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Gary Adams faces USC for the last time this weekend.

It does not get any bigger than this.

This weekend’s baseball series between UCLA (23-18, 6-6 Pac-10) and USC (20-22, 6-6) at Jackie Robinson Stadium is not your typical rivalry series. For both teams, it is much more important than that.

With the balance in the Pac-10, a loss in this series for either team could spell an end to its hopes of making it to the NCAA regionals.

“This is huge,” Saturday’s starting pitcher Bryan Beck said. “Last year we got swept by ’SC, and it ruined our season.”

This series also marks the last time that UCLA coach Gary Adams faces the Trojans, as he is retiring at the season’s end after 30 years at the helm.

But Adams is not overplaying the significance of this event.

“It doesn’t add anything to this series,” he said. “Playing against USC any year at any time is special.”

Adams holds the Trojans in high regard, and believes that this match-up will be tough for the Bruins.

“They have some dangerous hitters in (Joey) Metropoulos and (Jeff) Clement,” Adams said. “It’s not often when you have two preseason All-Americans in the same lineup.”

Adams also is wary of USC’s No. 1 pitcher, freshman Ian Kennedy, who will start on Friday.

“It doesn’t matter whether he is a freshman or a senior; he is an excellent pitcher,” Adams said.

Adams believes the one weakness for the Trojans is their defense. USC is last in the Pac-10 with 70 errors, and the Bruin coach hopes that his team will put pressure on the shaky Trojan defense.

“We are going to put the ball in play. We can’t strike out against this team,” Adams said. “When we lost to them last month, we struck out way too much.”

USC beat UCLA two out of three games five weeks ago at USC’s Dedeaux Field. The Trojans won the first two games of the series, 11-4 and 5-0, but the Bruins were able to avoid a sweep by winning the final game 13-7.

For a UCLA team that has not been to the NCAA regionals since 2000, pressure could be a factor, especially since the Trojans swept UCLA last year to knock the Bruins out of playoff contention.

“USC has always had our number in the past, but I truly believe this team will overcome that,” Friday’s starting pitcher Casey Janssen said.

“There’s a lot of pressure, and you try to throw that aside no matter (who) the opponent (is). But there’s always added anger with ’SC.”

Adams believes that if this team is good enough to make the NCAA regionals, that pressure will not matter.

“If this is a playoff-caliber team, they will respond to the pressure,” he said. “They will have to be tough, and I think they will step up to the challenge.”