Baseball looks to extend win streak at home
No. 1 UCLA visits, Cougs seek upset opportunity
May 8, 2019
WSU’s baseball team will face off against No. 1 UCLA this weekend starting at 5:05 p.m. Friday at Bailey-Brayton Field.
The Cougars (10-33-1, 2-18-1) will look to extend their two-game win streak against the Bruins (38-8, 16-5).
To get a win, Head Coach Marty Lees said the team needs to score more than two runs along with taking advantage of scoring opportunities and not making errors.
“We’ve got to play very good baseball to beat a very good team,” Lees said.
The Cougars will also need some of their key freshmen players infielder Kyle Manzardo, outfielder and left-handed pitcher Tyson Guerrero, and right-handed pitcher Brandon White to play well to get a win.
WSU defeated the University of Washington 13-2 to prevent getting swept and ended a six-game losing streak last weekend in Pullman. The Cougars beat Gonzaga 9-5 on Monday night in Spokane.
Lees said they haven’t played great baseball consistently during the season, but the team found some consistency in the last two games.
The Bruins were on the road last weekend at Arizona State. They won the series but did not sweep the Sun Devils. UCLA defeated Long Beach State 2-1 in 12 innings Tuesday.
Two weekends ago, the Cougars were swept by then-No. 2 Oregon State in Corvallis, Oregon. After falling 18-4 in game one, the Cougars lost on Saturday 4-3 after playing 16 innings. WSU lost 2-0 Sunday.
Lees said during those last two games the team pitched well and made adjustments.
First pitch Friday is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. Friday and Sunday’s games can be viewed on Pac-12 Plus Live Stream. Saturday’s game can be viewed on WSU Live Stream starting at 2:05 p.m. Sunday’s game starts at 12:05 p.m.