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Baseball beats Cal State Fullerton, earning 4th consecutive win

Junior right-hander Jesse Bergin fanned eight batters over six shutout innings, leading No. 8 UCLA baseball to its fourth consecutive win. (Keaton Larson/Daily Bruin)

Baseball


Cal State Fullerton1
No. 8 UCLA6

By Olivia Simons

March 7, 2021 12:15 p.m.

A season-low number of strikeouts by the offense, back-to-back long balls and a bounce-back performance by their starter gave the Bruins their fourth consecutive win.

No. 8 UCLA baseball (7-3) defeated Cal State Fullerton (4-5) for the second time this season, taking Saturday’s game at Jackie Robinson Stadium 6-1. The Bruins have allowed one run in each of their meetings with the Titans this season.

Junior right-hander Jesse Bergin took the hill to start Saturday, tossing six scoreless frames after allowing crooked numbers his last time out.

Bergin’s time on the mound came after a start against UC Irvine in which he lasted only three innings and allowed seven runs – three earned – on seven hits, two walks and five strikeouts. Bergin said his last outing motivated him to perform during this game.

“I just worked hard the whole week with last week’s rough outing,” Bergin said. “That kind of just fueled me for this game. What I took away from last weekend was I need to do better with fastballs and the angle of them – throwing them lower, so that was one of my main focuses today. (My) slider was working well to complement it (as well as) throwing the curveball when I needed it.”

The Titans’ only run came in the top of the seventh after Bergin left the game, when shortstop Josh Urps singled into center field against senior right-hander Michael Townsend, scoring designated hitter Austin Schell. UCLA’s four pitchers limited Fullerton to six hits and one walk while striking out 11. Of the Titans’ six hits, two went for extra bases, both of which were doubles.

Scoring for the Bruins began in the third with an RBI single from sophomore designated hitter Josh Hahn and a sacrifice fly by sophomore right fielder Michael Curialle. UCLA led off the following frame with back-to-back home runs off the bats of junior second baseman Mikey Perez and redshirt junior center fielder Kevin Kendall, the first time the Bruins have hit consecutive home runs since February 2020.

Five of UCLA’s eight leadoff hitters reached base, and all of its runs came with fewer than two outs and were driven in by six different hitters.

“Getting our leadoff batter on every inning is our main priority,” Kendall said. “That’s our recipe, so luckily we were able to execute that today, so we’re just looking to continue that.”

The Bruins also struck out three times – a season low – a number they last matched in March 2020. Coach John Savage said a key part of avoiding strikeouts was hitting with two strikes.

“I just thought overall we just had a better approach using the middle of the field with two strikes,” Savage said. “Good things happen when you put the ball in play, that’s the old adage, and I thought our guys did a good job of touching the ball and having a little impact with the ball with two strikes and putting a little pressure on their defense. At the end of the day, that was a big deal in this game.”

UCLA’s next contest will be against crosstown rival USC on Sunday, where it has the opportunity to sweep its College Baseball Classic action.

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Olivia Simons | Quad editor
Simons is the 2023-2024 Quad editor. She was previously the 2022-2023 managing editor, an assistant Sports editor on the baseball, women's tennis, men's tennis, swim and dive and rowing beats and a reporter on the baseball and women's tennis beats. She is also a fourth-year student from Oakland, California.
Simons is the 2023-2024 Quad editor. She was previously the 2022-2023 managing editor, an assistant Sports editor on the baseball, women's tennis, men's tennis, swim and dive and rowing beats and a reporter on the baseball and women's tennis beats. She is also a fourth-year student from Oakland, California.
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