UCLA baseball drops final game in otherwise dominant Cal Poly series
Freshman pitcher Kyle Molnar lasted for just three innings in Sunday’s loss after allowing three unearned runs in the second inning. (Kathy Chen/Daily Bruin)
By Matt Cummings
Feb. 28, 2016 7:59 p.m.
A day after a 19-run, 18-hit outburst, UCLA baseball’s lineup was quieted Sunday as Cal Poly took the series finale 6-2.
Right-hander Erich Uelmen, did the silencing, limiting the No. 14 Bruins (3-4) to just six hits and two runs in a complete-game effort as the Mustangs (6-2) salvaged their lone win of the three–game set.
Even with the loss, UCLA comes away with a series victory that helps relieve the worries caused by a 1-3 start.
“From where we were to where we are today, I think you have to be positive,” said coach John Savage. “To beat a good Big West team twice at their place is a good way to start the season on the road.”
UCLA freshman starter Kyle Molnar took the loss Sunday, lasting just three innings. He only allowed one earned run, but was hurt by a messy second inning in which Cal Poly pushed across three unearned runs.
To lead off the inning, Mustang senior right fielder John Schuknecht popped the ball up a few feet from home plate. As he moved under the ball, redshirt freshman catcher Daniel Rosica tripped on Schuknecht’s bat, allowing the popup to fall on what the scorekeeper ruled a hit.
After the next batter flew out, redshirt freshman third baseman Scott Jarvis made a throwing error on a slow groundball, giving the Mustangs runners on first and second. Molnar then hit the next batter, loading the bases for Cal Poly junior shortstop Alec Smith.
Smith slapped a hard grounder up the middle that looked to be a two-run single until Bruin senior shortstop Trent Chatterton corralled the ball on a dive. Chatterton flipped the ball to senior Brett Urabe at second base for the second out but Urabe’s throw to first arrived too late to retire Smith, allowing the first run to cross home.
The next two Mustang batters roped singles to build a lead that would prove insurmountable thanks to Uelmen’s work on the mound.
Making his second start of the season, the sophomore induced 16 groundouts and set down the Bruins’ final nine batters in order.
“He was doing a good job of keeping the ball low, mostly a fastball pitcher but throwing it with some sink,” said redshirt senior center fielder Christoph Bono. “We’re definitely going to see pitchers like that down the road so we’ve got to make an adjustment earlier and try and deal with that.”
UCLA plated both of its runs with two outs in the top of the fourth.
After Uelmen struck out the first two batters of the inning, junior designated hitter Kort Peterson walked and came around on a triple down the right-field line from sophomore first baseman Sean Bouchard. Bouchard then scored the second run on a Bono single up the middle.
The Bruins allowed a season-high five unearned runs. One came in the fifth when Schuknecht reached base on Jarvis’ second error, then stole home when Bouchard fumbled a pickoff attempt.
“It’s just not taking care of the baseball,” Savage said. “You want to make baseball errors and we call those (today) more careless errors that good teams don’t make.”
UCLA will be back in action Tuesday at UC Santa Barbara.
“I think we made a big improvement this series,” Jarvis said. “I feel like the bats started to click and it felt like we were coming together a little bit better, picking each other up. So we really need to just build off those first two games and keep that going.”
Email Cummings at [email protected] or tweet him at @mbcummings15.
