The Bruins and Dirtbags were tied in the bottom of the 10th with two outs and a runner on second.

Payton Brennan – hitless with two punchouts to his name – walked up to the plate.

And as the sophomore center fielder stepped into the box, the Long Beach State infield shifted to the right, leaving a gap where the shortstop would otherwise stand.

Brennan swatted at the 2-2 offering, punching a ground ball through the gap created by the shift.

With his first hit of the day, Brennan finalized a comeback for the Bruins – once down 7-0 in the third – securing the walk-off victory.

“It was a tough, tough night,” Brennan said. “It was a lot of blows, Long Beach is really good. Came out and put up seven, and then we battled back.”

UCLA baseball (5-3) emerged victorious 12-11 over Long Beach State (5-1-1) on Wednesday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The Bruins committed seven out of the 12 errors in the contest, struggling to defend in the wet conditions as the day turned to night in Westwood.

“For whatever reason, we haven’t played very good defense,” said coach John Savage. “We have good defensive players. So, I might have to check in with my friend, coach Cronin (UCLA men’s basketball coach Mick Cronin). Need some help here on defense.”

With only six of the Dirtbags’ 11 runs scored as earned, errors led to an early Long Beach State lead and eventually forced the game into extra innings.

Savage said the error tally was unlike anything he’d seen before coming into the game.

“I don’t think we’ve ever made seven errors in a game in 20 years,” Savage said. “I know we haven’t made seven errors and won the game.”

Freshman right-handers Luke Rodriguez and Justin Lee combined to allow seven runs within the first three innings before handing the ball off to another four Bruin relievers before the night’s end.

Following the early deficit, UCLA tacked on seven of its own in the third and fourth, as junior second baseman Duce Gourson hit a two-run home run – his third of the season – to cap off scoring in the third, and he knocked a two-run single to tie up the game again an inning later.

The Bruins and Dirtbags traded blows in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, tying the game at 9-9, 10-10 and 11-11, respectively, as five combined errors occurred leading to four of the six unearned runs.

Savage said the late-night cold weather, combined with the back-and-forth atmosphere, created a perfect storm.

“That ballpark was like a hockey rink tonight,” Savage said. “It was really, really wet. I mean, everybody was having trouble with the ball – infielders, outfielders, catchers, pitchers. It was a crazy night.”

Graduate student right-hander Rashad Ruff entered the game trying to maintain the tie in the ninth en route to his first UCLA victory. The Coppin State transfer struck out four Dirtbags over two innings and was the only Bruin to throw scoreless frames Wednesday.

Ruff has primarily worked as the Bruins’ closer and has not allowed a run while striking out 10 over 5.2 innings of work.

“I’m confident in myself and the work that I put in, and I’m ready for it,” Ruff said. “I kind of live for it, expect it, and I just go out there and do my best.”

Ruff rolled the inning over twice, ultimately giving Brennan the chance to win the game.