No. 10 UCLA (27-7, 11-3)defeats Washington (18-18, 9-5) 7-3 in a Saturday afternoon match at Jackie Robinson Stadium. After dropping the first game to Washington on Friday, the Bruins evened out the series with the victory. UCLA hopes to win the conference series with Game 3 on Sunday.
UCLA’s starting pitcher for Saturday, junior Michael Barnett, helped set the stage for success, picking up his league-best seventh win. Barnett has yet to record a loss. The right-handed pitcher threw a total of five innings, in which he only picked up two earned runs and recorded three strikeouts.
The Bruins offense was overall very productive, the lineup amassing a total of 11 hits. Among them was sophomore outfielder Dean West, who went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, two walks and two runs scored. With singles in the fourth and sixth innings, the leadoff hitter extends his hitting streak to an impressive 10 games.
Sophomore shortstop Roch Cholowsky also picked up two hits, one being the only home run of the game in the fourth inning. Cholowsky’s homer put up two runs for the Bruins, allowing them to take the lead from the fourth inning onward. While the shortstop picked up two RBIs from the homer, he was responsible for stranding five on base, half of the Bruins’ 10 left on base.
Sophomore first baseman Mulivai Levu, sophomore third baseman Roman Martin and junior outfielder Jarrod Hocking all put up two hits apiece against Washington. Martin picked up one RBI with a single in the sixth inning, extending the Bruins’ lead to four runs. Redshirt senior center fielder AJ Salgado is credited with the final RBIc hitting a sacrifice fly in the sixth to send Cholowsky to home plate.
Washington put up just three runs, two of which came from the solo homers of senior first baseman Casen Taggart in the fifth inning and junior shortstop Sam DeCarlo in the eighth inning. Washington’s senior outfielder Malakhi Knight nearly hit one out of the park in the eighth inning, but Salgado made a stellar defensive play to rob Knight and the Huskies of an additional run.
Freshman right-handed pitcher Easton Hawk closed out the game for UCLA with a scoreless ninth, with a 6-4-3 double play to end the game and clinch the win for the Bruins.
The Bruins play their final game against the Huskies this weekend in the series finale Sunday, April 13, 1 p.m. at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
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Featured Image Photographed by Luana Caravalho/BruinLife
