The No. 1 UCLA Bruins (6-2, 0-0 Big Ten) struggled against the SDSU Aztecs (5-3, 0-0 Mountain West) with a 4-3 loss at Jackie Robinson Stadium on Tuesday night. The previously dominant offense that saw a 15-5 win over TCU struggled to find its footing, specifically having trouble against Aztecs starter Alec Belardes, who pitched into the sixth inning and only gave up one run during the bottom of the first inning by using his fastball and curveball with significant movement.
The Bruins started off strong throughout the first two innings. Freshman right-handed starting pitcher Angel Cervantes did not allow a run within that timeframe, and UCLA was the first to strike on an RBI groundout by junior first baseman Mulivai Levu.
However, after that moment, the Bruins’ bats were unable to drive in the runners in scoring position, and the pitching staff was unable to conquer the dominant bats of the Aztecs. The Aztecs scored one run every inning from the third inning until the sixth inning, with three being solo home runs. Three runs (one unearned) were scored against freshman pitcher Zach Strickland, while one was scored against Cervantes.
UCLA head coach John Savage, when asked about the home runs that were given up in a postgame interview, said that “when you give up home runs, they’re usually mistakes. The changeup to [Anthony Marnell, SDSU] was supposed to be off the plate. It was centered, home run. The home run to [Tyce Peterson, SDSU] was supposed to be a four spot [referring to a four spot hitter] turned into a three spot, home run.”
The Aztecs also took advantage of a defensive mistake by the Bruins. Junior third baseman Roman Martin picked up an overthrown ground ball to third and attempted to throw it to second base, but he instead threw it right over the head of freshman second baseman Aiden Aguayo.
Coach Savage elaborated on the defensive mishaps throughout the game in a postgame interview, saying that despite their mistakes, he still has faith in the Bruins’ defense: “Obviously the defense is still good, but, you know, they didn’t have a good night tonight.”
While the Aztecs managed an offensive surge, the Bruins had yet to score another run. Luckily, the Bruins were able to start a rally during the bottom of the sixth inning, with junior shortstop Roch Cholowsky drawing a walk off of Belardes, followed by Martin hitting a double off the center field wall to drive in Cholowsky.
Later in the inning, Aguayo hit an RBI groundout to drive in Martin and advance redshirt junior right fielder Payton Brennan to second base, making the score 3-4 and putting the Bruins within one.
The rest of the game saw little offensive action. During the bottom of the eighth inning, Martin made great contact off a pitch from SDSU pitcher Aidan Russell, but SDSU left fielder Adam Magpoc robbed him of the home run by catching the ball at the wall.
Despite UCLA’s loss, Savage is hopeful that the Bruins will continue to play well, especially with their upcoming matchups: “We know we have a good team. We’ve been playing well, clearly … I think it’s a good learning moment for our guys.”
The Bruins look to put this loss behind them as they face the University of Tennessee Volunteers on Friday, Feb. 27 at 1 p.m. PST in Arlington, Texas.
