UCLA is on the cusp of entering all-time territory with the 27-game winning streak it carried into the week.
With their sweep at Rutgers, the Bruins matched 2015 Illinois for most consecutive wins in Big Ten history. A nonconference win against UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday would give UCLA the longest streak in the nation since Fairfield won 28 in a row in 2021 and longest among power-conference schools since Texas reeled off 33 straight in 1982.
The Bruins players are just going about their business and not making a big deal of the streak, coach John Savage said Monday.
“We don’t talk about it,” Savage said. “Are they talking about it in their hotel rooms? Maybe. Are we talking about it as a group? Zero. It’s not a goal, it’s not the ultimate. We talk about keeping the circle small and making sure you’re completely focused on the right tasks and making sure you’re doing things right. Not perfect, by no means. That’s why when people talk about the streak, they think it’s going to continue. But it’s baseball, and we understand that. Our view is so much larger than this.”
UC Santa Barbara is playing some of its best ball of the season entering Tuesday’s game in Los Angeles. The Gauchos (22-11) have won six of their last seven and their 2.95 team ERA leads the nation, just ahead of UCLA’s 3.07.
“They’re very good,” Savage said, “and they’re going to give us everything we can handle.”
The Bruins’ next Big Ten series is at home against Minnesota, which is tied for 12th. UCLA (33-2, 18-0) hasn’t lost since an 8-7 defeat against San Diego State on Feb. 24.
Will Gasparino, Mulivai Levu and Roch Cholowsky have combined for 37 homers to lead an offense that’s batting .311 and averaging 9.2 runs per game. The Bruins’ .982 fielding percentage is 13th in the nation.
“These guys, for as good a offensive players they are, they’re just as good or maybe better defensive players,” Savage said. “I think that’s kind of the unwritten theme about this group, how good they are defensively.”
In the polls
UCLA, Georgia Tech (30-5) and North Carolina (30-6-1) are the top three teams in the D1Baseball.com and Baseball America rankings.
Georgia Tech moved up a spot after sweeping Florida State at home and North Carolina won two of three against Clemson to earn its highest ranking of the season. The Tar Heels host Georgia Tech for three games this weekend.
Texas, previously No. 2 in both polls and now No. 4, lost two at Texas A&M, with the third game canceled because of inclement weather.
SEC race tightening
Seven teams are within three games of first-place Georgia in the Southeastern Conference after Florida won two of three against the Bulldogs.
The Gators won a second road series in three weeks against a top-five opponent. Their 13-7 victory Sunday came after they used four homers and nine other hits to score all of their runs in the first four innings.
Georgia, at 11-4 in the SEC, is up 1 1/2 games on Texas and Texas A&M, two games on Florida and three games on Alabama, Mississippi, Auburn and Arkansas.
Up-and-down Vols on upswing
Tennessee’s up-and-down first season under Josh Elander appears to be on the rise for now.
A week after the Volunteers lost a series at home to LSU, they took three at a top-10 Mississippi State for their first SEC sweep in over a year. Tennessee, which has won 11 straight against the Bulldogs, had gone into the weekend 1-5 on the road.
Cleanup spot
Kansas entered the rankings, as high as No. 18, after beating Nebraska on the road last Tuesday and sweeping UCF. The Jayhawks have won 10 straight, their longest streak in more than 20 years. … Mississippi collected 32 hits, its most in a three-game SEC series this season, while posting its first sweep of LSU since 2022. Sunday’s 8-7 win came with some drama. The Rebels squandered a 7-0 lead in the sixth inning before scoring the winning run in the seventh on Brayden Randle’s base hit. … Angel Laya set the Oregon freshman record for home runs in a season when he hit his 10th and 11th in a 5-4 win over Nebraska on Sunday.
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