| Baseball |
|---|
| UCLA — 19 |
| Ohio State — 6 |
On Saturday, the No. 1 UCLA Bruins baseball team (12-2, 2-0 Big Ten) slugged their way to victory against the Ohio State Buckeyes (5-8, 0-2 Big Ten) at Bill Davis Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.
The Bruin’s offense was stellar once again, scoring a staggering 19 runs, with a pair of home runs by junior first baseman Mulivai Levu and junior left fielder Dean West. They also performed extremely well with runners in scoring position, especially seen by the first four innings of the game.
The lineup absolutely dominated the Buckeyes’ starter Chris Domke, getting eight hits, three walks and scoring nine runs. Domke would get taken out in the second inning, being unable to handle the wrath of the Bruins’ offense.
The pitching, however, struggled at the beginning. Senior starting pitcher Michael Barnett took the ball for the Bruins with a final stat of 2.2 innings pitched, four earned runs, six hits and four strikeouts. After Barnett was taken out of the came, freshman right-handed pitcher Angel Cervantes and sophomore right-handed pitcher Wylan Moss held down the fort, not allowing a single run for the rest of the game.
Especially dominant was Moss, who pitched five innings with one hit, zero walks and eight strikeouts, absolutely carving through and decimating the Buckeyes’ lineup. Moss had almost impeccable command of his pitches, especially seen by his ability to land pitches within the zone and not allowing a single Buckeyes hitter to draw a walk off of him.
The Bruins struck first during the first inning, with West leading off the inning with a single up the middle, followed by a two-out rally that scored the Bruins three runs. Redshirt junior right fielder Payton Brennan hit a double to drive in junior third baseman Roman Martin and Levu and junior center fielder Will Gasparino hit an RBI single to bring home Brennan.
Despite taking a 3-0 lead in the first, the Buckeyes were able to score runs of their own in the bottom of the first, with a home run by the Buckeyes’ Mason Eckelman, who hit a home run to right field off of Barnett.
The second inning started off in a similar situation—two outs and few chances to score. But the Bruins managed to pull through anyway. Yet again, with two outs in the inning, the Bruins started a rally to score three runs. West reached base on a fielder’s choice, junior shortstop Roch Cholowsky drew a walk to put two runners on, setting up an opportunity for Levu to score.
On a full count, Levu gave the Bruins their first home run of the game, hitting a towering home run to center field to drive in Cholowsky and West to cap off yet another three-run inning for the Bruins.
The first and second innings were especially demonstrative of just how powerful this year’s Bruins baseball team really is. They have consistently shown the ability to hit in high-pressure situations, especially recently with runners in scoring position or scoring with two outs.
The rest of the game was an absolute breeze for the Bruins. The Bruins carried the momentum that they built from the first two innings into the rest of the game, scoring four runs in the third with a RBI double by freshman second base Aidan Aguayo, followed by a three-run home run by West to right center field.
Although the fourth inning only had one run scored by the Bruins, something very odd happened—Martin was able to score on a bases-loaded balk by Buckeyes’ pitcher Lincoln McVicker. Balks are relatively uncommon in baseball.
When it seemed like the Bruins would slow down between the fourth and the seventh innings, the Bruins had one of the most ridiculous rallies that you’ll ever see on a baseball diamond during the eighth inning.
The Bruins scored a total of six runs in the eighth, scoring four of them off of walks. After the Bruins loaded the bases, West, Levu, Martin and Brennan all drew walks off of Buckeyes’ pitcher Zach Weber to score four runs and extend the Bruins’ lead to 11. The Bruins then capped off the inning with a two-RBI single by Gasparino to drive in Marin and Levu.
The Bruins’ lead was large enough to trigger a mercy rule victory against Ohio State, further cementing UCLA’s dominance in the NCAA.
UCLA will look to sweep Ohio State on March 8 at 10 a.m PST as they conclude the three-game series.
