Coaches, as John Savage explained recently, want a little bit of adversity. The 50-year-old is no exception. Currently in charge of what could be the best team in his 11 years at UCLA, the last thing he needs is for wins to come too easily, for the Bruins to start coasting.

But he also needs his team to bounce back from any stumbles — and at this time of the year, to bounce back quickly. He got that on Friday night.

Opening the NCAA Regional as the No. 1 overall seed, UCLA gave up an early one-run lead to Cal State Bakersfield. The Bruins then scored for six straight innings, methodically building a 7-2 victory at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

UCLA (43-14) strung together 10 hits, only one of which went for extra bases. Still, their total doubled that of the visiting Roadrunners. Five different players had at least one RBI, with Luke Persico and Christoph Bono knocking in two apiece. Shortstop Kevin Kramer batted 3 for 5, and was the first runner to cross home plate for the Bruins.

That type of steady run support gave UCLA’s pitching staff plenty of breathing room. Starting pitcher James Kaprielian, two weeks removed from a no-hitter, gave up two earned runs and struck out six through seven innings. Grant Dyer retired the side in order in the eighth, and by the time star closer David Berg took the mound in the ninth, the game was all but over.

The two-time Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year needed just 14 pitches to finish the game on three strikeouts.

The Bruins will play again at 8 p.m. on Saturday night against Maryland, the third-seeded team in the regional. The Terrapins beat Ole Miss, 3-1, earlier on Friday.