The opening inning at Great Park in Irvine was quiet, with both teams failing to score as starting pitchers set the tone early. However, things quickly took a turn in the second inning, as USC’s offense came alive, plating three runs and scoring while UCLA scored nothing.
The third inning was another scoreless frame, but USC picked up the momentum again in the fourth, tacking on two more runs to extend their lead to 5-0. UCLA struggled to get runners on base and couldn’t find an answer for USC’s pitching through the first half of the game.
USC added yet another run in the fifth, making it 6-0 and further dampening UCLA’s hopes. The Bruins’ offense remained stagnant, unable to generate much contact, let alone rally. The sixth inning passed without any scoring, and it seemed as though USC had the game well in hand.
In the seventh inning, USC padded their lead with a seventh run, putting the Trojans up 7-0. At this point, UCLA looked deflated and in danger of being completely shut out in a rivalry game. But in the eighth inning, the Bruins finally found some life. The cheering began when UCLA’s Roman Martin launched a home run over the fence, bringing teammates Mulivai Levu, Roch Cholowsky and Dean West home with him. The grand shot brought the score to 7-4, giving the Bruins and their fans a sudden surge of hope.
Despite the energy shift, USC’s pitching managed to hold off the rest of the Bruins’ eighth-inning efforts. Heading into the ninth, UCLA was still down by three. The Bruins managed to bring in one more run in the final frame, trimming the deficit to 7-5, but it wasn’t enough to complete the comeback.
Martin’s eighth-inning homer was the offensive highlight for UCLA, showcasing his ability to deliver under pressure. Levu, Cholowsky and West also contributed key runs, but overall, it was too little, too late. The Bruins were unable to overcome USC’s early scoring outburst, and their struggles through the first seven innings left them with a hole too deep to climb out.
With this loss, UCLA drops a game in the tightly contested Big Ten rivalry series. The Bruins will look to bounce back in the series finale and use the energy from their late-game rally as fuel going forward. While the comeback effort showed promise, UCLA will need to deliver more consistently throughout all nine innings if they hope to compete at the highest level in the remainder of the season.
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Featured Image Photographed by Catherine Rodriguez/BruinLife.
