#7 Oregon State (32-8, 12-2) @ #23 UCLA (22-16, 10-7) - 1:00 PM (PDT) - Jackie Robinson Stadium, Los Angeles, CA - 1240 KEJO/860 KPAM/Kpam.com
Oregon State and UCLA meet at 1:00 PM west coast time today to finish the three game series between the Beavers and Bruins. After today's game, the Beavers are off until Tuesday, when they will welcome the Oregon Ducks into Corvallis for a quick mid-week game.
Oregon State comes into tonight's game with a record of 32-8, 12-2 in the Pac-10. The Beavers have good wins against Connecticut, Arizona State (3), Stanford (3), and UCLA (2). Oregon State has other solid victories against Gonzaga (2), Oregon, Long Beach State, and Arizona. The Beavers are also looking for their third Pac-10 series sweep in 4 weeks, having already won the series, as they have done each week of the conference season.
The Beavers are currently on a three game winning streak after defeating Portland on Tuesday and UCLA twice so far this weekend. On Friday night, the Beavers won the series opener in comeback fashion, a 7-5 victory for Oregon State.
The Bruins come into the game with a record of 22-16, 10-7. UCLA's good wins have came against San Francisco (3), Stanford, and UC Irvine. The Bruins are currently on a two game losing streak after dropping back to back games to Oregon State.
In UCLA's last game, the Bruins were no-hit by Oregon State starter Josh Osich, and fell 2-0 to the Beavers. It was the first no-hitter in a Pac-10 game in 17 years. Four Oregon St. pitchers combined to no-hit Hawaii-Hilo in 207, but Osich's masterpiece, in which he gave up just one walk, was the first complete game no-hitter by an Oregon St. pitcher since Fred Gallagher did it against Montana in 1947, and only the fourth Oregon St. no-hitter in history (the other was a combined effort as well.)
The Bruins dropped two of three games last weekend at Stanford, dropping to third place in the Pac-10. After this weekend's series with the Beavers, the Bruins will return to action on Tuesday when they face the Pepperdine Waves on the road.
Oregon State's starter for today's game is TBA, but UCLA will send out Adam Plutko (2-3, 1.69). In Plutko's last start, Adam went 6.1 innings, giving up 1 runs (Un-earned) on 4 hits.
Pat Casey said that either James Nygren (7-1, 2.88) or Ben Wetzler (5-1, 4.01) will get the start for the Beavers.
For Tuesday's game against Oregon, the Beavers will likely go with Nygren, Wetzler, or Scott Schultz (2-0, 3.18).
Last year, UCLA went 51-17. The Bruins went 2-1 against the Beavers in 2010.
This season, UCLA began the season 7-2 before dropping five of their next six games. That stretch dropped the Bruins out of the polls, but they slowly climbed their way back in after big Pac-10 series wins against USC, Washington, Washington State, and Arizona. If the season ended today, UCLA would likely be a 2 Seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The weather is is expected to be great for the duration of the game. The Weather Channel calls for 80° and sunny at 1:00 PM, with the temperature dropping to 79° near the end of the game. For Tuesday's game in Corvallis, the early forecast calls for a high of 63° and partly cloudy.
Go Beavers!