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Baseball drags feet against Illinois but finishes weekend with two wins

UCLA baseball went 2-1 on its trip to Minneapolis for the Dairy Queen Classic Pac-12 vs. Big Ten Challenge. Junior pitcher Jon Olsen had the standout performance of the weekend Saturday, tossing a complete game with just one earned run against Michigan State. (Michael Zshornack/Photo editor)

By Sam Connon

March 4, 2018 11:32 p.m.

After a disappointing start to the weekend, the Bruins rebounded and scraped by with a couple of wins in the Dairy Queen Classic Pac-12 vs. Big Ten Challenge.

After blowing a late lead against Illinois (6-3) on Friday, No. 11 UCLA baseball (9-2) came back to take down both Michigan State (4-7) and Minnesota (8-4) to close out the weekend in Minneapolis.

The Bruins lost 5-3 to the Fighting Illini, after holding a 3-1 lead through the seventh inning. Despite a lockdown start by senior pitcher Jake Bird, in which he allowed just one earned run in 6.1 innings, sophomore pitcher Nick Scheidler and junior pitcher Brian Gadsby allowed a combined four earned runs in the bottom of the eighth.

“We really had one bad inning here,” coach John Savage said. “You look at all three box scores, and it all comes down to that one inning.”

The UCLA bats were tied up by Illinois’ pitching staff, tallying just three extra-base hits and only notching runs when pitcher Sean Leland took the mound in the seventh. The trio at the top of the lineup, sophomore right fielder Jeremy Ydens, junior third baseman Jake Hirabayashi and sophomore first baseman Michael Toglia, accounted for six of the Bruins’ eight hits. The final six batters of the lineup, on the other hand, were a combined 2-for-20.

The Bruins were able to pick up a bounce-back win against the Spartans on Saturday by a score of 4-1. Junior pitcher Jon Olsen tossed a gem, pitching a complete game with eight strikeouts and just one earned run. Olsen had a tough start against Baylor last weekend, allowing four earned runs in just 5.2 innings, but his performance against Michigan State was able to bring his season ERA back down to 2.08.

“(The starters) are giving us a chance every night out,” Savage said. “You’re only as good as your starting pitcher. … Those guys have done a good job of getting us into games.”

Toglia continued his torrid start to the season, slugging his fourth home run of the year. He finished the game 3-for-3 with a walk, falling a triple shy of the cycle.

UCLA’s momentum carried into its game Sunday night, as it defeated Minnesota 6-1. Despite notching just three hits, the Bruins took advantage of the Gophers’ mistakes, as their opponent had three errors and allowed three unearned runs.

“Nobody really put up a lot of runs this weekend,” Savage said. “We pitched well enough and we played really good defense, and that was the difference. They didn’t pitch tonight, and we did.”

Freshman pitcher Zach Pettway went six innings deep with seven strikeouts, allowing just one earned run. Scheidler made another appearance, tossing 2.1 scoreless frames in a bounce-back performance. Toglia, Hirabayashi and sophomore shortstop Ryan Kreidler recorded UCLA’s lone three RBIs.

The Bruins return to action Tuesday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium to take on the Loyola Marymount Lions (3-9).

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Sam Connon | Alumnus
Connon joined the Bruin as a freshman in 2017 and contributed until he graduated in 2021. He was the Sports editor for the 2019-2020 academic year, an assistant Sports editor for the 2018-2019 academic year and spent time on the football, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball, men's soccer, cross country, men's golf and women's golf beats, while also contributing movie reviews for Arts & Entertainment.
Connon joined the Bruin as a freshman in 2017 and contributed until he graduated in 2021. He was the Sports editor for the 2019-2020 academic year, an assistant Sports editor for the 2018-2019 academic year and spent time on the football, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball, men's soccer, cross country, men's golf and women's golf beats, while also contributing movie reviews for Arts & Entertainment.
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