UCLA, Cal State Fullerton baseball coaches know each other well Cal State Fullerton and UCLA meet in the NCAA baseball tournament for the fourth time in seven seasons this weekend, but it will be the first time John Savage of the Bruins and Rick Vanderhook, his former assistant, have faced each other as head coaches in the postseason. The Titans and Bruins begin a best-of-three super-regional series at Goodwin Field on Friday at 4 p.m. The two teams play at 7 p.m. on Saturday and again on Sunday, if a third game is necessary. The winner advances to the College World Series. It's a chance for Vanderhook and Savage to chat, at least when they bring the lineup cards to home plate before the game. "We had a strong relationship and we worked well together," Savage said. We fed off each other. He is one of the best offensive minds out there. What I do is pitching. But he helped me with what he saw in pitchers. Vanderhook learned as well. "John works harder at recruiting than anybody I have ever worked for," Vanderhook said. When you work that hard as a head coach, you're going to have success. The mutual admiration gets put on hold Friday. Vanderhook's intense personality has produced an 87-29 record in two seasons as Fullerton's coach, 51-8 this season. The Titans are ranked third by Baseball America. UCLA, 42-17, is ranked 10th. "I knew it would take Fullerton players a year to learn him," Savage said. Those guys have been around him a year. They react much better to him. They know what to expect and how to work together. UCLA and Fullerton have split four regular-season games since Vanderhook became the Titans' coach. Fullerton won both games this season. The Titans eliminated the Bruins from the tournament in 2007 and 2008. The Bruins defeated the Titans in a 2010 super-regional. Pitch men Fullerton might have the best 1-2 pitching punch in college baseball. Justin Garza is 12-0 with a 1.92 earned-run average. Thomas Eshelman is 12-2 with a 1.59 ERA. Both are freshmen. UCLA has one of the best bullpens in college baseball. James Kaprielian (0-0, 1.46 ERA, two saves) and Zack Weiss (2-1, 2.37 ERA) set up closer David Berg (6-0, 0.81 ERA, 20 saves). Streaking UCLA starter Adam Plutko has won all five of his postseason starts in three seasons at UCLA with an 0.97 ERA. The NCAA does not keep statistics for consecutive postseason victories. Oregon State's Jonah Nickerson is believed to be the last pitcher to win five consecutive starts. All came during the 2006 season.