that is currently ranked #7 in the country and going into this weekend is batting .286 with 4 home runs and 48 runs batted in. The fact that the Horned Frogs are only slugging .369 should be in the Bruins favor despite the fact that they put up 13 hits last night against Southern Cal.

Unfortunately, like last night, tonight's game is not televised. So, if you're in the neighborhood, head out to JRS for what should be a beautiful night for baseball. If you're not able to, you can listen live for free on UCLABruins.com where John Ramey and Tim Wilhelm will have the call.

Tomorrow, the Bruins face the Trogans of Southern Cal in a non-conference game at 3:30pm at Dodger Stadium in the second game of a four-team doubleheader. Vanderbilt and TCU will square off in the first game starting at 11:45am. Tickets for Sunday's game are $10 for adults, $5 for students and $5 for kids 14 and under at CTO or Dodger Stadium on Sunday.

This is your TCU-UCLA open thread. Come back tomorrow for a  U$C-UCLA preview and a recap of tonight's game.

GO BRUINS!