The Bruins’ bats came alive on the verge of elimination.

After dropping its opening game of the Pac-12 Tournament at 1:26 a.m. Thursday morning, No. 3 seed UCLA baseball (36-21, 19-11 Pac-12) returned to the diamond 11 hours later and defeated No. 7 seed Washington (30-26, 14-16) by a score of 14-8. The win keeps the blue and gold alive in the losers bracket, where it will face the loser of No. 2 seed Oregon State and No. 6 seed California on Friday.

Coach John Savage said he was proud of how his team battled on little rest.

“Good win, good bounce back after a long night,” Savage said. “You got to remember the hours that we didn’t sleep. You really got to tip your hat to our guys, we came out and endured a long game.”

UCLA’s offense combined for 18 hits – its third most of the season. Sophomore third baseman Kyle Karros led the charge by going 5-5 with four RBIs and three runs – the first time a Bruin has logged five hits in a game since 2019.

Karros, who is 8-8 through the first two games of the tournament, said feeling comfortable at the plate has contributed to the hot streak.

“It all comes down to seeing the ball well,” Karros said. “I’m letting the ball get deep when it’s out over the plate, and turning on it when it’s in. That’s really what has enabled me to use all parts of the field.”

Along with Karros, junior right fielder Michael Curialle and freshman shortstop Ethan Gourson combined for seven hits and five runs on the day. Seven of nine Bruin starters crossed the plate at least once in the six-run victory.

After using five pitchers in the opening contest of the tournament, the blue and gold got through Thursday afternoon’s contest using three arms.

Freshman left-hander Ethan Flanagan started for UCLA and went 4.2 innings while giving up six earned runs – both career highs. One pitcher later, freshman right-hander Alonzo Tredwell finished off the final three innings to earn his sixth save of the season.

None of the three Bruin arms conceded a walk to the Huskies, and Savage said he was impressed with the way his pitchers avoided giving up free passes.

“You’re going to give up runs, but you can’t walk people,” Savage said. “At the end of the day, we did a good job of pounding the zone and getting what we needed out of this (game).”

The Bruins have yet to use All-Conference sophomore right-hander Max Rajcic during the tournament, so they are assumed to have the two-time Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week available to start at least once in the coming days.

UCLA returns to action Friday evening – 45 minutes after the conclusion of the 3 p.m. game.