UCLA baseball holds off late comeback to open Pac-12 play with win
Sophomore designated hitter Jack Stronach was one of two Bruins to finish with two hits against Washington State on Friday night. UCLA won the game 6-5 and after trailing by as many as three.(Habeba Mostafa/Daily Bruin)
By Sam Connon
March 17, 2018 1:51 p.m.
The Bruins can’t seem to escape the rain, but they did escape with a win Friday.
Despite a 42-minute rain delay in the top of the eighth, No. 17 UCLA baseball (11-4, 1-0 Pac 12) stormed back to take down Washington State (4-10, 0-1) 6-5 in its Pac-12 season opener at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
Senior pitcher Jake Bird took the mound for the Bruins to start the game, but was far from his normal self. Entering the game with a 0.36 ERA on the season, Bird let up 3 runs in his first 2 2/3 innings pitched.
“Any count, it just looked like they were hunting for fastballs. When I made mistakes with it and left it up, they handled it,” Bird said. “I tip my hat to them, I just have to be better.”
However, Bird bounced back, not allowing a hit over the next three innings.
While Bird was holding things down on the mound, the UCLA bats came alive. After the Bruins failed to get a hit through the first two innings, sophomore third baseman Jake Hirabayashi led off the third with an infield single that would spark a 3-run Bruins rally.
Junior center fielder Daniel Amaral got the scoring started with an RBI single to left, driving in Hirabayashi. Sophomore first baseman Michael Toglia followed that up with a two-RBI line drive that sailed over the right fielder’s head, tying the game at 3-3..
The Bruins’ bats returned in the sixth, led by sophomore Chase Strumpf, who hit a gapper to left center that gave his team the 4-3 lead. UCLA would extend their lead to two when sophomore designated hitter Jack Stronach blooped a single into right.
“I’m seeing the ball great right now,” Stronach said. “We’ve been working on my offensive approach. I’m just believing in that and seeing it well. … I’m just feeling good.”
After Hirabayashi drove in the Bruins’ sixth run on a sacrifice fly to deep left, UCLA turned to their bullpen to secure the victory.
The Bruins used six pitchers in the final three frames, with the first five recording just one out apiece. Sophomore pitcher Kyle Mora threw 1 1/3 innings, allowing the Cougars to stage a bit of a comeback in the top of the ninth, but he was able to back himself out of the jam to seal the game.
“At the end of the day, we used 19 guys,” coach John Savage said. “That was a lot for Friday night, but it seemed like we needed everybody.”
One of the factors in Savage using so many pitchers was yet another rain delay, which have plagued UCLA in the past week. After March 10’s game against TCU was rained out, its matchup with Cal State Northridge was moved from Tuesday to Wednesday due to inclement weather. That game was suspended in the ninth due to more rain, and won’t be resumed until May 15.
“We just can’t get any rhythm, we didn’t have much rhythm last weekend,” Savage said. “We were fortunate to win that game.”
Despite Savage saying the rain held the Bruins’ back from regaining their momentum, Stronach said that he and his teammates had a little fun getting the tarp out on the field.
“We’ve done that a million times, we know that whole routine,” Stronach said. “It doesn’t affect us too much.”
UCLA and Washington State are back at it Saturday at 2 p.m. to continue the opening series of the conference schedule.
