UCLA baseball loses doubleheader to No. 9 Arizona

John Savage holds a team meeting after every single game.

After dropping a doubleheader to No. 9 Arizona (15-3) on Saturday that extended UCLA baseball’s (6-11) losing streak to six, the Bruin coach didn’t bother.

“We lost twice,” said left fielder Brett Stephens. “Disappointing.”

Friday night’s game was called in the second inning due to a thick layer of fog that rolled over Steele Field.

The haze was so thick that sophomore center fielder Daniel Amaral had trouble tracking down a line drive, with the play resulting in a second-inning triple for Arizona’s Nicholas Quintana.

That was the last play of the night on Friday. The game restarted on Saturday, and it got out of hand in a hurry.

The delay limited junior starter Griffin Canning to just 1 1/3 innings, his shortest outing of the season.

Without his ace, Savage called on his relievers to stymie Arizona’s powerhouse offense. Heading into the weekend series, the Wildcats boasted the nation’s best batting average at .357 and averaged more than 10 runs a game.

But the bullpen scuffled throughout the game, allowing a season-high 22 hits en route to a 19-4 defeat. Canning was dealt the loss in his first decision of the season.

The brunt of the Wildcats’ hit parade came against sophomore closer Brian Gadsby, who relieved Canning in the second inning. Arizona tallied 11 hits and seven runs of the right-hander in two frames of work.

After Gadsby’s exit, freshmen Ryan Garcia, Nick Scheidler and Kyle Mora combined to finish the games, surrendering two or more runs each and a combined six extra-base hits.

At the plate, the Bruins didn’t have trouble putting balls in play, as they accumulated 12 hits overall. But much like the majority of the season, they couldn’t come up with clutch hits in crucial situations and stranded 12 runners on base.

Game two’s loss was closer. Senior Scott Burke took the hill in the ninth with the game tied 3-3.

In a two-outs, bases-loaded situation, shortstop Nick Valaika’s high throw lifted first baseman Sean Bouchard off the bag. The error gave the Wildcats a 4-3 lead they wouldn’t lose.

UCLA collected 9 hits, with Stephens and Amaral each contributing 2-for-5 performances.

The Bruins loaded the bases with two singles and a hit by pitch in the first, scoring one on a sacrifice fly. UCLA hit three doubles in the second to add two more runs and make it 3-0.

Senior Moises Ceja made the start and filled in for injured Saturday starter Jake Bird, who has now missed three starts with a shoulder injury. Ceja fired five scoreless innings before giving up back-to-back doubles in the sixth. Savage pulled Ceja, and Arizona got to two UCLA relievers to tie the game 3-3.

“We responded the right way, but we didn’t do it for nine innings,” Stephens said.

UCLA will finish its series with Arizona Sunday at 2 p.m.