On Sunday afternoon, the UCLA Bruins faced off against the Washington Huskies for the third consecutive time this last week. The Bruins hosted the Huskies at Jackie Robinson Stadium in hopes of getting their second win against them, after falling short in their first game against them on Friday.
Jackie Robinson Stadium was buzzing with energy Sunday afternoon as UCLA baseball powered its way to a 9-13 win over Washington, ending off the weekend series with a statement. After losing the first game, the Bruins turned up offensively to take the win.
The opening two innings were quiet on both sides, but that silence broke in a big way in the third. Washington struck first, putting up three runs to rattle the Bruins. But UCLA wasted no time responding. In the bottom of the inning, sophomore standout Roch Cholowsky crushed a home run down the left field line to put the Bruins on the board. Soon after, Jarrod Hocking drove in a run with a single to left center and Blake Balsz followed that up with another RBI single, tying the game at 3–3. From there, UCLA never looked back.
The fourth inning saw the Bruins tack on three more runs, building momentum with aggressive base running and hitting. Then in the fifth, the offense went off again. This time, it was Roman Martin who delivered the highlight of the day: a two-run bomb to left field, bringing home Cholowsky and pushing the Bruins ahead 3-9.c
Though Washington threatened late, UCLA’s early offensive dominance gave them the cushion they needed. The Huskies put up three runs in the seventh and another three in the ninth, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Bruins’ lead. UCLA added two more runs in both the seventh and eighth innings to stay comfortably ahead. The final score was 9-13, Bruins.
Compared to Friday’s game we saw them fall short in a 5–2 loss and Saturday’s 3-7 win gave them a spark, but today’s finale proved this offense is capable of winning when it counts most.
With the win, UCLA secures the series against Washington 1-2 and improves to 28–7 on the season. They’ll look to carry this momentum into the upcoming midweek game against Oregon State before heading up north to face Oregon in a crucial conference series.
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Featured Image: Redshirt senior AJ Salgado up to bat, contributing one hit and one run against the Huskies. Photographed by Luana Caravalho/BruinLife.
