UCLA baseball bunts to victory, snaps midweek slump

UCLA had one of its best hitters at the plate with the go-ahead run at third base in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Junior right fielder Kort Peterson had a chance to be the hero – just like he’d been when he blasted a walk-off home run against Texas on March 12. But this time, instead of coming up with the big hit, he came up with the small one.

Facing a two-out situation, Peterson looked to the third base coaching box and picked up the signal: a drag bunt.

“I mean, I was a little surprised once I saw the drag, but it was a good situation for sure,” Peterson said. “The third baseman was back and I knew I was probably going to get a pitch down the middle.”

Peterson got that pitch, a fastball right down the heart of the plate, and laid down a bunt that coach John Savage called a dime.

Once the ball started bouncing on the infield grass, redshirt senior center fielder Christoph Bono dashed for home plate as Peterson raced toward first. By the time the LMU third baseman got to the ball, there was no play at either base, and UCLA had taken a 6-5 lead.

Peterson’s clutch bunt single in the bottom of the eighth proved the difference in UCLA’s 6-5 win over Loyola Marymount, as freshman closer Brian Gadbsy held the Lions scoreless in the top half of the ninth inning.

The win was a big one for the Bruins (14-16, 5-7 Pac-12). Not only was it their first midweek win of the season, but it was just their second win in their past 10 games. The team’s RPI had dropped to No. 85 entering the game, meaning a loss to middling LMU (16-17, 7-5 West Coast) could’ve been costly.

While the win wasn’t seamless – UCLA blew a 5-2 lead in the top of the eighth inning – it was certainly much better than the Bruins’ five previous midweek games of the year.

First, the Bruins were finally able to muster some decent pitching in the opening frames. Early-inning pitching problems had plagued UCLA in its first five Tuesday games, but sophomore righty Jake Bird delivered a scoreless first two innings versus LMU.

In the bottom of the second inning, the Bruins started another new trend: the bottom of their order started to produce offensively. It began with No. 6 hitter, Brett Stephens, who was in a 3-for-33 slump entering the LMU game. The junior left fielder laced an 0-1 pitch down the left-field line for a double.

After a walk by Bono and a sacrifice bunt by senior second baseman Trent Chatterton, No. 9 hitter Daniel Rosica came up with one of his biggest hits as a Bruin. The redshirt freshman lofted a two-run double to right field, taking a page out of Stephens’ playbook by going the opposite way. Another double by senior second baseman Brett Urabe gave the Bruins a 3-0 advantage heading into the top of the third inning.

The long second inning took its toll on Bird’s rhythm, as the sophomore gave up two runs over the next two innings before being pulled from the game with two outs in the top of the fourth. UCLA’s bullpen preserved the lead for the next few innings, and junior third baseman Luke Persico provided some insurance with a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth.

The game stood still from innings four through seven, as the Bruins clung to their 5-2 lead, but that would change in the eighth inning.

The midweek-game issues reared their head again, as LMU smashed UCLA’s bullpen for three runs to tie the game at five. Both Peterson and Rosica said that seeing the opposition put up runs in the top of the eighth demanded a response.

“When you know you gotta respond it makes it easier for the energy to get up,” Rosica said. “There was kind of a lull in the middle innings. We gotta do a better job with that.”

Peterson’s bunt single with two outs in the eighth gave the Bruins the lead for good, and made sure that the Tuesday struggles would not persist.

All three Bruin pitchers who appeared in the eighth struggled – including Gadsby. Nonetheless, Savage ran the rookie closer back out for the ninth.

“I thought that was a pretty impressive bounce back by Gadbsy,” Savage said. “And we gotta build off every positive we can get right now.”