UCLA Baseball grand slams its way to victory over Oregon State
By Daily Bruin Staff
April 11, 2010 9:00 p.m.
The UCLA baseball team rolled out of Corvallis, Ore. in grand style.
Not only did the Bruins defeat Oregon State 8-2 Sunday to take the three-game series, they did it with emphasis, as outfielder Brett Krill hit a grand-slam in the ninth inning to seal the victory.
Sunday’s win was the second in a row for No. 3 UCLA (24-3, 4-2 Pac-10) which also won Saturday in a 16-inning marathon after dropping Friday night’s opener to No. 17 Oregon State (20-8, 3-3).
Junior starting pitcher Rob Rasmussen improved to 5-0 on the season by earning the victory on Sunday, continuing his run of strong performances. The lefthander struck out eight in seven innings of work and walked none.
Faced with an early deficit, Oregon State rallied to tie the game with a run in each of the fifth and sixth innings off of Rasmussen. Second baseman Tyler Rahmatulla hit a solo home run in the seventh to give UCLA the lead back before the Bruin bats exploded for five runs in the top of the ninth.
Rahmatulla continued to thrive at his third spot in the batting order, as he doubled twice Sunday in addition to the home run, and raised his batting average to .410.
The win in Sunday’s rubber match gave the Bruins their second consecutive series victory to start Pac-10 play, with the first coming at home last weekend against Stanford. After a midweek tilt with UC Riverside, UCLA will host Oregon at home.
Compiled by Ryan Eshoff, Bruin Sports senior staff.
