UCLA baseball falls to Cal Poly in 1st road series of season

The Bruins traveled to San Luis Obispo riding a six-game winning streak, but it was quickly snapped.

In the three-game series at Cal Poly (8-5), No. 11 UCLA baseball (10-5) only came out on top once, losing 5-4 and 8-5 on both sides of a 13-12 win Saturday night. The Bruins led in each contest and had the potential tying run at the plate in the ninth inning of both defeats but ultimately dropped their first road set of the season.

Redshirt sophomore first baseman JT Schwartz got the offense started Friday night, driving in a run with a single in the top of the first inning – his sixth RBI in only his 11th plate appearance of the season. Schwartz doubled home another run in the top of the third, giving senior right-hander Zach Pettway a 3-0 lead.

Pettway was making only his second start of the season and still working on a limited pitch count. He faced the minimum number of batters through the first three frames but led off the bottom of the fourth by walking the first two Mustang hitters. Shortstop Brooks Lee roped a triple into the right field corner, scoring both runners and cutting the Bruins’ advantage to one.

“We clearly need (Pettway’s) experience – we need his talent on the mound,” said coach John Savage. “He has a long track record of having success, and we need pitchers who are pitching well, and this weekend we didn’t have enough. So we need Pettway. I thought it was a big step in the right direction on Friday.”

UCLA’s ace stranded Lee at third and finished his evening with four innings of two-run ball, striking out four on 56 pitches.

The Bruins posed few offensive threats for the rest of the night, only getting multiple runners on base in the same inning twice after the third, scoring a solo run to tie the score in the eighth via a groundout. The tie was short-lived, however, as the Mustangs retook the lead in the bottom half with an unearned run – their first of five such runs over the weekend, conceding the Bruins’ season total to 17.

In the top of the ninth, three UCLA hitters struck out on a combined 11 pitches after a leadoff walk.

“It was a tough one Friday night, losing it later in the game. It was definitely a tough one for everyone on the team,” said junior shortstop Matt McLain. “But it was a chance for us to respond to adversity going into Saturday. Playing Cal Poly, they’re a good team – we knew we had to bring it the next day, and we did and we got the win on Saturday.”

Saturday featured another 6 p.m. start time, and the Bruins found themselves in a hole early. Junior right-hander Jesse Bergin got the ball and allowed five runs – four unearned – in the home half of the first.

The bats then answered, scoring 11 runs in the next three innings. Junior catcher Noah Cardenas’ first home run of the season capped off a four-run second and junior second/third baseman Mikey Perez’s three-run dinger an inning later got the scoring started in UCLA’s five-run fourth.

Perez added a solo shot in the top of the sixth – the 12th consecutive run scored by the Bruins – to take the team lead in long balls and added five walks to his otherwise hitless weekend.

“It was one of those days where I was seeing the ball very well that day,” Perez said. “I was very fortunate I ran into those two.”

Cal Poly got back into the game with a big inning of its own, plating five runs in the sixth inning to pull within two. Bergin allowed a leadoff single in the frame and was lifted but still earned the win, tossing five-plus innings and only conceding two earned runs.

UCLA added what turned out to be a vital insurance run in the top of the ninth when McLain hit a sacrifice fly before the Bruins allowed two runs in the bottom of the frame. Junior right-hander Sean Mullen was able to shut the door on the four-hour marathon with the potential tying run 180 feet away, and the blue and gold earned its 10th victory of the season.

“We definitely fought the whole time,” Perez said. “I mean that was constantly headbutting back and forth the whole time early, with the final score of 13-12. Both squads took their turns scoring and we just did the best we could stringing together some good at-bats to get as many runs as we could.”

Sunday’s matinee saw the Bruins jump out to another first-inning lead thanks to run-scoring hits by Schwartz and sophomore right fielder/second baseman Michael Curialle. Schwartz reached base nine times over the weekend and drove in four runs, giving him nine RBIs in his first five games.

The Mustangs again responded to the Bruins’ early advantage, putting up a pair of runs in the first, second and fifth innings against junior right-hander Nick Nastrini. The teams traded runs in the sixth innings and Cal Poly held on to an 8-4 lead heading into the weekend’s final frame.

Redshirt junior center fielder Kevin Kendall doubled, and Perez and McLain walked behind him to load the bases with nobody out in the ninth. The Bruins had three cracks with the tying run in the box but only managed to plate one run, and the Mustangs took the series-deciding game.

Savage said the Mustangs were the better team throughout the weekend, especially Sunday, when they got to Nastrini early.

“They frustrated (Nastrini) – they did a good job against (him),” Savage said. “At the end of the day, they outplayed us. I thought they certainly outpitched us, for sure, and won the rubber match. They deserved to win.”

UCLA will not have a midweek game before its first Pac-12 series starting Friday, when Arizona rolls into Westwood.