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And just like that, the Bruins' season is pretty much over. Sure, there are still fifteen games to go in the regular season, but UCLA will need a miracle run (and a lot of help) to get back into the post-season picture. After last weekend's miserable sweep at home thanks to Southern Cal, UCLA has little-to-no chance of defending its crown. But, UCLA needs to start winning some games, figure out its bullpen woes, and build some momentum going into the off-season. This afternoon's game against the Gauchos is as good of a place to start as any.
Since it's a mid-week game, Coach Savage will send out normal mid-week starter, freshman right-hander Grant Dyer (6-3, 3.23 ERA) who has put together a solid season at the back-end of the rotation. UCSB has yet to announce their starter for tomorrow, but don't be surprised to see sophomore southpaw Andrew Vasquez (1-0, 2.95 ERA), who pitched the Gauchos' last mid-week game, a 9-5 victory over BYU that saw Vasquez notch the win after six solid innings of work. Surprisingly, Dyer has more wins (6) than any other UCLA pitcher, including James Kaprielian, who has been left hanging by his offense far too often this year.
In case you missed it, you can check out the official website's preview of the game here. First pitch this afternoon is set for 3 p.m. PST in Santa Barbara. If you can't make it up the 101 for the game, you can listen in live to the audio broadcast, being called by John Ramey. Or you can track the game live on the official website's Gametracker.
This is your Tuesday afternoon got-to-stop-the-total-collapse game thread, so fire away in the comment thread with your comments, takes, or what you see/hear as you're tracking, or listening in to the game.
GO BRUINS