UCLA baseball sets school record for hit batters
Redshirt junior left-hander Hunter Virant started Tuesday’s game against Cal State Northridge allowing six earned runs in 3.2 innings. (Mackenzie Possee/Daily Bruin)
By Matt Cummings
March 9, 2016 5:03 p.m.
The Bruins won’t be quick to advertise it, but they set a school record Tuesday.
No. 19 UCLA baseball (6-6) hit nine batters, tied for the third-most in a single game in NCAA history, in a 20-12 loss at Cal State Northridge (10-3) that left the Bruins winless in their first three midweek matchups.
Like each of UCLA’s two previous midweek defeats, Tuesday’s loss was a result of shoddy defense and poor pitching. The Bruins, who had not allowed 20 runs in a game since 2004, made four errors, allowed 13 hits and issued four walks in addition to the nine hit batsmen.
Both redshirt junior left-hander Hunter Virant and freshman lefty Justin Hooper, the two pitchers expected during the preseason to compete for the midweek starter role, continued to struggle with their command.
After Tuesday’s game, Virant now sports a season ERA of 15.00 and Hooper stands at 33.00.
The damage began right away in the bottom of the first inning when the Matadors plated seven runs against Virant. The first two CSUN batters reached base on an error and a hit-by-pitch, respectively, before No. 3 hitter Branden Berry launched a three-run homer to left field.
Virant lasted 3.2 innings, allowing nine runs – six earned – on five hits, two walks and three HBPs.
The UCLA hitters battled back with a three-run third inning and a four-run fifth to help bring the Bruins to just a two-run, 10-8 deficit heading into the bottom of the sixth.
Then the Matador offense exploded for another seven-run inning.
After freshman righty Jon Olsen allowed a single to the leadoff hitter, Hooper entered the game and surrendered five earned runs without recording an out. He allowed all five batters he faced to reach base – walking two, hitting two and giving up a double while also throwing two wild pitches.
The three straight Tuesday losses are uncharacteristic for the Bruins, who were 10-1 in midweek games last year and 32-10-1 over the past four years.
They’ve scored 19 runs in the three contests, but haven’t been able to find an answer on the mound, allowing 41 runs.
The staff was not at full strength against CSUN, though, after two potential midweek starters worked heavy innings over the weekend. Junior righty Scott Burke pitched three frames in Sunday’s 14-inning win over USC and sophomore right-hander Jake Bird made a three-inning start on Saturday against Oklahoma.
Bird ended up finishing Tuesday’s game, giving up two unearned runs in one inning, while Burke did not pitch.
On offense, the bottom of the Bruins’ order produced Tuesday. The sixth through eighth spots in the lineup delivered eight hits and drove in six runs in 14 at-bats. Sophomore first baseman Sean Bouchard went 3-for-5 with a double, while redshirt senior center fielder Christoph Bono knocked in three runs on two hits.
Email Cummings at [email protected] or tweet him @mbcummings15.
