Strong pitching leads Bruins to take series against UC Irvine

Coach John Savage called this weekend’s starting pitching contagious.

“Watching Griff (Canning) kind of inspires me,” said junior starter Grant Dyer. “And then hopefully Kyle (Molnar) can learn a little bit from me.”

UCLA baseball (23-22, 10-11 Pac-12) took two out of three from UC Irvine (26-19, 7-8 Big West) thanks to its starters. Sophomore Griffin Canning, Dyer and freshman Kyle Molnar combined to give up just three runs, striking out 21 over 24 2/3 innings this weekend.

“They commanded their fastballs, they threw their secondary pitches for strikes, they had good counts,” Savage said. “They pitched the way they’re capable of pitching.”

In game one, Canning continued his successful sophomore campaign, firing eight innings of two-run ball. Canning earned a no-decision, exiting with the game tied at two.

The Bruins would go on to lose 4-2 in ten innings. Junior Moises Ceja pitched the ninth and tenth innings, giving up two in the tenth to earn his first loss of the season.

Dyer came on strong in game two of the series, throwing a complete game and yielding one run on four hits while striking out nine on 122 pitches in Irvine.

With Saturday’s gem, the right-hander continued a trend he started up when he returned from an oblique injury that sidelined him for two weeks: Since March 19, Dyer has thrown a quality start every other time out.

“He’s been very inconsistent,” Savage said. “I think he’s completely healthy now so hopefully those inconsistent starts will go away.”

Savage said that Dyer’s fastball and curveball velocities have both increased lately, which is usually a sign of health.

UCLA took game two of the series by a score of 4-1, setting up a rubber match at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

Molnar flirted with a no-hitter when he took the ball Sunday afternoon. The freshman made it all the way into the seventh before .400 hitter Keston Hiura rifled a single up the middle to break up the bid.

Molnar threw 7.2 innings, striking out nine without allowing a run before redshirt junior Hunter Virant recorded the last out of the eighth and Ceja pitched the ninth to seal the 5-1 victory.

Worth noting

First baseman Sean Bouchard nearly broke his wrist on a play at first base Friday. The junior exited game one of the series in the sixth inning. His x-rays came back negative for a broken bone, but the junior was still in too much pain to play Saturday.

“It’s one of those common first-base injuries where the guy stretches and the ball’s inside and here comes to baserunner,” Savage said. “He looked healthy swinging the bat today.”

Bouchard would go on to come up with the biggest hit of the weekend, homering to straightaway left to extend UCLA’s lead to four runs in his return Sunday.

Redshirt senior Eric Filia started at a different position each day for the Bruins this weekend, playing his regular right field Friday before moving to first to spell Bouchard on Saturday. Savage penciled Filia in as his designated hitter Sunday, allowing junior Kort Peterson to get time in right field.

Up next

UCLA takes on Pepperdine at Jackie Robinson Stadium on Tuesday at 6 p.m. Jon Olsen will make the start for the Bruins.