Bruin hurler tames Cougars in UCLA baseball’s Pac-12 opener
Redshirt senior center fielder Christoph Bono put the Bruins on top for good in the second inning Friday night with a solo home run against Washington State. (Daniel Alcazar/Daily Bruin senior staff)
By David Gottlieb
March 19, 2016 9:26 a.m.
Junior Grant Dyer’s oblique injury forced sophomore Griffin Canning into the role of Friday starter for two weeks.
Dyer is healthy now, but Canning doesn’t look like he wants to give up the job.
The sophomore delivered eight strong innings, giving up two earned runs and striking out five in UCLA baseball’s (9-7, 1-0 Pac-12) 5-2 win over Washington State (7-10, 0-1) Friday to kick off Pac-12 play.
Redshirt senior center fielder Christoph Bono put the Bruins on the board in the bottom of the second with a solo shot, giving UCLA a lead it would never lose.
The Bruins padded their lead with three runs in the sixth. After a failed safety squeeze that resulted in a 1-2 putout, sophomore first baseman Sean Bouchard knocked in a pair with a two-out triple to right, and came into score on an error by the shortstop on the next play.
Freshman closer Brian Gadsby entered the game up by three in the ninth, and tightrope-walked his way through a 27-pitch scoreless frame. He walked three, but induced a groundout and two fly outs to record the save.
Coach John Savage said last week that he expected shortstop Nick Valaika to return from his hand injury in time for the Washington State series, but the sophomore was out of the lineup again Friday night.
UCLA will take on Washington State again Saturday at 2:00 p.m. Dyer will face off against freshman righty Ryan Ward.
