Baseball scores first win of season, evens up series against UNC

The walk-off hit was not a towering home run or a screaming line drive, but rather a soft flare over the pitcher that landed in the infield dirt and barely bounced into the outfield.

A UCLA victory was not exactly a fitting result for Saturday’s baseball game, but if the Bruins were going to win, this was a fitting ending.

For the second straight game, No. 9 UCLA was flummoxed by No. 21 North Carolina’s pitching, producing just four hits. But during Saturday, the Bruins somehow scratched their way to six runs, winning 6-5 to even up the season-opening series against the Tar Heels.

Redshirt senior right fielder Eric Filia delivered the walk-off single with two outs in the ninth inning off UNC freshman Cole Aker. Filia poked a two-strike changeup into shallow center field to score junior third baseman Luke Persico, who had walked and stolen second base.

“Two strikes on me, I’m not trying to do too much,” Filia said afterward. “Just trying to use the middle (of the field) and make the defense work.”

That Aker was in the game was perhaps puzzling – the freshman had come in to face Persico, replacing sophomore righty Hansen Butler, an elite reliever who had mowed down the Bruins handily since he entered the game in the seventh inning.

Butler had recorded eight outs on 30 pitches, striking out four and allowing just one batter to reach. Once he departed, Aker promptly issued a five-pitch walk to Persico.

The Bruins then detected that Aker’s delivery from the stretch was somewhat slow, leading the coaching staff to send Persico. It was a calculated risk considering the arm strength of UNC freshman catcher Cody Roberts.

“Would we look a little silly if (Persico) gets thrown out with Filia at the plate? Probably so,” said coach John Savage. “We took a risk and it paid off.”

The Bruins struck out 16 times, bringing their total to 30 in the first two games of the season. They looked overmatched much of the time against a Tar Heel pitching staff with several power arms.

Although the UCLA offense managed just four hits, seven walks and a slew of sloppy defensive plays by UNC allowed the Bruins to plate their runs.

UNC sophomore starter J.B. Bukauskas, a likely first-round pick in next year’s draft, held the Bruins hitless until the fourth, but the Carolina defense let him down.

After the pitcher walked Persico and hit Filia, UNC second baseman Kyle Datres let a grounder through his legs off the bat of UCLA junior designated hitter Kort Peterson, allowing Persico to score.

Two batters later, UCLA redshirt senior center fielder Christoph Bono hit a bouncer off the glove of first baseman Brian Miller – ruled a hit – bringing Filia in for the Bruins’ second run.

The Bruins played poor defense, as well. UCLA sophomore first baseman Sean Bouchard committed two errors, the first one a throwing error that wiped out a potential double play and led to the Tar Heels’ three-run second inning.

UCLA managed two more runs in the fifth inning, a frame that Savage said was the Bruins’ best offensive performance of the young season.

After two quick outs, Bukauskas walked Stephens and bounced a wild pitch to send him to second. Persico then worked a full-count walk and the Tar Heels brought in lefty Zach Rice to face Filia.

Rice walked Filia on four pitches to load the bases for Peterson, who hit a hard grounder up the middle to give the Bruins a 4-3 lead.

In the top of the sixth, UCLA sophomore starter Griffin Canning ran into trouble, giving up a leadoff triple to UNC sophomore shortstop Logan Warmoth and a run-scoring infield single to junior right fielder Adam Pate.

Savage pulled Canning and brought in redshirt freshman Nathan Hadley, who allowed Pate to score on Robert’s single, giving UNC a 5-4 lead.

After that, the UCLA bullpen shut down the Tar Heels. Sophomore righty Jake Bird worked through the seventh with the help of a double play, and redshirt junior righty Tucker Forbes overpowered UNC in the final two frames.

Meanwhile, the Bruins tied the score in the seventh thanks to two walks and a run-scoring wild pitch and scraped together the game-winning rally in the ninth.

As ugly a win as it was, Savage said he was happy with the Bruins’ performance in the second half of the game.

“We won the last three innings,” Savage said. “Our bullpen has done a really good job the past two days – hasn’t given up a run.”

And at the plate, his team did just enough to win.

Savage will send freshman right-hander Kyle Molnar to the mound Sunday to try to take the series.