UCLA baseball dominates California in weekend three-game series
Although Friday’s game didn’t start well for UCLA, the Bruins recovered and led the momentum to victories in all three matches against California Golden Bears. (Michael Zshornack/Assistant Photo editor)
By Kyle Cardoza
March 28, 2017 1:28 a.m.
The Bruins may have just turned their season around.
UCLA baseball entered its series against California with a 3-8 record in March, already in a hole in conference play.
But the Bruins (10-11, 4-2 Pac-12) rebounded after the rough stretch, sweeping the Golden Bears (9-13, 1-5) by scores of 9-5, 9-4 and 20-0. It’s the first time UCLA has been above .500 in the Pac-12 since April of last year.
Friday’s game didn’t start off well for the Bruins.
After tossing three scoreless innings, junior ace Griffin Canning yielded four runs in the fourth inning on five hits and one walk. But UCLA’s offense responded with seven unanswered runs.
Redshirt sophomore shortstop Nick Valaika crushed a two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth to make it 4-2.
Freshman second baseman Chase Strumpf led off the next inning with a solo bomb, followed by a pair of walks, a sacrifice bunt and a hit-by-pitch. With the bases loaded, junior first baseman Sean Bouchard hit a sacrifice fly to right to bring in a run. Freshman Kyle Cuellar smoked a double to right to plate two more, followed by an RBI-single by Valaika, giving the Bruins a 7-4 lead.
UCLA also added two runs in the seventh when sophomore center fielder Daniel Amaral hit a two-run double to center. Canning allowed another run in the top of the seventh before exiting, but the bullpen kept Cal’s offense scoreless for the final 2 2/3 innings.
The same trend occurred Saturday.
California’s first baseman Andrew Vaughn smacked a pair of two-run home runs for the Golden Bears in the first and third innings to take a 4-0 lead. The Bruins answered by scoring in each inning that followed.
UCLA scored in the fourth off an RBI-double by freshman outfielder Michael Toglia and a sacrifice fly by freshman third baseman Ryan Kreidler. Bouchard added an RBI in the fifth on a sacrifice fly before the Bruins tied the game in sixth on a wild pitch.
The Bruins broke the tie in the seventh after Cuellar grounded an RBI-single to left. Toglia then extended the lead to 7-4 with a two-run triple. UCLA notched two more runs in the bottom of the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Bouchard and RBI-single by Cuellar.
Once again, the bullpen stifled Cal’s hitters, as freshmen Nick Scheidler and Ryan Garcia, redshirt sophomore Matt Walker and senior Scott Burke combined for four scoreless frames, allowing just one hit.
Sunday’s game was a one-sided affair, as the Bruins tallied 17 hits and forced the Golden Bears to make seven errors in the field – just two of UCLA’s hits were for extra bases.
Six Bruin hitters had multihit performances on the day. Bouchard registered a team-high five RBIs, going 2-for-5, including a three-run homer in the fifth.
Sophomore starter Jon Olsen tossed seven scoreless innings, earning his first win of the year. He limited the Golden Bears to just three hits while striking out five.
Up next
UCLA will host No. 6 Cal State Fullerton (15-8) Tuesday before traveling to Arizona for a three-game series with Arizona State (10-12, 1-5). Sophomore Justin Hooper will get the call against the Titans. The lefty possesses a 4.50 ERA despite owning a 24-to-11 strikeout-to-walk ratio and limiting opponents to a .169 batting average.
