Feb. 28, 2013
Wright St. vs. UCLA Game Notes 
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Los Angeles, Calif. -
The 12th-ranked UCLA baseball team will continue their non-conference schedule this weekend, as they return home to face the Wright State Raiders for the first time in program history from Friday, March 1 to Sunday, March 3 at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
Friday, March 1 - 6 p.m.
WSU - Casey Henn, RHP, Sr. (1-1, 1.54)
UCLA - Adam Plutko, RHP, Jr. (1-0, 2.13)
Saturday, March 2 - 2 p.m.
WSU - Taylor Braun, RHP, Jr. (0-1, 3.38)
UCLA - Nick Vander Tuig, RHP, Jr. (1-1, 1.50)
Sunday, March 3 - 1 p.m.
WSU - Robby Sexton, LHP, Fr. (1-1, 2.89)
UCLA - Grant Watson, LHP, So. (1-0, 2.13)
LISTEN LIVE
All three of UCLA's home games this weekend will feature a live audio broadcast online, free of charge, at uclabruins.com. John Ramey and Tim Wilhelm will have the call live from Jackie Robinson Stadium this weekend. Fans can also follow every UCLA Baseball game online through GameTracker, which provides pitch-by-pitch updates on uclabruins.com. Links can be found on the front page of uclabruins.com on the events calendar or on the 2013 UCLA Baseball schedule page.
UCLA VS. WRIGHT STATE
This will be the first all-time meeting between the two schools on the baseball diamond. UCLA has played only one game against an opponent from the Horizon League, defeating Illinois-Chicago, 3-1, at the 2007 NCAA Long Beach Regional. Gavin Brooks pitched a complete game two-hitter in that game, striking out seven batters.
BRUINS DEFEAT UCSB IN MIDWEEK MATCHUP
UCLA earned their 12th consecutive midweek win on Tuesday, defeating the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos by a score of 12-3. Freshman right-hander Cody Poteet picked up the victory in his first collegiate start, going five innings and giving just one earned run on two hits. The Bruin offense total 11 hits in the ballgame, led by a three-hit performance by freshman Trent Chatterton. Chatterton scored three runs and knocked in two others. Fellow freshman Ty Moore followed that up by going 2-3 with two RBI and three runs while junior Brian Carroll went 1-3 with three RBI. Additionally, sophomore Shane Zeile went 1-3 with two runs.
FRIDAY STARTER
Junior right-hander Adam Plutko will make his third start of the season on Friday. Plutko is 1-0 in his first two starts, earning his first win of the year last Friday at Baylor after allowing just one run in six innings of work. He earned a no-decision in the season opener againt Minnesota, striking out six batters and scattering seven hits in 6.2 innings. In his last nine starts dating back to last year, Plutko is 8-0 with a 1.14 ERA, going at least six innings in each of those starts.
TAKING THE HITS
UCLA have had a total of 13 batters get hit by a pitch in their last four games, bringing the season total to a Pac-12 best 22 hit batters through seven games. Sophomores Shane Zeile and Kevin Kramer lead the Bruins with four hit by pitches apiece. Junior Pat Valaika has been hit three times while Brian Carroll, Christoph Bono, Trent Chatterton and Eric Filia have each been hit twice. Pat Gallagher, Brenton Allen and Ty Moore have each been hit once. On Tuesday at UCSB, the Bruins had five batters hit by a pitch, the most since Nebraska hit five UCLA batters back on March 6, 2011. UCLA had a school record 104 batters hit by a pitch back in 2010.
ROUNDING OUT THE ROTATION
Junior right-hander Nick Vander Tuig and sophomore left-hander Grant Watson will round out UCLA's rotation this weekend, starting on Saturday and Sunday respectively. Vander Tuig is off to a good start this season as he enters the weekend with a record of 1-1 in his first two starts. He has a 1.50 ERA in 12.2 innings thus far, striking out eight batters. Like Vander Tuig, Watson is also off to a good start in 2013, entering this weekend with a 1-0 record and a 2.13 ERA in 12.2 innings pitched. He picked up his first win of the season on Feb. 17 after throwing six shutout innings against Minnesota and striking out a career-high eight batters. Watson earned a no-decision last weekend at Baylor after allowing three earned runs in 6.2 innings.
REACHING BASE
Through the first seven games, the Bruins have posted an outstanding team on-base percentage of .421, which is second-best among Pac-12 teams. Infielders Pat Valaika and Kevin Kramer have reached base at least once in all seven games, posting OBP's of .457 and .417 respectivley. Juniors Brian Carroll and Pat Gallagher lead the team with outstanding OBP's of .563 and .538 respectively, while freshman Trent Chatterton has an on-base percentage of .483.
STRONG STARTERS
UCLA's starting rotation of Adam Plutko, Nick Vander Tuig, Grant Watson and Cody Poteet has combined to post a 1.91 ERA in seven starts this season. UCLA's starters have allowed just nine earned runs in 42.1 innings pitched so far, striking out a combined 25 hitters in the early going. As starters, Plutko, Vander Tuig, Watson and Poteet have a record of 4-1 through the first seven games with two no-decisions.
SHUTTING THE DOOR
Freshman closer James Kaprielian earned his first two saves last weekend, closing out both of UCLA's victories over Baylor. In three appearances this season, Kaprielian has struck out seven of the 13 batters he's faced and has allowed just one hit. Kaprielian was drafted in the 40th round of the 2012 MLB Draft by the Seattle Mariners after posting a career record of 33-3 with a 0.96 ERA, 250 strikeouts and 23 complete games at Beckman High School in Irvine, Calif.
HOT BATS
The Bruins have gotten off to a hot start at the plate as four starting position players have posted a batting average of .300 or better through the first seven games. Junior Brian Carroll leads the way with a .462 mark, while also putting up a team-best four multi-hit games. Carroll is especially swinging a hot bat right now, going 10-19 in the last five games with five RBI, four runs and three stolen bases. Junior infielder Pat Gallagher has hit .400 in 20 at-bats as well while infielders Trent Chatterton and Kevin Kramer have hit .375 and .308 respectively. Kramer leads the team with three multi-RBI games. As a team, the Bruins have hit .290 through the first seven games.
