| Baseball |
|---|
| UCLA — 15 |
| UCSB — 3 |
It’s safe to say that UCLA didn’t let their last loss against UC Santa Barbara slide.
The Bruins baseball team (40-4, 20-1 Big Ten) won in blowout and mercy-rule fashion against the UCSB Gauchos (27-15, 13-8 Big West) at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium, finally getting their revenge against the Gauchos after they broke the Bruins’ school-best 27-game win streak.
The Bruins set the tone early in the game by putting up an absurd five runs in the first inning —junior left fielder Dean West drew a walk off of the Gauchos’ Van Froling to set up junior shortstop Roch Cholowsky.
Froling got ahead in the count, making it a 1-2 count. It was looking increasingly likely that Cholowsky would go down on strikes. Just when Cholowsky looked cornered, he blasted the next pitch that he saw to left field for an electric two-run home run.
The Bruins capitalized on this early success, and got two singles and a walk to set up the bases perfectly for sophomore catcher Cashel Dugger. All of this action was done without there being a single out recorded by the Gauchos.
Dugger hit a sacrifice fly to left field to drive in junior first baseman Mulivai Levu, giving the Gauchos their first out of the game and making the score 3-0.
Then, junior second baseman Phoenix Call hit a two-RBI double down the left field line to drive in redshirt junior right fielder Payton Brennan and junior third baseman Roman Martin.
The Bruins scored another run in the second inning, but it was actually what they did in the fifth inning that was somehow able to top their incredible start to the game.
The Bruins kicked off the fifth inning with a leadoff blast by Brennan, hitting it dead center on a 2-0 count.
The rest of the inning was small ball. When Call and freshman designated hitter Dominic Cadiz were on base, West reached base on a fielder’s choice. Although this play was able to get Call out at second, it was able to drive in Dugger to make it a 7-0 ballgame.
Cholowsky then hit a single to drive in Cadiz, and Martin hit another RBI single to drive in West. To top it all off, going through the entire batting order, the top of the fifth ended the way it started with Brennan getting an RBI. However, this time, Brennan hit a two-RBI double down the right field line, driving in Levu and Cholowsky to make the score a remarkable 12-0.
Though the Bruins already had a mercy rule locked in for most of the game, they simply kept adding runs, scoring three runs in the sixth and seventh innings.
UCLA’s pitching was also incredible today — freshman starting pitcher Angel Cervantes took the mound for the Bruins today, delivering one of the best starts that he has had all year, pitching five innings with one earned run, four hits, zero walks and three strikeouts.
Cervantes looked good on the mound today, mainly holding his own. Though the defense definitely aided him, he definitely didn’t rely on them.
The Bruins were able to dominate today’s UCSB lineup, although redshirt senior pitcher Ian May struggled in the bottom of the seventh. After only seven innings of work, the Bruins shut down the Gauchos with a final score of 15-3.
The Bruins look to keep having a successful road trip as they take on Michigan State at Jeff Ishbia Field at McLane Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan at 3:05 p.m. PT on Friday, May 1.
