UCLA Baseball Hosts Pepperdine

The UCLA Bruins baseball team (33-11; 16-5 PAC 12) closes out its home, non-conference schedule this evening at Jackie Robinson Stadium, against the Pepperdine Waves (24-21; 14-7 WCC). The Bruins come into the game having slipped a few spots in the national rankings, but all collegiate ranking services still have the Bruins in the top five. UCLA also leads the PAC 12 Conference. The Waves are in second place in the West Coast Conference (the same conference as Gonzaga, with whom UCLA had a tough time this past weekend).

UCLA is coming off a tougher-than-expected series win at home against the Gonzaga Bulldogs, and Pepperdine is coming off a series win on the road at the University of San Francisco. Both teams prevailed in game one of their respective series, lost game two, and won game three by one run. So both teams are coming off similar weekends with respect to momentum.

This will be the second and final regular season meeting between UCLA and Pepperdine. On March 10, 2015, the Bruins topped the Waves in Malibu, by a score of 5-3.

The Waves are hitting .267 as a team, and are led by Hutton Moyer (.276, 10 HR, 30 RBI), Jordan Osar (.313, 2 HR, 18 RBI), and Matt Gelalich (.297, 1 HR, 13 RBI). If the name Gelalich sounds familiar, it is. Matt’s brother, Jeff played in the outfield for the Bruins from 2010 to 2012. Pepperdine has a 3.73 team ERA. UCLA has better team numbers than Pepperdine with respect to both batting average and ERA.

Freshman left-handed pitcher, Nick Wojtysiak (0-0) will get the start for the Waves. Wojtysiak has pitched one inning this season, in which he gave up 2 hits, 2 walks, and 2 runs, for an 18.00 ERA. The Bruins will look to feast on his inexperience, and will try to score early and often. UCLA will send junior right-hander, Cody Poteet (3-1; 2.47 ERA), to the mound. Hopefully, Poteet’s experience will carry the day against Pepperdine.

First pitch is at 6:00 p.m. PT. The game is not televised. John Ramey and Tim Wilhelm will have the call via online streaming audio. You can also follow via live stats.

This is your UCLA vs. Pepperdine Open Thread. Go Bruins!