UCLA baseball closes out home series vs. Harvard with 11th-inning victory
Freshman right-hander Thatcher Hurd throws a pitch. He pitched a season-high 5.1 innings Sunday as UCLA baseball took the rubber match against Harvard to win the series. (Finn Chitwood/Daily Bruin)
baseball
| Harvard | 2 |
| UCLA | 3 |
By Joseph Crosby
March 21, 2022 2:07 p.m.
The Bruins secured a series victory in balk-off fashion.
UCLA baseball (12-7, 1-2 Pac-12) defeated Harvard (8-7) by a score of 3-2 in 11 innings on Sunday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Stadium, taking two out of three contests from the Crimson over the weekend. A bases-loaded balk in the bottom of the 11th scored freshman infielder Alex Fernandes from third base to end the game.
Sophomore right fielder JonJon Vaughns recorded his third walk of the game to start the 11th before reaching third base on a single from graduate student first baseman Jake Palmer. Fernandes took Vaughns’ place at third as a pinch runner, scoring the winning run three batters later on the balk.
The Bruins recorded 10 hits and 12 walks across the day, stranding 19 runners in the contest. Coach John Savage said the inability to convert opportunities was frustrating.
“I haven’t seen 19 guys left on (base) in a long time,” Savage said. “Nineteen is an enormous number. … We put ourselves in a lot of scoring opportunities. We just couldn’t get that big hit.”
In both the ninth and 10th innings, the Bruins had a runner in scoring position but were unable to plate the winning run. The ninth inning mirrored the fourth, in which UCLA loaded the bases with one out before it ended the frame without a score.
“It’s hard not to score more runs than we did,” Savage said. “It’s crazy, but we will figure that out, and we’ll get better from it.”
The Bruins’ pitching staff held the Crimson to two runs over the 11-inning contest, but Savage said it was the defense that kept the Bruins in the game.
“Without our defense today, they score more runs,” Savage said. “A lot of plays (were) made, and a lot of guys (were) picking up pitchers.”
One of those plays was a diving catch by freshman center fielder Malakhi Knight in right-center field, taking away a Crimson hit and preserving the Bruins’ lead.
Freshman right-hander Thatcher Hurd threw a season-high 5.1 innings, allowing one run on a homer in the sixth inning while striking out six batters. Hurd said it was great to have a strong defense behind him.
“That’s a big focus of ours, and it’s also one of our strengths,” Hurd said. “They all showed up, and they picked me up in big spots.”
Junior left-hander Jake Saum and freshman right-hander Alonzo Tredwell covered the middle innings, allowing one run between the two of them and keeping the game tied heading into extra innings.
Freshman right-hander Luke Jewett was the fourth UCLA pitcher to take the mound and was called on to pitch the extra innings. Jewett faced the minimum, collecting six outs in 16 pitches and eventually recording the win.
“We have a lot of confidence in every guy that comes out of that bullpen,” Palmer said. ”Any guy that we put on the mound, I know that they can keep the game close for us.”
Following the series win at home, UCLA will have its first road midweek matchup of the season at Loyola Marymount on Tuesday.
