UCLA baseball hangs on to win after early lead against Long Beach State
Senior second baseman Brett Urabe got the scoring going for UCLA baseball early, reaching base twice and scoring both times in the Bruins’ eight-run first inning. (Kathy Chen/Daily Bruin)
By David Gottlieb
May 3, 2016 10:27 p.m.
The game should have been over by the time it reached the bottom of the first.
After four hours and 45 minutes, the Bruins finally pulled away with an 11-10 victory.
UCLA baseball (21-21, 9-11 Pac-12) notched five hits and drew six walks in the bottom of the first. By the time a Long Beach State (26-17, 9-6 Big West) player picked up a bat, the Dirtbags were already down eight to nothing.
Junior third baseman Luke Persico collected three hits and senior second baseman Brett Urabe scored three runs by the time the game was in the third inning – an inning in which the Bruins added three more runs.
But with no solid Tuesday starter, UCLA sent multiple pitchers to get through the first five innings, none of whom could keep the game out of reach.
Freshman Jon Olsen needed 49 pitches to get the Bruins through the first two frames, surrendering four runs on three hits and four walks. Former Tuesday starter Jake Bird took over from there. The sophomore fired 2 2/3 innings and gave up four runs of his own.
The last out of the fifth took some work. Redshirt junior Hunter Virant and freshman Brian Gadsby combined to face four batters before Gadbsy got the out he needed to send the UCLA to the sixth with a two run lead.
The game calmed down in the final four innings, when Nathan Hadley came on and gave the Bruins the stability they were looking for. The redshirt freshman fired two scoreless frames, picking up three strikeouts without allowing a hit.
Coach John Savage called on junior closer Moises Ceja for a six-out save. Long Beach State threatened again in the eighth, when Luke Rasmussen smacked a no-out RBI double that cut UCLA’s lead to just one run and sent junior Kort Peterson crashing into the left field wall. The Dirtbags left the bases loaded and Ceja got out of the inning with the lead intact.
Ceja faced four batters in the ninth to close out the victory.
Up next
The Bruins will take a break from conference play this weekend. Instead, UCLA will host UC Irvine at Jackie Robinson Stadium on Friday and Sunday, but travel to Anteater Ballpark in Irvine for Saturday’s game.
