An hour delay and a game filled with rain could not weather the Bruins enough to stop a sweep of the Wildcats.

No. 7 UCLA baseball’s (15-3, 5-1 Pac-12) series finale against Arizona (12-6, 3-3 Pac-12) started later than planned Sunday. But once the contest began, the Pac-12 foes battled back and forth until the blue and gold pulled away and ultimately prevailed 6-4. With the win, the Bruins remain undefeated at home in 2023.

“At the end of the day, it was a hard-fought series that really could have gone either way, in a couple of cases,” said coach John Savage. “But I thought we showed some perseverance, we showed some mental toughness and we finished the thing off.”

Despite winning and securing the sweep, UCLA encountered a deficit early.

Senior right-hander Kelly Austin earned his fifth start of the season, but fell behind in the first after a single scored Arizona left fielder Chase Davis, who previously reached on a double and advanced to third on a fielding error.

But the former junior college transfer settled down afterward, with the first run being the only earned run to Austin’s name.

However, a self-imposed error gave the Bruins’ foes life.

In the top of the fifth with a runner on first, Austin stepped off the rubber to avoid a pitch clock warning and attempted a pick-off. The righty’s throw sailed wide of sophomore first baseman Jack Holman’s glove, however, allowing the Wildcats’ runner to advance to third.

An ensuing single up the middle pushed Arizona in front 2-1. Austin said he tried to keep his error in the past and focus on the batters ahead.

“We pride ourselves on being a team that can go negative (to) positive really well,” Austin said. “That’s actually one of the stats that we record is how well you can go from a negative to a positive.”

The Bruins’ starter tossed 5.1 innings, struck out seven batters and allowed four hits and three walks.

The one-run deficit would not matter for long as the blue and gold battled back into the ballgame in the bottom of the fifth. Junior third baseman Kyle Karros tied the game on an RBI double to score sophomore shortstop Cody Schrier.

Schrier helped the Bruins take their first lead of the contest an inning later when the right-handed slugger ripped his second double of the day down the left-field line to give UCLA a 3-2 lead.

“We want to pride ourselves this year on being a good team on Sundays and loving playing on Sundays,” Schrier said. “Getting the team off to a good start and having a good day was huge.”

With the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh, sophomore center fielder Malakhi Knight had a chance to break the game open.

After missing two weeks with an injury, Knight returned to the Bruins’ lineup with a bang and crushed a two-RBI double into the left-center gap to increase UCLA’s lead to three.

Savage said Knight has not been able to develop as much offensively because of his nagging injuries.

“He hasn’t played enough baseball,” Savage said. “He needs more seeing time. He needs more at-bats. He needs more reps. When you do that, you’re going to see a really good player. It’s just that his injuries have been kind of an Achilles heel.”

In the bottom of the eighth, senior catcher Darius Perry finished the blue and gold’s scoring for the day with an RBI single.

Arizona threatened when two singles and a walk gave the Wildcats a bases-loaded opportunity with one out in the seventh. But senior left-hander Jake Saum struck out each of the next two batters in the heart of the Wildcats’ order to keep UCLA on top.

Savage said he was happy for Saum and that his players look up to the veteran pitcher.

“(He was) unbelievable,” Savage said. “You’re talking about a team captain, a four-year Bruin, comes in and faces (Arizona’s) two best hitters and two of the better hitters in the league. … Clutch pitching, beyond clutch.”

Sophomore right-hander Luke Jewett allowed a two-run home run to Davis in the ninth, but held the Wildcats from scoring more to seal the sweep.

UCLA will return to action Friday when the Bruins finish their six-game home set with a three-game series against Washington.