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The UCLA Bruins baseball team (47-8, 24-5 Pac-12) barely held off the hard charging Oregon Ducks (27-29, 10-19 Pac-12) last night at PK Park in Eugene. The Bruins edged the Ducks by the score of 6-5.
The Bruins, now winners of ten straight games, meet the Ducks for the season finale today at 4 pm PT. UCLA seeks the sweep while the Ducks, who have played competitively this series, seek to salvage a win in what will be the final game of the season for them. The game will be televised on Pac-12 Networks National, Los Angeles, and Oregon.
In yesterday’s tilt, UCLA batted around and collected six of their eight total hits in the top of the third inning. The Bruins scored all of their runs in that third inning, but then the Ducks kept chipping away and, in the bottom of the eighth inning, Oregon had the bases loaded with the go-ahead run on second with only one out. But UCLA closer Holden Powell struck out the last two batters of the eighth to end the threat and, then, struck out all three batters he faced in the ninth to end the game.
With the series win, UCLA has not lost a weekend series in the 2019 regular season, a first for the Bruin program. No other college baseball team has won all of its series this season.
Now that the Bruins are Pac-12 Champs, care of Thursday night’s 4-2 win, and have won the series against the Ducks, the remaining intrigue is who will receive the top ranking come selection Monday. It will be either UCLA or Vanderbilt.
The Bruins lead in RPI today, but that could change as Vandy is in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament today, and may be playing for the tournament championship tomorrow. As of today, d1Baseball.com projects UCLA as the #1 seed, but Baseball America gives the nod to the Commodores. A UCLA win today coupled with a Vandy loss could result in UCLA being selected as the top seed.
At the time of writing, neither squad has named its starting pitcher for today’s match-up.
This is your UCLA Bruins versus Oregon Ducks baseball game three open thread.
Go Bruins!